Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center (C21), described on its website as “a catalyst and resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the United States” and sponsor of the beloved cafe speaker series, Agape Latte, has been working on an initiative since 2019 called The Student Voices Project (SVP), collecting students’ perspectives on the future Church. The project, which continued throughout the pandemic, originally consisted of students completing a short online or written survey and conversing in socially-distant focus groups over a free boxed lunch. On February 4th, 2022, the C21 center released a video on its YouTube channel describing the new direction of the project, which includes a new survey.
Dennis J. Wieboldt III, MCAS ‘22, a member of the C21 Center’s Advisory Committee, has had a consistent role within the project. “I’ve been involved with the SVP since its initial brainstorming phases,” Wieboldt said. “Along with Karen [Kiefer, C21’s Director] and other folks on the C21 team, I’ve helped in the design of our SVP surveys, the analysis of our quantitative and qualitative data, and leading some of our small focus groups.”
Students have been able to provide their responses to various questions, including “What have been your best experiences in the Church? What have been your worst experiences in the Church? What are your hopes for the Church? What challenges do you see for the Church today and tomorrow? What are some ways to renew the Church? What nourishes you? If you could tell Pope Francis one thing, what would you tell him?”
Wieboldt described the inspiration for the project as a way “to engage young people in conversation about our faith and the Church’s future” and “to help the [C21] Center identify how the Church can best accompany a new generation of young people on our faith journeys.”
The initial responses from the student surveys and focus groups were compiled into a first phase report, now published and available on the C21 webpage. According to Wieboldt, “the SVP’s first phase allowed us to reach four major findings about BC students’ relationships to their faiths:
(1) Boston College students desire a sense of community on campus and around their faith;
(2) Boston College students are willing to and interested in engaging with questions of faith outside of the Mass;
(3) Boston College’s coursework and distinctive academic programs are major sites of engagement with questions of faith;
(4) Boston College students believe that hospitality around the Mass and other Catholic programs is important.”
The total responses so far, described by Wieboldt as relating “the experiences of over 500 undergraduate and graduate students,” are analyzed in the report, with the main survey portion comprising 66% Catholic students and the remaining third non-Catholic students. 32% attended a Catholic high school, and the gender identity split of the main survey data was 52% female versus 48% male. The report also lists numerous short-term suggested goals for the BC community based on the findings, such as “Building new and expanding current traditions around the Mass and other yearly liturgical celebrations (e.g., Mass of the Holy Spirit),” “Creating new and expanding current academic programs that allow students to engage with questions of faith in new ways, especially through distinctive CORE classes,” and “Meeting students where they are in their faith journey, especially in the first year, by presenting participation in the University’s faith community as an integral part of the Boston College experience.”
The project is now in its second phase, as described in the C21 Center’s new video, aligning with Pope Francis’s current Synod on Synodality, described by the USCCB as “a two-year process of listening and dialogue” in the worldwide Church.
Wieboldt spoke of this emerging phase as “focused on assisting Pope Francis in his goal of creating a synodal Church by listening directly to the voices of the faithful, including young people. Building on the SVP model’s successes in helping us understand the status of BC students’ relationships to their faiths, the second phase of the SVP invites high school, college, and graduate students from across the country to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences with the Church. Students who participate in the survey will also have an opportunity to participate in a virtual focus group with a member of the C21 team.”
Wieboldt also spoke of the timeline of the second phase, adding, “At the beginning of this summer, the insights that we glean from this nationwide data will be sent directly to the Vatican to ensure young people’s voices are heard in the ongoing Synod on Synodality.”
The survey is currently available to complete on the C21 center’s website, and the results sent to the Vatican will be anonymous. As the recently-released C21 video poses to the young people of BC and the entire U.S., “We are the future of the Church. Our voices matter. Will you share your gifts?”
Featured Image Courtesy of Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center
Thomas is a student in BC’s Carroll School of Management, who fittingly serves as the current Business Manager of The Torch in addition to his position as Campus News Editor. Thomas can be found around campus singing at Masses with the Liturgy Arts Group, tabling for the BC Pro-Life Club, deep in conversation while enjoying BC Dining cuisine, or gazing in awe at Gasson Hall and its Collegiate Gothic style architectural neighbors.
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