Cal State San Bernardino representatives, including President Tomás D. Morales and those from the CSUSB Catholic Newman Club, as well as local community members, joined Bishop Gerald Richard Barnes, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, on March 7 for a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Bishop Barnes Newman Center near the CSUSB campus.
The 5,000 square-foot facility is built on three acres. The building has a large main meeting area that can accommodate up to 150 people, but can also be divided into three separate meeting rooms. It has two offices, a music room, kitchen, bathrooms and a prayer chapel. Outdoors, there is a prayer garden, a large covered patio and a recreational area that includes a basketball court. There are also 35 parking spaces.
The total cost of the Newman Center project was $2.3 million, with a significant portion coming from the “Honoring Our Past, Investing in Our Future” fund created by Mary Ganje in memory of her husband, Tony.
Prior to the opening of the Barnes Center, Roman Catholic students at CSUSB have met in various conference rooms on campus for Mass, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), confirmation classes, confessions, club meetings and social functions. The center will serve Catholic students of the university while also welcoming any student or faculty member who wishes to spend time there.
Full story at Inside CSUSB.
I believe this is essential for University students and others to practice the Faith. Otherwise, they’re gone, unlikely to return. I have to wonder about 35 parking spaces. In auto centered Southern California is that enough?
What? Are there no parishes nearby where students can go to Mass and attend catechetical presentations or Bible studies? These campus Catholic centers are a complete waste of money. They serve a small population when the money could be much more effectively put to use improving parishes, which are the heart of the church. But bishops like buildings (especially ones with their names on them) because it has the appearance of progress, the appearance of doing something. Never mind that the church is losing large numbers of Catholics every year because parish life is generally abysmal.
Newman Centers are parishes, Anon. They are parishes that try to satisfy the needs of college-age students, just like the French, German, Italian parishes of years ago catered to the needs of their neighbors. Parishes are supposed to be communities.