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The
History of the Sheil Catholic Center
The
First 50 Years
When the Sheil
Catholic Center celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1989, a group
of talented and dedicated associates researched and wrote
a history of the first 50 years. We are reprinting that history
here.
The '60s - A
Decade of Crisis
By the time the
'60s dawned, Sheil had a history, a home, roots in the university
community and its own engaging and unique spirit. Its life
followed a pattern, but one that was flexible enough to meet
changes in the times. There was continuity but also growth
as each fall a new class of students came to the campus. In
the university at large, a major shift in admissions policies
and newly expanded financial aid resulted in a broader spectrum
of students. Catholics came in greater numbers than ever before,
reaching 30% of the Evanston campus enrollment. Sons and daughters
of Sheil alumni began to make their appearance. And as Catholic
faculty members also began to appear in increasing numbers
in just about every department of the university, the prediction
by an elderly classics professor was being fulfilled.
The mood at the
beginning of the '60s was one of hope and enthusiasm, nourished
in large measure by the elections of John F. Kennedy as president
and of John XXIII as pope. Both men touched the hearts and
stirred the spirit of the university community, arousing a
conviction that the world couldn't help but get better.
That world was
turned upside down by the assassination of President Kennedy.
One would never forget that afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963, when
the tragic news reached the university. A deadly silence descended
on the entire campus, and from every direction students came
flowing into Sheil. Not a word was said, but there were sobs
and tears streaming down faces as they slowly climbed the
stairs to the chapel, where they filled the pews until midnight.
The death of John
XXIII, everyone's pope, also had its saddening effect. As
one of the students remarked, "Now we have lost the two
Johns we loved."
John XXIII's historic
deed, of course, was to convene the second Vatican council.
As the most ecclesiastical event of the century, it sought
to bring the Church more directly into the relationship with
the modern world.
Catholics on campus
had a head start on what the council envisioned for the Church.
The Sheil programs had included lectures and discussions about
the council agenda before, during and after the council sessions.
Active and lively participation in the liturgy through the
dialogue Masses had been a Sheil practice since 1955.
Social action was
already taken for granted.
And from the beginning,
Sheil had been a living example of active participation by
the laity in the life of the Church. Sheil programs of this
era clearly reflected the spirit of Vatican II. Among the
featured speakers were Monsignor Reynold Hillenbrand, a noted
proponent of liturgical renewal and chaplain to units of the
Young Christian Students; Sister Mary Peter, S.S.N.D., co-director
of "Project Cabrini," a pilot program of remedial
education for inner-city adults; Rev. Robert Reicher, chaplain
of the Catholic Council on Working Life, on the issue of clerical
participation in civil disobedience; and Sheil alumna Camy
Harland Condon, back after three years of directing Papal
volunteers in Brazil.
It was also apparent
that Sheil was no longer limiting its speaking invitations
to Catholics only: Professor Victor Rosenblum of Northwestern's
Law School spoke on legal ethics; Rabbi David Polish discussed
the individual and community in Judaism.
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