University students urged to foster an ‘informed faith’

University students are being encouraged to discuss their faith through a series of discussions organised by the chaplaincy on campus.

“If we accept our Catholic faith without true knowledge it will eventually fizzle out. Students need to be directed towards an informed faith in which they discuss issues they may not be convinced of,” University Chaplain Michael Bugeja said.

He stressed that it was important for the chaplaincy to listen to students’ views on religion so action could then be taken to address the decline in interest in the Church.

The University Chaplaincy would be drawing on the results of a recent survey to move closer towards students by working through friendship. The survey, results from which were published in June, showed that students have, on average, 20 per cent less faith in the major Catholic beliefs than they did in 2003.

Their faith in the Church dropped dramatically, from 75 per cent in 2003 to 51 per cent just five years later. While 98 per cent of students in 2003 said they believed in God, the figure now stands at 94 per cent.

The survey also showed that Catholic beliefs were not being replaced by other religions or superstitions, as even faith in things like fortune-telling, the horoscope, reincarnation and the existence of more than one god has dropped dramatically.

However, it was also found that students yearn for contact with the Church as 91 per cent said the chaplaincy should provide religious guidance despite the fact that 79 per cent said they never used the services offered there.

Interpreting the findings of the survey in a seminar yesterday, Fr Paul Galea, head of the Department of Pastoral Theology, pointed out a marked difference between the way religion was perceived by church-goers and non-goers, with the former being more likely to embrace the traditional values of the Church.

He also pointed out stark differences between what students thought and what they practised.

While 74 per cent agreed with cohabitation, only 0.5 per cent actually lived with a partner. Similarly, while 76 per cent thought there was nothing wrong with premarital sex, only 44 per cent had engaged in sexual intercourse that year.

The age and life experience of the student sample may have had an impact on these figures, with 91 per cent being under 23 years old.

Psychology professor Dirk Hutsebaut elaborated that this clear difference between attitude and behaviour was the result of circumstances the individuals found themselves in. In fact, he pointed out, students were much harsher on issues that were far from their personal lives – like abortion (62 per cent disagreed) and divorce (43 per cent thought it was wrong) – but more lenient on issues closer to home like cohabitation (27 per cent disagreed) and the use of contraception (15 per cent disagreed).

The chaplaincy is organising monthly question-and-answer sessions on various religious topics. On Wednesday, Islam will be tackled in a discussion with the Imam at 7.30 p.m. The November discussion will explore exorcism.