Major Findings

Religious Background of Students
The data show the strong Catholic background of the vast majority of Holy Cross students. Ninety percent of the respondents reported that either one or both parents were Catholic, and 83 percent reported that they were raised as Catholics. Of those respondents not raised as Catholic, most were raised as Protestants (12 percent), representing various denominations including Episcopalian, Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist. The remaining few respondents reported either no religion or an Eastern religion (Buddhist, Hindu, or Islam).

Students also reported a relatively high level of involvement in religious activities when they were growing up. Three-quarters of the respondents reported that their mothers and nearly two-thirds reported that their fathers attended religious services at least 2-3 times a month. When asked how often they attended religious services when they were around 11 or 12 years of age, 64 percent of the respondents reported that they attended every week and over 80 percent reported that they attended 2-3 times a month or more. By contrast, a recent national survey showed that only 38 percent of the U.S. adult population reported attending services as often as 2-3 times a month. In addition, 41 percent of the respondents reported that they participated in a parish or church youth group during high school; 62 percent had attended a spiritual retreat prior to coming to Holy Cross; and one-half received at least part of their grade school or high school education in Catholic schools.

Present Religious Beliefs and Activities
When asked to identify their present religious preference, 73.5 percent of the respondents reported that they were Catholic, 10 percent Protestant, 4 percent some other religion, and 13 percent reported “none.” The latter figure is somewhat lower for first-year students, 10 percent of whom reported no religion. By comparison, the CIRP Freshman Survey showed that nationwide 15.8 percent of this year’s entering freshman reported no religious preference, and data from the General Social Survey over the past decade indicate that this figure may be closer to 20 percent (see Table 1). In either case, Holy Cross students are less likely than students at other colleges and universities to report no religious preference.

Aside from having a religious preference, other data also suggest that Holy Cross students may be more religious than others in the present national cohort of college students. Nine in ten respondents reported that they considered themselves to be either “religious” or “spiritual”; nearly three-quarters reported that they had either a “strong” (25 percent) or “somewhat strong” (47 percent) religious identity; 85 percent said that they believed in life after death and 83 percent said that they either believed God really exists (39 percent) or believed in God while having some doubts (43.5 percent). Finally, about half of the respondents said that they currently attend religious services at least 2-3 times a month, and two-thirds reported that they pray once a week or more. Table 2.1 compares Holy Cross students, based on the spring survey, with two other cohorts on various religious dimensions. The first cohort is a sample of U.S. 18-22 year-olds; the second is a subset of the U.S. 18-22 year-olds who reported that they were “in school.” Notice that Holy Cross students attend religious services at a much higher rate than these cohorts.

Table 2.1. Percentage of Holy Cross Students, U.S. 18-22 Year-olds, and U.S. 18-22 Year-old Students with Various Religious Preferences, Behaviors, and Attitudes.
 

Note:  Data for the U.S. cohorts were drawn from the General Social Survey, 1993-2000. Sample sizes vary by question and sample, from 69 (belief in God among US 18-22 year-old students) to 706 (religion raised among US 18-22 year-olds).

Other Religious Activities at Holy Cross
We asked several questions to gauge students’ involvement in activities sponsored by the Campus Ministry Center. We found that 21 percent of the respondents reported that they had participated in a retreat such as Escape, Manresa, or the Spiritual Exercises; the same percentage had participated in one of the liturgical ministries–as a member of the church choir, a liturgical dancer, or as a Eucharistic minister, greeter, lector, and so forth; and 44 percent had participated in Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD). For each of these activities, the percentage who participated increased with the student’s academic class year; for example, nearly twice as many fourth-year students had participated in a retreat as first-year students, and over 50 percent of the fourth-year students, compared with 39 percent of the first-year students, had participated in SPUD.

When respondents were asked how much their participation in religious activities had changed since coming to Holy Cross, the majority (61 percent) reported that it had either increased or remained the same. When asked if their personal religious faith was stronger, weaker, or about the same since coming to Holy Cross, 32 percent said that it was stronger, 8 percent that it was weaker, and 60 percent said it was about the same. One in four students reported taking religious studies courses in addition to the one-course College requirement. And when asked if they had become more critical or appreciative of the teachings of the Catholic Church since coming to Holy Cross, 27 percent said more critical, 8 percent more appreciative, 32 percent were both more critical and more appreciative, and another 32 percent were neither. Once again, there were differences across the academic classes, as first-year students were less likely than fourth-year students to report that their religious faith and beliefs about church teachings had changed since coming to Holy Cross.

In short, at Holy Cross religion is an important aspect of students’ lives. A sizeable number of Holy Cross students are involved in the religious life of the campus and have been affected religiously since they matriculated. With each year, students are increasingly likely to have participated in religious retreats and in the liturgical ministry, and to take religious studies courses. They also are more likely to report that the strength of their faith has changed and that they have become more critical of the teachings of the Church.

Finally, more students reported that it was “essential” or “very important” to “integrate spirituality into their lives” (60 percent) than to “be very well off financially” (44 percent). These figures contrast with college students nationally, who were more likely to value financial well-being. For example, among this year’s entering first-year class, based on the most recent CIRP Freshman Survey, 73 percent thought it was “essential” or “very important” “to be very well off financially” and 45 percent “to integrate spirituality into their lives.” Among 2001 graduating seniors at 4-year, private, liberal arts colleges, according to the College Student Survey, 58 percent indicated that it was “essential” or “very important” “to be very well off financially” and 43 percent “to integrate spirituality into their lives.”

Catholic Identity, Commitment, Beliefs, and Practices
For the 164 respondents who identified themselves as Catholic, we asked several questions about their lived faith as Catholics. Most of these questions were drawn from national surveys. To begin, we asked, “As a Catholic, how important is each of the following to you?” We then read six elements of being a Catholic, asking if each was very important, somewhat important, or not important at all. Except for the teaching authority claimed by the Vatican, all the elements were strongly regarded as either “very important” or “somewhat important” by the Holy Cross respondents. Using the percentage who said "very important,” we found that the sacraments were seen as most important (76 percent), followed by spirituality and personal growth (67 percent), the spirit of community among Catholics (64 percent), the Church’s involvement in activities directed toward social justice and helping the poor (53 percent), the Church’s teachings about Mary as the Mother of God (41 percent), and the teaching authority claimed by the Vatican (16 percent). For the latter three elements, these percentages are significantly lower than the percentages reported for all Catholics, college-educated Catholics, and post-Vatican II Catholics in the 1999 American Catholics Survey (for a special report on this survey see http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/102999/102999j.htm; also see D’Antonio et al’s. American Catholics).

In a series of eight questions, we also asked what it takes to be a good Catholic. We did this by asking respondents to indicate if they thought a person could be a good Catholic without performing certain actions or affirming certain beliefs. Over 90 percent of the respondents believed that a person could be a good Catholic without obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching on birth control and without going to church every Sunday. In other words, these behaviors were seen as unimportant. Other items that the majority of the respondents saw as relatively unimportant were obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching on divorce and marriage (86 percent believed it was unnecessary), having one’s marriage approved by the Catholic church (75 percent), donating time or money to help the parish (72 percent), and obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching regarding abortion (61 percent). On the other hand, only 40 percent of the sample believed that a person could be a good Catholic without donating time and money to help the poor. Compared with a national sample of Catholics, the Holy Cross sample is more liberal about the dictates of Catholicism. Only on donations to help the poor was the Holy Cross percentage lower than the 1999 national sample; on all other items, the percentages for the national sample were lower–often much lower–than those for the Holy Cross sample.

Several questions asked about respondents’ commitment to and endorsement of various church teachings and traditions. The majority of the respondents reported that the teachings and traditions of the Catholic church were “fairly important” to them and that they had “some” effect on their daily lives. We also asked how five specific teachings, policies, and reports had affected respondents’ commitment to the church. With regard to the Church’s teaching that abortion is morally wrong, 31 percent said that this had strengthened their commitment, 22 percent that it had weakened their commitment, and 39 percent that it had had no effect one way or the other. The majority indicated “no effect” of the Church’s teaching that artificial contraception is morally wrong (31 percent reported that it weakened commitment) and of reports that a significant number of priests have homosexual tendencies (44 percent said it weakened commitment). Four of five respondents reported that their commitment was weakened by reports that a number of priests have abused children sexually, and one in two respondents’ commitment was weakened by the policy of ordaining men, but not women, to the priesthood.

On two controversial issues, the Holy Cross sample was more strongly opposed to current church policy than the national cohort of Catholics. Over 80 percent “agreed strongly” or “agreed somewhat” that “it would be a good thing if married men were allowed to be ordained as priests,” and nearly 90 percent agreed that “it would be a good thing if women were allowed to be ordained as priests.” In each case, women were more likely to agree than men.

While relatively few questions pertained to the social teachings of the Church, the scant evidence suggests that this is an important aspect of the religion of Holy Cross students. As noted earlier, 40 percent of the sample believed that a person could be a good Catholic without donating time and money to help the poor; or conversely, 60 percent believed that this was an important aspect of being a Catholic. Although it has been 17 years since the American Catholic bishops issued their 1985 pastoral on economic justice, one in four respondents were familiar with this pastoral letter. By contrast, in 1993, only 19 percent of the national Catholic sample had heard or read about the economy pastoral, and it is safe to say that this percentage would be much lower today. Also, in sharp contrast to Catholics nationally, but in concert with Church leaders, including Pope John Paul II, the majority of Holy Cross students opposed the death penalty (27 percent favored and 17 percent were unsure).