This academic year, the University of Louisville’s Catholic Campus Ministry is celebrating Sunday Mass off campus at the nearby Holy Name Church, located at 2914 S. Third St.
Holy Name, a 20-minute walk from campus, is an active parish with a history dating to 1891.
The Sunday Student Mass at 11 a.m. was added to the church’s liturgical schedule; all regular Masses at the parish will continue as normal.
Catholic Campus Ministry has held its Masses in U of L’s Interfaith Center on the Belknap campus for decades.
But, as Catholic Campus Ministry experiences growth, it can no longer fit the Sunday crowd, which often gathers 50-plus students, said Dominican Father John Baptist Hoang, chaplain of the campus ministry.
This year, the Catholic Campus Ministry has about 20 active Bible studies led by FOCUS Catholic missionaries and students and numbers for Sunday Masses are rising, explained Father Hoang.
Using Holy Name Church, located on the edge of campus, will enable the ministry to grow, he said, noting that students “are looking for a new spiritual home.”
The building, he said, is an invitation to students.
“It is a visible church. You can see the bell tower from the football stadium,” he said. When students see the church, they know “this is where Sunday worship happens.”
Just a couple of months into the school year, Father Hoang said the ministry is seeing new students at Mass, especially students who preferred to attend Mass at a parish upon their transition into university life.
“You feel the presence of God there,” said Father Hoang.
Catholic Campus Ministry hosts a time for fellowship over donuts after each Sunday liturgy, said Father Hoang. Mimicking “how parishes work,” he said, he hopes the students develop a Sunday routine of Mass and fellowship that will continue with them as they move into adulthood and off campus.
The ministry will continue to host daily Masses at 12:20 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Interfaith Center. The 11 a.m. Sunday student Mass will only be celebrated when the campus is in session.
In addition to the student Mass, Holy Name serves English-speaking and Spanish-speaking parishioners. It also hosts a candlelight Mass on Sundays at 9:30 p.m. It currently serves about 550 parishioners and its campus is home to the Father Jack Jones Food Pantry, a ministry of Catholic Charities of Louisville.
