In Providence, Rhode Island, the presence of Dominican friars has long been felt through their leadership of Providence College. In the same city, they also run a Catholic chaplaincy for the nearby secular schools, a ministry designed to serve both Brown University, a member of the Ivy League, and the Rhode Island School of Design, a prestigious private art school. The Brown-RISD Catholic Community, known as the “BRCC,” has proven itself as a vital pathway for Catholics looking to deepen their faith in the context of their intellectual formation, and for many Catholic-curious students who have recently joined the faith.
Two intellectual leaders and friars featured in the previous article in this magazine, Fr. Albert Duggan, O.P. and Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., earned their undergraduate degrees from Brown. When Brown’s Catholic chaplaincy was entrusted to the Province of St. Joseph in 2015, Fr. Albert returned to his alma mater to serve as its first Dominican chaplain.
We spoke with Fr. Justin Bolger, O.P., the current chaplain of the Brown-RISD Catholic Community, about his role in the formation and accompaniment of college students. Through hands-on involvement and intellectual leadership, Fr. Justin and his staff make sure to provide their students with everything a Catholic needs, including daily Mass, Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, OCIA, weekly lectures on theological and philosophical topics, Bible studies, book clubs, works of mercy, pro-life work, readings groups, the Thomistic Institute, and retreats.
The Presence of the Church Leads Towards Truth
Fr. Justin describes that: “The students at Brown and RISD are bright and looking for solid answers to their questions about God, truth, friendship, and a solid path to happiness. As Dominicans we emphasize saving truth. And of course we experience truth in different ways: in prayer, scripture, studies, friendship, art, service.”
Among the students there are differing personalities with differing needs: “Some [students] are looking for intellectual answers, and our patrimony has what they’re looking for. Some desire community: our weekly Monday night event features dinner, a lecture, and Compline [to fill and feed] their hearts and minds. There are different on-ramps to the faith, so we try to offer a range of experiences that will hopefully pique interest and lead students closer to the Truth.”
On a college campus, organic outreach comes first. “Students find out about the BRCC in the usual ways: social media, personal invitations, and the occasions when we table at resource and club fairs,” Fr. Justin says. “I also often interact with students walking around campus in my habit, in the cafeterias, at student concerts, or athletic events.”
Fr. Justin and the BRCC staff were well positioned to handle a recent on-campus tragedy: “I think what’s most helpful about the BRCC is presence. First, there is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. But the Chaplain, staff, student leaders, and the Center are also available, and students find solace in this. I know that during this past year, which was particularly tragic given the shooting on campus—one of the victims regularly joined our Catholic community for worship and fellowship—many students, Catholic or not, appreciated the regular presence of our community as a place of hope and friendship.”
Dominican Intellectual Influence
When you put a Dominican friar in charge of a college ministry, it is natural to wonder how he is influencing them intellectually. “Students enjoy the thought of Aquinas, of course, and I enjoy introducing students to the Thomistic tradition. We’ve been reading Peter Kreeft’s newest edition of A Shorter Summa recently for our weekly book club. We spent a few weeks just discussing Aquinas’ Five Ways, his arguments for the existence of God.” He also mentioned Rene Girard, C.S. Lewis, and commentator Matthew Crawford as thinkers that are crossing the desks of his students.
But the BRCC is not just a Catholic book club. The rigorous intellectual life and the search for truth have led many students providentially to Christ. The community logged its biggest OCIA class ever last year, with twelve baptisms and seventeen confirmations. The BRCC is directly Dominican-led: “Our OCIA classes meet on Sunday afternoons beginning in the fall and I teach them. I also meet with students 1-1 on a regular basis to discuss the faith or for make-up classes. An exciting part of the OCIA ministry at the BRCC is that the student population is international, and belief backgrounds are diverse. We have converts from Buddhism, Hinduism, and atheism. So it’s a privilege to be able to walk with these students coming from different belief backgrounds and introduce them to the truth of Jesus and the Catholic Church.”
Why is the college chaplaincy seeing such success? Fr. Justin has a simple answer, which lies in the Dominican focus on the mind, and truth. “Dominicans have always been present on campuses [and] working with young people. St. Dominic sent the friars to the universities of the early 13th century… it was there where we first flourished, so it’s our natural habitat. We enjoy the pursuit of truth and introducing students to the saving truth of Christ and our Catholic patrimony. We are blessed with so many riches: liturgical, intellectual, artistic, spiritual. And as Dominicans on college campuses we get to provide a place where students can access these riches and be set free by that.”
