By Christian Guerithault ’14 & Charles Dominguez ’14
THE ROUNDUP
The Issue: Some people see Brophy strictly as a Catholic school.
Our Stance: There’s religious diversity on campus, and that’s part of what informs our campus as a whole.
With traditions and practices like morning prayer, monthly Masses and the daily Examen, Brophy has never shied away from its Catholic identity.
As a school, we wear our label as a Jesuit institution with great pride—and rightfully so.
Still, we have a good deal of religious diversity on campus that we mustn’t ignore.
One of the main talking points of this year’s Summit on Human Dignity was that diversity within our society is something worth not just identifying but celebrating.
It’s important that we don’t forget about diversity of religions in that discussion.
We shouldn’t feel obligated to ignore different religions out of politeness or avoid them out of fear and misunderstanding. Instead, we should explore the possibilities of these faiths and celebrate the differences between cultures.
After all, catholic means universal.
There are plenty of religions worldwide and, for the most part, each of them has some form of representation on campus.
If we, as a school, collectively fail to celebrate Brophy’s non-Catholic population, we fail to properly represent ourselves.
Our religious diversity is part of what informs our school’s and our students’ collective conscience.
Spiritual upbringing has a great influence on one’s life. It determines a great number of our experiences and beliefs.
When a variety of backgrounds and beliefs come together, ideas start to change and mature.
With representation from all spectrums of religion, the Brophy environment encourages the kind of thoughtful discourse that leads to better informed ideas.
Our community stresses being religious and open to growth. Putting those two traits together leads to the religious community that Brophy is all about.
Ultimately, diversity allows for innovation that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
And that alone is something worth celebrating.
