Walk into a Sunday night Candlelight Mass at St. Monica- St. George Church in Cincinnati, and you know you are a part of something special. As the light flickers across the adorned walls, and contemporary praise and worship music reverberate throughout the almost 100-year- old church, you find both parishioners and University of Cincinnati students rejoicing in the celebration and beauty of the Mass.

In fact, on any given weekend, the Uptown Catholic Family of Parishes welcomes 300-400 students to their Masses. The secret? A vibrant and welcoming Newman Center known as Catholic Bearcat.

“The community of Catholic Bearcat is focused on discipleship and friendship. We simply care,” said Father David Doseck, pastor of the Uptown Catholic Family of Parishes, which includes the Newman Center as one of its parish ministries. “We want students to feel that they are someone whom the Lord loves and is inviting into a relationship with Him. These students are hungry for Christ.”

One key to its success and popularity is the invitation college students receive at a time when most are likely to leave their faith. “This is an essential time to catch students,” said Karissa Dunn, campus minister for Catholic Bearcat. “We seek to first invite them into a relationship with us and our students and put a virtuous and holy group of people around them, then walk with them in having a relationship with God. We want to then form and teach them in the way that the Church has laid out for us.”

Included in this invitation are events and experiences where students get to know one another and learn more about the Catholic faith, including daily Mass, all-day Adoration on Wednesdays, Adoration every weekday morning and Rosary prayer on campus on Fridays at 3 p.m. In addition, a Thursday night series rotates between dinner, speakers, praise and worship and large community events, Dunn explained. Attendance at these events ranges from 85-150 college students.

Bible studies also help Catholic Bearcat further its mission to meet college students where they are and help them form a relationship with Christ. There are currently 30-35 Bible studies taking place, led by 10 FOCUS missionaries and 10 student leaders.

“The Bible studies are very much like small groups, where close friendships are formed and honesty reigns supreme,” Father Doseck said. “Many long-lasting memories and friendships are formed through these small groups so that our large events are more and more effective.”

Dunn, who was herself a FOCUS missionary at Catholic Bearcat for three years before becoming campus minister two years ago, and Father Jeff Stephens, vicar and Chaplain for Catholic Bearcat, collaborate on the best way to meet their campus ministry program’s goal, which is to expand and reach as many students as they can.

“Our goal is to send students on campus to teach others to do the same and into our parishes where they can continue to build up the Kingdom of God,” said Dunn.

Dunn heard a statistic last year during a conference that 3.5% of a culture can change a culture. For UC’s 50,000 students, that number comes out to around 1,750. “We know that if 1,750 students are living out their Catholic identity, we would continue to see an explosion of Christ’s love on UC’s campus. This is our goal here in the next five years,” she said.

As lofty as this might be, Father Doseck believes it is not only attainable, but essential to our Church’s growth. “What is most effective in our growth is the multiplication by discipleship,” he explained. “The reason someone is still involved in Catholic Bearcat is because someone else invited them and walked with them on their journey of faith. It is an amazing and beautiful gift to see that students have at least two other students that they’re walking with and sharing the gospel with while they’re studying for their classes.”

The beauty of Catholic Bearcat, Dunn said, is that they help students figure out where they belong—whether or not they are Catholic. “Something we are so proud of and work really hard to stress is this idea that we are made to be missionary disciples in the Church and in the world,” she said. “This means that each of us is called to live a life where sharing Christ to others is necessary.”

Because of this evangelization effort, an impressive 30 students are going through RCIA this year, many invited by friends to attend an event at Catholic Bearcat. “We are really proud of our students because they are being disciples with their friends, the people in their classes and those they just met,” Dunn said.

Father Doseck is hopeful and excited for the future of Catholic Bearcat students. “When these students move on, they will go with the power of the Holy Spirit and enter into many parishes throughout the nation and renew the culture and create a community of their own,” he said. “It all starts here, when these students are out of their homes for the first time and seeking and discovering so many things. I am so blessed to be here at this moment and participate in the life of these students as they seek holiness.”

This article appeared in the December 2024 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here