Church has ‘thrown us out into the cold, slammed the door in our bewildered faces’| Opinion

Parishioners listen to a video taped message during Mass on July 3, from Rev. Rene Costanza at the Thomas More Newman Center, the parish and student ministry at Ohio State, letting them know that the diocese is being taken from the Paulist Fathers, who have run it for 65 years.

Sabrina Evans-Renkar is an independent filmmaker and an assistant professor of media at Capital University. 

I am one of hundreds of faithful parishioners at the St. Thomas More Newman Center Catholic Parish who feel as though the Diocese of Columbus has abruptly thrown us out into the cold and slammed the door in our bewildered faces.

After 66 years of service and ministry to the Ohio State University and central Ohio communities, Bishop Earl K. Fernandes — a man so new in this post that his clothes still bear the scent of his ordination incense — has decided to suddenly revoke the mission of the Paulist Fathers at the Newman Center, giving them barely three weeks to pack up and depart the spiritual community that has relied on them for decades.

More: Parishioners shocked, angry as Paulist Fathers prepare to leave Ohio State’s Newman Center

It may be surprising for some to realize that the Newman center is far more than just a church for students.

It has a large and vibrant resident community in addition to its student parishioners and it is comprised of all threads of God’s human tapestry — even the faithful misfits that the so-called “Big C” Church might subtly frown upon: strong women, LGBTQ individuals, divorcees, progressives, and even those who simply are believers of the Catholic faith but are justifiably skeptical of a religious hierarchy with a deeply flawed history.

More: Jardy: All no longer feel welcomed at LGBTQ-friendly parish. Bishop ‘shutting that all down’

Father Evan Cummings hugs Greg Stype as he and other parishioners walk into the Newman Center.

As my mother would tell you, one of the many reasons she and I began going to Newman when I was 13  was not just so that I could be around other young people practicing their faith, but so that we could be part of a community which is as intellectually devoted to God as it is are spiritually (after all, the center is named for one of history’s most celebrated Catholic scholars).

The Newman Center is a thinking church. It’s a church filled to the brim with people who aren’t just Christmas-and-Easter Catholics, but rather people who are constantly reading the works of Christian scholars; exchanging ideas at religious retreats and prayer groups; pursuing evolving paths toward equality and social justice; and constantly pushing themselves to grow as both thinkers and believers.

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More: Six things to know about the leadership change at Ohio State’s Newman Center

Sabrina Evans-Renkar is an independent filmmaker and an assistant professor of media at Capital University.

More: How to submit guest opinion columns to the Columbus Dispatch

I don’t think it’s too bold to claim that the Catholics at The Newman Center fully believe that the best way to do the work of Christ is to use our minds in equal measure to our hearts.

This exceptional community is largely possible because of the leadership of the selfless, open-hearted, all-welcoming Paulist Fathers, whose work at Newman has always been to “build a house where love can dwell / And all can safely live.”

That last line isn’t mine — it’s the opening of Marty Haugen’s beautiful song, “All Are Welcome,” a song I have sung with my fellow Newmanites so many times during the 25 years I’ve been a member of this Parish.

In fact, its message of radical inclusion is an excellent representation of the religious formation instilled in me at Newman. It’s also one of the key tenets that helps me keep faith in an increasingly faithless world.

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For Bishop Fernandes to cast the beating heart of us out seemingly without warning feels not only like a brutal assault on his own people, but also somewhat suspicious.

As a thinking Catholic, I like many of my friends at Newman have questions: If, as set forth in the Diocese’s “Real Presence, Real Future” campaign, the role of the new OSU Newman is become more of a student-geared evangelization tool, why did the Diocese wait until the students who hold this community dear were gone for the summer to announce the dismissal of their spiritual mentors?

More: ‘God’s plan’: Fernandes takes over Columbus Diocese with ceremony at Westerville parish

And why, when attendance and resources are dwindling throughout the Diocese, is a large parish that welcomes hundreds of people and brings in over a million dollars a year considered expendable?

And why is it that as part of the Real Presence, Real Future plan, the Diocese promised “listening to the needs of our local church and hearing your ideas, concerns, and desires” and then gave Newman no prior notification, no invitation for feedback, no listening session, just three weeks’ notice that our entire clerical staff was being evicted?

Father Jimmy Hsu leads Catholic Mass at the Newman Center on July 3.

One of the linchpins of the Newman Center, Father Vinny McKiernan, just celebrated the anniversary of his 65th Ordination and continues to be a vital spiritual guidepost and devoted servant to the larger Central Ohio Catholic community — just as he has for over 30 years. Exactly whose needs are best being served by sending him and his brother priests packing?

I cannot help but wonder if building a name and a legacy has become more important within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops than shoring up a bedrock faith community that could only expand the reach and potential of Christ’s message in the world?

More: Letters: Faithful 91-year-old priest among those ousted from residence. Bishop out of step.

The new Bishop, Earl K. Fernandes, seated, is applaude by Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, left, during his ordination and installation as the thirteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westerville, Ohio, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Fred Squillante-The Columbus Dispatch

Sadly, I have no questions about the memorandum mentioned in the Dispatch’s coverage of this story that cites the Diocese’s intentions to equally embrace lay groups synonymous with intolerance alongside more forward-leaning movements.

The answer to me and to my fellow parishioners seems heartbreakingly clear: that very soon All will no longer Be Welcome at the St. Thomas More Newman Center.

Sabrina Evans-Renkar is an independent filmmaker and an assistant professor of media at Capital University. 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: Why is are priest leaving St. Thomas More Newman Center