Heard any good Catholic jokes lately?

Chances are, you have. It’s become a sort of cultural… Heard any good Catholic jokes lately?

Chances are, you have. It’s become a sort of cultural fad to belittle Catholicism lately, but Catholics on Pitt’s campus have a fantastic opportunity to explore and, yes, celebrate their religion in the Pitt Newman Club. The Newman Club has frequent functions, ranging from service projects to Bible studies and social outings.

They also have a choir that practices on Thursday evenings at 7:30 and performs at the 10:00 a.m. Heinz Chapel mass on Sundays. The crowd that attends Newman Club events is a diverse slice of the Pitt community; we count engineers and music students, born Catholics, recent converts and non-Catholics alike among our members. Anyone is indeed welcome to explore different aspects of the Christian lifestyle.

One example of an outing is the trips we occasionally make to the Ravens project, a farm run by a priest, which raises vegetables and the like for people who can’t otherwise afford them. It’s really one of the ways the Newman Club exercises the Christian ideal of charity to others. We’ve been known to work at soup kitchens, adopt a family during each holiday season, and we also have service project “alternative” spring breaks. This is, of course, in addition to the joint trip with Carnegie Mellon University members to Rome for students who would like to go, which we are planning for this upcoming spring break. We have speakers and presenters, like local sportscaster John Fedko.

The social events range from the more religious – like Bible studies, Holy Thursday visits to seven interesting local churches and cathedrals, and, of course, masses – to the more secular – such as dinners the first Friday of every month, annual dances, and ice skating. Regardless of the event, there is always a fantastic air of camaraderie and certainly no lack of interesting discussion, and even debates on religious themes.

An organization that furthers the aid of others in need and the search for identity in the company of God is the perfect complement to the college lifestyle. And there’s really no shame in finding spiritual identity as a Catholic. Really, it’s quite refreshing to see the archaic stereotype of a rigid and unforgiving Catholicism, which tolerates naught but prayer, contested by the mere presence of a group of sociable college students and priests playing volleyball or exploring the sights of Washington, D.C., all of whom have a realistic perception of what it means to be Catholic today.

I suppose this is really my personal invitation, as president, to come and explore the ideas of the Newman Club, a group as diverse as the University of Pittsburgh community itself. Engage in conversation with me or any other Newman Clubber; help us out with feeding the homeless or come have dinner with a bunch of people interested in incorporating the ideals of Christ into their lives.

And if you really want to hear a good Catholic joke, no one tells one like a priest.

Email Philip Magcalas at [email protected] or you can always check out the Web site for more information at http://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/oratory.