These are Catholic Colleges?

I wish I could say I find this shocking. But given that I work at a "Catholic" college, I don't. The results are about what I would expect. I took a look at the actual report & it looks well done & thorough. The study compares "sacramentally active" v nonactive & non-Catholics. I would like to see a further study that looks at the same things specifically at the colleges & universities that CNS recommends vs the rest. I suspect the results would be much different.

Study Finds Catholic Colleges Have Little Positive Impact on Faith, Values

A groundbreaking survey of Catholic college students published by The Cardinal Newman Society’s (CNS) Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education finds that most students on Catholic campuses reject key Catholic moral values and tenets of the faith, and significant numbers engage in pre-marital sexuality activity and the viewing of pornography.
The study was released in the wake of Tuesday’s presidential election, just as many commentators are looking for reasons why the Catholic vote broke the way it did in such large numbers for a pro-abortion candidate.
It is the only known nationally representative survey of students at Catholic colleges and universities. CNS released a report five years ago, drawing on data from 38 Catholic colleges collected by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. That study found that students’ support for Catholic teaching on abortion, gay marriage and other issues declined over four years at a Catholic institution.
For the current study, CNS commissioned QEV Analytics, which conducted an analysis of the Catholic vote for Crisis magazine prior to the 2000 presidential election, to conduct the random survey of current and recent students at U.S. Catholic colleges and universities, all between the ages of 18 and 29. QEV President Steven Wagner, a former researcher for the U.S. Information Agency, has conducted studies for several federal agencies and the National Center on Additional and Substance Abuse (CASA).
“Most respondents say that the experience of attending a Catholic institution made no difference in their support for the Catholic Church or its teaching or their participation in Catholic Sacraments,” Wagner writes in his report.
Key findings clearly demonstrate that large numbers of students at Catholic colleges and universities are in clear conflict with the Catholic Church:

Nearly 1 in 5 knew another student who had or paid for an abortion.
46% of current and recent students—and 50% of females—said they engaged in sex outside of marriage.
84% said they had friends who engaged in premarital sex.
60% agreed strongly or somewhat that abortion should be legal.
60% agreed strongly or somewhat that premarital sex is not a sin.
78% disagreed strongly or somewhat that using a condom to prevent pregnancy was a serious sin.
57% agreed strongly or somewhat that same-sex “marriage” should be legal.
57% said the experience of attending a Catholic college or university had no effect on their participation in Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation.
54% of respondents said that their experience of attending a Catholic college or university had no effect on their support for the teachings of the Catholic Church.
56% said their experience had no effect on their respect for the Pope and bishops.

In April 2008 Pope Benedict XVI, recognizing the reality on many Catholic campuses, told Catholic college presidents gathered at The Catholic University of America that the Catholic faith must permeate all aspects of Catholic campus life.
“Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools?” the Holy Father asked the college presidents. “Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold. From this perspective one can recognize that the contemporary ‘crisis of truth’ is rooted in a ‘crisis of faith’.”
The entire CNS study, “Behaviors and Beliefs of Current and Recent Students at U.S. Catholic Colleges,” is available online at www.CatholicHigherEd.org.
CNS commissioned the study as part of its Love & Responsibility program to encourage Catholic values on life, love and marriage on Catholic campuses.

1 of those to comment on this study is Judie Brown of American Life League. (INDICTING INDICATORS: CATHOLIC YOUTH FOR OBAMA) After looking at the above stats she says: "To put it another way, for most Catholic college-age students, attending the typical "Catholic" college does not strengthen their faith or their obedience to Catholic moral teachings. Moreover, this study's findings beg the question of whether attendance at certain Catholic colleges might even undermine the students in these areas. But I leave that for others to assess." Judie, it doesn't beg the question, it shouts it out. Where I live has 2 "Catholic" Colleges. & I can guarentee you that more is done to destroy the teachings of the Church than to build them up.

She goes on to say: "What troubles me most about these findings are that they suggest that those November 4 exit polls, which told us that Catholics' voting patterns mirror those of the population at large, are not far off the mark. That being said, one has to wonder what, if anything, the Catholic bishops intend to do about this during their annual fall assembly, to be held November 10-13 in Baltimore." I suspect this study will be off the radar for most of the Bishops. It shouldn't be, but it is. They won't even be dealing with Biden, Pelosi & the other Catholics who twisted their "Faithful Citizenship" document that they left a hole in big enough to drive a Semi through.

"Will they ask whether they have any responsibility for this slide away from the teachings and practices meant to make Catholics "the salt of the earth"? Will they see the correlation between failure to teach Catholic truth to one and all and the current malaise among the faithful (including those who at least attend Mass once or twice a year)? (As a whole, NO. ) Or will they decide to "stick to their story"? It is a story we have certainly heard with increasing frequency – the same story that Pontius Pilate told."

"So many bishops have claimed they can do nothing to control what goes on at a Catholic college other than make public statements decrying this or that event. Some bishops claim they cannot even do anything about the existence of clubs like GU Pride at Georgetown University, for example, because, they say, they cannot discriminate. It really boggles the mind!" By accepting government money it makes them easy to play Pilate. They can wash their hands of their responsibility & put it elsewhere.

"One has to wonder if certain bishops were even paying attention, when during his April visit to the U.S., Pope Benedict XVI said this to a gathering of Catholic college presidents:

“Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold. From this perspective one can recognize that the contemporary ‘crisis of truth’ is rooted in a ‘crisis of faith.’”

Indeed, that crisis looms particularly large today, as we examine the reasons why so many Catholics chose to vote for the most rabidly pro-abortion presidential candidate we have seen thus far. Will the bishops consider this?" I doubt it. They won't deal with the problems with the document, so IT IS DEFINITE that they will ignore the wider picture again. Many of them don't want to make the connection either. This is why we need to support the Cardinal Newman Society. They are the 1 group that can ensure the heat is kept on the Bishops, individually & as a whole.

After looking at some of the spin on the voting for Obama & McCain by Catholics she says: "Undeniably, it is what the bishops should be studying. Half-truths are not acceptable. It is the fullness of truth that should define Catholics.

It occurs to me that the real problem here is precisely what the Holy Father said: American Catholics are living out a crisis of truth that has been brought about by a crisis in understanding and living out the faith in word and deed. Until the Catholic bishops, as a whole, address this and actually do something about it, the indicting indicators will persist and, I fear, get much worse."

She is right. Yes, there are good Catholic Colleges that uphold the teachings of the Church. There are Bishops who are doing some things. But they are few & far between. But this is a national problem that needs to be dealt with on a national level. Ever since Ex Corde Ecclesia came out, the Bishops have tried to sidestep their responsibilities in implimenting it.

You will always have dissenters. You will have some, even at the truly Catholic Colleges who will slip & sin. But, when most of the "Catholic" education, youth, teen, college level & adult is in most places, at best watered down, & at worst bordering on, if not downright heretical, this problem will continue. Ensuring authentic Catholic teachings are provided is 1 of the Bishop's duties. Providing it won't solve all the problems, but it will go a long way, in conjunction with enforcing the rules & disciplining those who dissent, to solving a majority of them.