None of the groups singled out by Pew averaged a score of at least 66 percent.

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1 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 1 of 8 The importance of knowing religion, Los Angeles Loyolan By José Martinez October 7, 2010 If you re an atheist or an agnostic, chances are you know more about religion than the average religious person does. That s according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life s Sept. 28 poll, which surveyed Americans knowledge on the core teachings, history and leading figures of several major world religions. Using 32 questions to test respondents religious knowledge, Pew found that agnostics and atheists had the highest average of correct answers at 20.9; Jews and Mormons followed with 20.5 and 20.3, respectively; Protestants scored around 16 and Catholics followed with None of the groups singled out by Pew averaged a score of at least 66 percent. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, but faith leaders and educators have long pointed out that, relatively speaking, Americans don t know very much about religion. Dr. Jeffrey Siker, a professor of theological studies at LMU who specializes in New Testament and Christian origins, said that the Pew study points to a general illiteracy across the board. I think what it points to is that people often have blinders on when it comes to the diversity of religion in America or internationally, he said. They tend to know only their small part of the world and all they know about other traditions are relative stereotypes and often all they know about their own tradition are relative stereotypes. Fr. Thomas Rausch, S.J., a professor of theology with a focus on ecclesiology and Christology, said the study was right on, and focused on the religious literacy of young Catholics, like he has in his book Being Catholic in a Culture of Choice. I ve been very concerned about the religious literacy of so many young Catholics, he said. Their institutional commitment to the Church has been described as thin. Fr. Rausch said many young Catholics have internalized the most radical teachings of Vatican II, focusing on the relationship between Catholicism and other faith traditions, the dignity of conscience and religious freedom. They are tolerant, open to others and accepting, he said. But they seem to have little sense of the value of their own tradition. Dr. Michael Horan, chair of LMU s theological studies department and a professor who specializes in religious education and pastoral theology, said that the study was also indicative of a deeper problem.

2 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 2 of 8 It suggests that churches and church leaders have not been wildly successful in communicating the core beliefs of communities in a way that is either compelling or sufficiently memorable, he said. Horan said that religious educators focus on teaching children is all too often to the detriment of the adult members of a faith community. All too many adults in the country find church programs of education uncompelling, he said, and it s no wonder that many adults lack adequate responses for the Pew questionnaire. To theological academics like LMU s, then, Pew s study indicates a deep level of religious illiteracy that might be attributed to, perhaps, the education people receive within their own faith communities. But why is such an education important? It s important to understand what you believe and why you believe it, said professor of theology Dr. Tracy Tiemeier, who specializes in comparative theology and the topic of women and religion. But there s also a social need to understand other faiths, too. We live in a society where we live, work and pray next to people of other faiths, so it behooves us to know something about those traditions. [Religious convictions are] some of the most deeply held convictions that people have, said Siker, and if we don t have a sympathetic understanding of what other people believe and the traditions out of which they come, then we can t really engage them in honest conversation and honest dialogue and honest debate about some of the things that matter most to us. And for that kind of conversation to occur, said Dr. Amir Hussain, a professor of theology with a focus on Islam, one has to know the basics. You need to have the basic theological ideas, concepts, history you have to know the story, but then you have to know what that story means, and you have to know how people interpret that story. The importance of theological education, said Hussain, is that it helps us to understand and deal with, first, all of our own traditions, and secondly, someone else s. At the level of what gives meaning to our lives, we need to know this, he said. Professor of theology Dr. Jonathan Rothchild, who specializes in theological ethics, echoed Hussain. It s a sense of understanding the richness of others traditions as a way of understanding underlying human questions, said Rothchild. He also pointed to the valuable contribution theology can make to public discourse, despite a common tendency to avoid talk of the transcendent in a public forum. We sort of place ultimate transcendence in the market, and yet we want to banish any language that talks about the transcendent, and it seems inconsistent to do so, he said.

3 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 3 of 8 The flaw in that is that theology or religion helps us understand what we value at the most basic level, which in turn helps inform and enrich public debate, he said. Horan said that the theological education that allows for this kind of enriched public discourse shouldn t be hampered by restrictions on questions. If it were possible to set up learning situations in which adults could indeed pursue their questions, and where church leaders, lay and ordained, welcomed those questions, then theological education might be more widely respected and more welcomed in the public domain, he said. Rothchild also touched upon the importance of the openness to questions. I think there s such a distorted view about what theology is, he said. I think people think it s catechism. I think people think it s indoctrination. I think you can argue that theology requires just as much critical thinking as any other discipline; in addition, it involves self-reflexive awareness. Siker said that asking these questions and learning to think critically are crucial because theology is so important and unique in what it does. What theology does that no other discipline really does is to ask questions about transcendence, he said. Theology and religion in general are asking foundational questions about the meaning of human existence it allows for the possibility of the divine. I think that s why it s important. Speaking of her own area of study, Tiemeier talked about another kind of transcendence transcending cultural and religious barriers. Comparative theology does give us the content knowledge about other people but it also moves us forward to engage others in friendship, she said. And opportunities for interfaith engagement are many, as indicated by these professors and colleagues: Siker is Presbyterian, Hussain is Muslim, Rothchild is Lutheran and Horan, Fr. Rausch and Tiemeier are Roman Catholic. It s important to know about ourselves, to know what we believe and why we believe it, said Tiemeier. And it s important to know about others because we live in a world where our neighbors don t believe the same things we believe, so we need to know about them and understand them so we can interact with them in a positive way.

4 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 4 of 8 Scholars explore Latino Catholicism, Los Angeles Loyolan By José Martinez October 11, 2010 Approximately 90 people gathered in Ahmanson Auditorium to listen to scholars explore the increasingly Latino nature of Catholicism in the United States in an event which was cosponsored by 18 offices, departments and organizations last Thursday night. Latino Catholicism in L.A.: Myths, Realities and Possibilities was the inaugural lecture for LMU s Latino Theology and Ministry Initiative, which featured Bishop Gavino Zavala, who is the auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel region of the Los Angeles archdiocese, as the keynote speaker. Keeping with the title of the event, which was moderated by the chair of the department of theological studies Michael Horan, Zavala addressed myths about what it means to be a Latino, such as the idea that all Latinos look and sound alike or that all Latinos speak Spanish. Why do I even mention these? he asked. Because they have served to shape perceptions of Latinos that have lingering and lasting effects both in [the] Church and in society. Zavala mentioned statistics that painted a picture of the Latino and Latino Catholic demographic. Latinos comprise more than one-third of the 65 million Catholics in the United States, he said. Narrowing his focus, he added that more than 70 percent of Los Angeles Catholic population is Latino. We are part of the fabric of everyday life in Los Angeles and at the heart of the Church, Zavala said. The Church in Los Angeles must stand with, not linger among, our Latino peoples. We must embrace a call to solidarity, he added. So it s not just that we feel empathy and try to respond to the needs of our people, but are we walking with Latino people? Bishop Zavala ended with questions; some referred to the LMU community in particular. How do we genuinely welcome the diversity of experience and tradition of our Latino peoples? he asked, raising the question of how one could stand in solidarity with the Latino people. As a community and within the Latino community, we challenge, for instance, Loyola Marymount University to delve into the formation of Latino leadership, he said, pointing out that LMU is the largest Catholic university in L.A. Three respondents were on hand to offer reflections on Bishop Gavala s keynote; the first, Fernando Guerra, is the director of LMU s Center for the Study of Los Angeles and a professor in the departments of political science and Chicano studies. He indicated the need for substantive inclusion of Latinos as a response to the needs of the community.

5 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 5 of 8 Most responses in education, politics have been symbolic, he said. That s a good step, and that s something that needs to be done, but that s incomplete, and it needs to go way beyond that. And I think the Church has gone way beyond that. It s provided a legitimacy for Latinos. Pointing to the fact that, save for a few exceptions, LMU has no Latino leadership, Guerra said that looking forward, strategy development would be crucial for the Church. Now it s time to develop a strategy that utilizes Latinos to further enhance the mission of the Catholic Church. Ellie Hidalgo, a graduate student at LMU who works in pastoral ministry in Boyle Heights, said that embracing different languages as something to be treasured would help honor the great gift of our geography, referring to Los Angeles proximity to Mexico. She also said the Latino community is called to take on leadership roles in certain areas, like restorative justice. I think this is a place where Latino Catholics have an opportunity to lead all of us, she said. Hosffman Ospino, assistant professor and director of graduate programs in Hispanic ministry at Boston College, was the final respondent, and emphasized the need for dialogue. We need to have intentional and sincere conversations about the Hispanic reality, in L.A. and in the rest of the country, he said. Whatever happens with Hispanic Catholics does and will impact the future of the Catholic experience in the United States. He also called the growth of Latino Catholicism a golden opportunity to hire Hispanic theologians, offer courses that address the Latino Catholic experience and create scholarships and centers of study centered on raising awareness about the Hispanic Catholic reality. There is perhaps no better time for Catholic universities to do this than the present moment, he said. Zavala emphasized the importance of the participation of the younger generation. We can talk to the gray hairs in the Church all we want, but we need to talk to young people because of the life and the vibrancy and the creativity and the new ideas that they have, and we need to challenge them to be part of our strategy, part of our sincere and intentional conversations, he said after the event s conclusion. We always stress that we re preparing all of our students to be future leaders, and certainly to lead in the United States, Southern California, but in the world; a very big part of that is to know the communities that you are with and to be able to work together, said Cecilia Gonzalez- Andrieu, a theological studies professor and a member of the Latino Theology and Ministry Initiative Committee. The Church in Los Angeles is largely Latino, said Kevin Brown, a graduate student in theological studies. To learn about the different demographics of the Church is to look at the Church and learn how to minister to it. So by learning how to minister to it, the Church is really learning how to be the Church of the future.

6 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 6 of 8 Study concludes countries decline of religion, Los Angeles Loyolan By José Martinez April 7, 2011 According to a recent study by a team of mathematicians, organized religion is on track to virtually disappear in nine countries, including Ireland, which is known as a traditionally Catholic stronghold. An article on CNN s website details the study s conclusion that religion won t completely die out, but it will be driven toward extinction in Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland. Information wasn t available for the U.S. because the U.S. Census Bureau doesn t inquire about religion, said lead author of the study Daniel Abrams. Abrams said that unaffiliated is the fastest-growing religious group in those nine countries and detailed the two sociological assumptions his study made: first, that people find it more attractive to be part of the majority than the minority; and second, that there are social, economic and political advantages to being unaffiliated with religion in those countries where it s declining. Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has already addressed the issue of declining membership in affiliated religious groups. In 2009, on a three-day visit to the Czech Republic, he told 120,000 people that history had demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choice and actions, according to a New York Times article. He also alluded to the secular element, telling Czechs that their country, like other nations, is experiencing cultural conditions that often present a radical challenge to faith and therefore also to hope. Scholars in the LMU community, however, are hesitant to accept Abrams findings as imminent. Religious traditions have a way of defying sociological models, said Dr. Jeffrey Siker, a professor of New Testament and Christian origins in LMU s theological studies department. There are always shifting tides in the religious orientation of people over time, but that s a far cry from predicting the extinction of religion. Siker pointed to the decline of mainstream Protestantism in the U.S. and the growth of evangelical churches in Latin America as examples of such shifting tides. Dr. Michael Horan, a professor of religious education and pastoral theology at LMU and chair of the theological studies department, also disputed Abrams sociological assumption that it is more attractive to be part of the majority. Religious groups have thrived whenever a group has felt marginalized and outside the dominant culture, he said. It is an old argument, but a standard one, that Christianity was born from this impulse, a reaction to Roman persecution. Current strains of conservative religion are popular as well in the U.S. and throughout the world today, precisely because they go against the grain of the content in Abrams study. Horan said that young Orthodox Jewish families, conservative seminarians in Catholic seminaries and Muslim separatists have one thing in

7 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 7 of 8 common: They shape their identity over and against the majority, even the majority within their own religious groups. Siker added that organized religion will always be in a state of flux, which is a different matter from the question of people s religiosity. Many people would still call themselves religious or spiritual, said Siker, but at the same time would check the unaffiliated box on a survey about their religion. In my view, the data points more to some of the changes in organized religion than it does to whether people see themselves as religious or not. LMU Sophomore theological studies and physics double major Alexander Garoutte, who is Catholic, said that may have something to do with an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to commitment to religious doctrine. I do think that many people would be afraid to commit to a religion because they might think it means that when they say they are connected with it, they are announcing that they agree with everything it says, he said. I disagree with that philosophy I can freely say that there are some things I disagree with in the Catholic Church. That doesn t mean, though, that those things are so severe that I would abandon it. But sophomore history major Kerrie Franey, who describes herself as spiritual but not religious, thought differently. I think many people turn away from organized religion because they do not want to be tangled up in a specific set of beliefs, she said. While one is certainly capable of being a Catholic and not believing in every tiny detail, I cannot ignore the small details that discriminate against homosexual relations, for example. Franey said she has attended Catholic schools for 17 years, and though she still wears a ring with a cross on it, said she hasn t identified as a Christian for six years now. Organized religion can be very limiting and causes, for me, a sense of claustrophobia, she said. I feel trapped by the Catechism and the Apostles Creed. Organized religion works for many, but in today s world people need more freedom to choose their beliefs. Franey pointed to how this freedom has brought her to a point where she believes in a female omniscient and omnipotent God who takes many different forms. But while organized religion has been more limiting for some, like Franey, there are others, like Garoutte, who find the religious element to be a fruitful and helpful component of faith. I consider myself both spiritual and religious, said Garoutte. I enjoy the community of the Catholic Church and its traditions, and the way its many services are set up. So, while Abrams study might suggest that religion as an institution will be driven toward extinction in some countries, that s not a claim that goes uncontested by scholars or by the faithful.

8 2011 Chandler Student Award Submission José Martinez, page 8 of 8 [Religion] really allows me to find God at a deeper level within myself, said Garoutte.