Is Boston College a good Catholic School?

[PHSshamrock]

I have an agnostic friend whom I’ve been trying to convert. He’s going to be going to Boston College next year. Does anyone know if BC is a good Catholic school that would potentially bring someone to Christ?

 

[Erich]

All I know about BC is that it didn’t make the Cardinal Newman Society’s Top Twenty.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If it’s status as a school “in the Jesuit tradition” wasn’t enough to dissuade me from recommending BC, this would: bc.edu/offices/careers/resourcesfor/lgbtstudents.html

 

[Wowbagger]

I’ve heard a lot of really bad things about BC. It is up there with Georgetown in the “Catholic schools gone horribly wrong” rankings. Still, like all Catholic schools, it does have a good Catholic community. Pray that he falls in with that group!

 

[PHSshamrock]

Pray that he falls in with that group!

I’ve been praying for him, everyday since I found out he didn’t know Christ. If anyone is willing to join me in praying for him or evangelization in general that would be great!

 

[ANNE_2]

If you want a “GOOD Catholic” College or University, I also recommend staying with the recommendations of the Newman Society as listed from the website provided:
thenewmanguide.com/TheCatholicColleges/tabid/506/Default.aspx

Here is the website for the Newman Society itself:
cardinalnewmansociety.org/

I went to a Jesuit University and sadly I would not recommend it to anyone at this time.
Catholic Universities are required to follow the teachings of the Pope and the Church, and many are disobedient due to secularism, relativism, and trying to be politically correct while morally wrong.
I would not recommend BC.

Further there is danger in that many professors do not teach in accord with the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”. And therefore teach error to further their own beliefs or their own politics.
A student may not realize that all Catholic Professors are not truthful or accurate.

 

[kozlosap]

LOL! I guarantee that BC far out ranks any of the schools on Newmanns list academically and especially for those wishing to go to med/law school after undergrad. Our children will not live in a strictly traditional Catholic world, so send them to the best academic school they qualify for. Their faith formation was given to parents and they had 18 years to counsel.

 

[PHSshamrock]

. Their faith formation was given to parents and they had 18 years to counsel.

Unfortunately my friend wasn’t raised Catholic so no faith formation there… as far as 18 year to counsel- I’ve only had 4 months to try to show him Christ so faith formation is going to have to continue in college.

 

[Samuel63]

Dr. Peter Kreeft is a professor at BC. In many of his talks he declares BC stands for Barely Catholic. In context, he is pretty serious.

I have two points to make, and one has already been made. I will repeat a little.

First, there are almost no schools that are authentically catholic. This goes for grade school, high school, prep school, and college. OK, there are a rare few. Most of our nations catholic schools have been subverted. Those parents that put hard-earned money into these schools will rarely admit to the problems that exist. The parents that have the freedom to direct their money are oh so slow to realize what is going on to make a course correction. It is so sad because the pocketbook is one of the most powerful ways to change the current state of affairs.

Second, a previous post had it right. If the faith is not lived at home, then forget about it. You are lost before even leaving home for the first dorm room or apartment on or near campus. If you are not doing the daily readings with your children, teaching the faith at the dinner table, herding the family to the sacrament of penance periodically, and praying the rosary at least on a schedule, then you are raw meat for the evil one and his minions.

It is never too late to start praying.

 

[Wowbagger]

LOL! I guarantee that BC far out ranks any of the schools on Newmanns list academically and especially for those wishing to go to med/law school after undergrad. Our children will not live in a strictly traditional Catholic world, so send them to the best academic school they qualify for. Their faith formation was given to parents and they had 18 years to counsel.

I would put the Pontifical University of St. Thomas up against BC any day of the week. “The Ang” has less breadth, but boy does it have depth.

I can’t speak for most of the others, as the Angelicum is the only one on the list I have attended (for one semester). I have seen a lot more brilliant people (many of them lawyers) go to and come out of St. Thomas in Houston than out of Boston College, but then I am in the Midwest, so Houston is closer.

Above all, however, I’m not sure I trust your educational endorsement when it lacks such basics as apostrophes. I mean nothing personal by that; only that it casts doubt on your credentials compared to the Cardinal Newman Society.

 

[Incomplete]

Second, a previous post had it right. If the faith is not lived at home, then forget about it. You are lost before even leaving home for the first dorm room or apartment on or near campus.

But that makes it sound like God only works through parents, and that’s not true. Many people develop a relationship with God later in life.

A friend of my daughter’s was raised in a home where faith was not lived. He considered himself agnostic when he first met her. He ended up meeting our priest and this year he was received into the Church and is avidly Catholic and all about God.

Environment is important. Some kids get a good upbringing and still leave the Church and even leave God. Others have nothing at home, but find their way to God later.

 

[PHSshamrock]

But that makes it sound like God only works through parents, and that’s not true. Many people develop a relationship with God later in life.

A friend of my daughter’s was raised in a home where faith was not lived. He considered himself agnostic when he first met her. He ended up meeting our priest and this year he was received into the Church and is avidly Catholic and all about God.

Environment is important. Some kids get a good upbringing and still leave the Church and even leave God. Others have nothing at home, but find their way to God later.

Thank you for this testimony. My friend was raised in a rather broken family. He is proud to have ‘overcome this’. Unfortunately he has only done so in grades, school projects, athletics and such but has yet to meet Christ. However, I believe in the power of prayer, so there is hope.

 

[Incomplete]

I will pray for him. I’m so glad he has you as a friend. Just keep being his friend. It can take time, but with your willingness to be used by God, and technology to keep in touch, who knows?

 

[PHSshamrock]

Thank you! you have no idea how much this means to me.

 

[dixieagle]

My husband and I are both Boston College grads - Class of 1974. We joke that it’s a good thing we went then, as we would likely not get in now!!! Our daughter was accepted there, but, after much discussion, chose a large state university with a program that particularly interested her.

B.C. was founded as a college for the sons of the Boston Irish who weren’t allowed into Harvard due to the ingrained anti-Irish prejudice so prevalent in Boston. It had an excellent reputation when we attended and our education was outstanding; however, since the Doug Flutie era there has been a concerted and successful effort to raise the bar academically and be taken seriously as a noted university with national and international appeal. The quest for academic excellence and the desire to become attractive to a broader pool of applicants has been wildly successful; B.C. is consistently ranked very highly, and there are very few universities that have had more applicants in recent years.

However, it is clear to me that something precious has been lost. In its campaign for academic excellence and the desire to attract more applicants, the Catholic identity of the institution has been downplayed. People such as Mary Daly and various other theology professors, not to mention law school faculty, have been completely out of sync with Catholic orthodoxy.

There are bright spots (Peter Kreeft) and such student organizations as the Sons of St. Patrick; there are numerous opportunities for Mass (70 Masses weekly), and a deep and longstanding commitment to social justice. I wish that there was as strong a commitment to true Catholic social teaching with regard to life issues, including abortion and euthanasia.

Academically, B.C. is superb and continues to get even better. The school has much to offer, and you can’t beat Boston. I can only hope and pray that the school makes an effort to recommit to authentic Catholic identity. I see some signs that the pendulum has begun to swing back but there is a very long way to go. B.C. is currently “as Catholic as you want it to be”, and there are some wonderful Catholic students and faculty. (A young friend of ours - a brilliant and very orthodox Catholic young lady - is currently one of the Presidential Scholars.)

The OP’s friend will get an education of the highest quality at B.C.; whether he will be exposed to Catholicism in a way that will positively affect him, I cannot say, sadly.

 

[Incomplete]

Thank you! you have no idea how much this means to me.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

 

[PHSshamrock]

Thank you to everyone who has posted so far, your comments and prayers are appreciated.

 

[Bezant]

I have an agnostic friend whom I’ve been trying to convert. He’s going to be going to Boston College next year. Does anyone know if BC is a good Catholic school that would potentially bring someone to Christ?

From what I’ve heard, no.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

A friend of my started a PhD prorgam there and left after about 2 years. She kept arguing with lecturers because too many were heterodox. She had an absolutely awful experience and does not recomment the place to practicing Catholics.

 

[kozlosap]

I would put the Pontifical University of St. Thomas up against BC any day of the week. “The Ang” has less breadth, but boy does it have depth.

I can’t speak for most of the others, as the Angelicum is the only one on the list I have attended (for one semester). I have seen a lot more brilliant people (many of them lawyers) go to and come out of St. Thomas in Houston than out of Boston College, but then I am in the Midwest, so Houston is closer.

Above all, however, I’m not sure I trust your educational endorsement when it lacks such basics as apostrophes. I mean nothing personal by that; only that it casts doubt on your credentials compared to the Cardinal Newman Society.

Oh my! I could blame the iPad, but I won’t - I’ll turn my aged MA in based on your recommendation I still adhere to my opinion that you should attend the highest ranked school you are admitted to if financially able.