Interview with Matthew Rudolph: What Is Newman Club?

Adelphi Catholic Campus Minister Matthew Rudolph (right) meets with Katie Hundertmark, Newman Club President Katie Correa and Julie Hundertmark (far-left to middle).

For my first post, I sat down with Matthew Rudolph, Newman's Catholic Campus Minister, to discuss what the Newman Club is, does and hopes to do.

Newman News: In a nutshell, what is Newman Club?

Matthew Rudolph: "Newman is a student organization that is the [Catholic] Church's organization on campus. There are three pillars: prayer, service and fellowship. The club is open to people of all faiths, but it's a Catholic-based group."

NN: What is Newman Club's mission?

MR: "Newman acts as a home, as a family for students seeking to grow in their faith, and it's through our dialogue, our prayer, our support and our activities that students are empowered and strengthened to build others up on or off-campus."

NN: Do you believe Newman Clubs are vital to the Roman Catholic Church's mission?

MR: "Absolutely. College students are going through a time in their lives where they are evaluating everything they've ever been taught and are seeking new knowledge and really deciding the way they're going to live their lives. Many college students received a Catholic education through grade school and high school, but there's a disconnect with the Church during their college years. Newman Club is that link that connects college students back to their faith and gives them a community of support through which they can actually live it."

NN: Polling shows younger Catholics are far more liberal than their elders, placing many of them in opposition to official Church teaching on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. How do Newman Clubs rectify this?

MR: "I think that most people reject several teachings of the Faith because they don't fully understand them. Many think the Church does not fully understand - is not compassionate - to the problems of the world today. In Newman Club, students receive formation in the faith, they are given time to ask questions, given answers and they're given the opportunity to build a personal relationship with Christ."

NN: How do you draw a line between outright proselytizing and simply doing good works in the Name of Christ?

MR: "Pope Benedict XVI said, [quoting Pope Paul VI] 'modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.' If anyone listens to a teacher, it is because he witnesses first. Faith without works is dead, as James says."

NN: Has the Bishop or anyone else in the diocese been helpful to Newman Club?

MR: "Several dynamic priests within the diocese have taken an interest in the students of Long Island. They understand they are the future of the Church. We've had over a dozen priests involved in our ministry, providing the Sacraments, giving talks and just being present on campus."

NN: What inspired you to be a campus minister?

MR: "Because I wake up every morning, and I'm not selling a product. I'm not doing a job that doesn't have much meaning. I wake up every morning, and my mission is to bring souls to Christ. And that gives me such zeal and energy to be with these students."

NN: What has been the most difficult thing about being a campus minister?

MR: "I wish that there were four of me here. There's one of me serving thousands of students at Adelphi, and I wish there were more campus ministers to help support [other] campus ministers and Adelphi. But God is good, and He's multiplying the fruits of our labor."