Recently, people have been expressing hostility towards religion online, in the classroom, and at the dinner table. As a college student who has recently rediscovered her love for the Catholic faith, I have been acutely aware of this hostility being expressed towards Christianity. Humanity’s thoughts, values, and beliefs are ever-changing, but apparently, religion is not—or at least, it’s not supposed to change, right? So, when gay marriage is legalized in the United States, women want to start becoming priests, and the population of regular churchgoers has reached an extreme low, how is a place as ancient and sacred as the Catholic Church supposed to react? Disclaimer: the purpose of this article is not to take attention away from issues involving other religions or religious people, but because I was raised Catholic and was recently inspired by one of my professors who taught a course called "Creation of the World" at my last college, this is a topic I would like to discuss.

We’ve all questioned religion. Somewhere in between my confirmation and my first year of college, I stopped going to church so often, with the exception of Christmas and Easter. I questioned my belief in God, or any kind of supernatural being. I questioned Bible stories and their significance on my life and the world. I questioned the values of the church I had been attending since I was born. Questioning faith is perfectly normal and healthy, but I was feeding off information about religion that I was seeing online and hearing from my friends. Someone I follow on Tumblr has recently been writing and posting things like, “I fear God because he feared me first bitch! Stay twisted.” Another person wrote, “Conservative Christians: People are so easily offended these days! Just because I called Caitlyn Jenner a man and regularly use transphobic slurs doesn't mean I'm a bad person! Lighten up! Conservative Christians: Starbucks didn't put a CHRISTMAS TREE on their CUPS this year??? Us: Christians are truly oppressed...” Another said, “Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings.” I know people can put whatever their blog, but why write something so offensive about a topic that quite literally saves lives and gives people hope in times of doubt? It is because of posts like this on the Internet that I think a lot of people make the assumption that all Catholics believe in the same thing and all churches react the same way to controversy—at least, that’s what I take from what I have read online.

Even in school, people criticize religion (in historical, scientific, and ethical context) without a filter. Some people may not realize the extent to which they are offending their religious peers; I'm not saying students can't criticize, question, and discuss the controversial aspects of religion. There are still many issues within the realm of Christianity and Catholicism that need resolving, but people need to remember that religion has been around for thousands of years and change is not a simple, widely-accepted task. Religion remains a sensitive topic that must be discussed with consciousness and sensitivity. Please keep in mind that not all Catholics are against gay marriage, not all Catholics are standing outside abortion clinics with signs that read, “Lol, ur going 2 Hell!” and not all Catholics want to convert YOU! And then there's this whole controversy about Christians going CRAZY because Starbucks is “corrupting Christmas” with their bright red cups. Another Tumblr user wrote, “Because of a fucking cup, I’ve decided to wage war against the Christians for being ignorant and self entitled.” Do people actually think this is what dedicated Christians care about? If I had asked my priest what he thought about the “Starbucks cup controversy,” he probably would have said, “What?”

You wouldn’t say, “All Muslims are terrorists!” or “Men are smarter than women!” or “All Mexicans are illegal immigrants!” or “All gays hate religion!” So, what makes stereotyping and generalizing Catholicism and Catholic people any more acceptable? Again, I am not saying Catholics are facing the same issues as Muslims, gay people, or Mexican people/ those with Mexican descent, but stereotyping is wrong no matter what group of people is being targeted.

I wanted to have an in-depth and authentic conversation about some of these topics with a religious authority figure, so I visited Father Patrick at a small, Roman Catholic Church here in Boston that looks just as simple and humble as its personnel acts. His parents immigrated to America in the early/mid-1900s from Poland and Ireland. Father Pat has been a priest for 40 years and has had some truly touching experiences throughout his lifetime that he was willing enough to share with me. I am so grateful to have gotten such genuine insight into some of the controversial topics that I think are the reason behind all of these negative connotations associated with Catholicism. In this interview, Father Pat discusses his work within the Catholic Church and how his dedication to this lifestyle has made an impact on his life, contemporary Catholicism, religious illiteracy, and some of the more debated questions that are often connected to the Catholic Church. I hope this interview gives people a better understanding of what (some) Catholics believe in, besides, of course, condemning Starbucks to Hell.

How long have you been a part of the Catholic Church? When did you decide you wanted to be a priest?

“I’ve been a priest forty years. When I was a young boy, I thought about becoming a priest, but then I pursued my high school career, and then I went to college. It was after college and a year or two of working that the idea was still with me, so I pursued it. Then I actually worked out West for a number of years with the Native Americans out West in New Mexico and Arizona. I joined a diocese out there for about thirty-something years, and then, during that time, I spent ten years in Latin America. The priests here at [St. Stephen’s] work in Latin America and I am a member of what is called the St. James Society, founded by Cardinal Cushing.”

How has being a priest and helping other people had a significant impact on your life?

“Both [out West] and in South America, I received much more from the people than I feel I gave them. It was just a tremendous witness, especially in South America and the people that I worked with—a lot of poor people who are very knowledgeable and deep in their faith…The presence of God was so alive in their lives, and I witnessed that. They would say, ‘Thank you, Father,’ for this, that, and the other, but I often would think, ‘No, thank you for helping me, because you are strengthening my faith. It’s an awareness.”

What are the most difficult and rewarding aspects of your job?

“The rewarding aspects would be…the ability to help people, sometimes to see results, many times not, and to accompany people on the journey of their faith and everything that entails—joy, sorrow, pain, happiness, you know? ...And a [difficulty] is, perhaps, when you can’t help people for whatever reason—you just listen to them and wish you could do so much more, but you can’t because whatever they’re going through is beyond your power. I suppose sometimes just listening to people was a great honor and a gift—sometimes people would be pouring their hearts out to you, and it was hard to find the words, and then at the end they’d say, ‘Thank you for your help,’ and I’d think, ‘Oh my God, what did I say?’”

Was there ever a moment when dedicating your life to the church made you nervous or hesitant?

“Well, in the seminary, you have several years to decide whether or not you are capable of becoming a priest. You had to keep jumping through hoops, and if they didn’t feel you were ready, they’d tell you that you shouldn’t be studying to become a priest. Sometimes, people were sent home, and I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute. I’m still here? Wow!’ So, to answer your question, no—not really. I had the time to think about it. Even after, if you’re ordained and feel that it isn’t for you, today there isn’t a stigma to leave like there was years ago: ‘Oh it’s a disgrace! It’s terrible! Father left!’ No. It’s much healthier in that way. I know several former priests here in Boston and they’re wonderful! They’re married, have families, working, and why shouldn’t they be? Why should they be locked in if they’re unhappy?”

77% of Americans are religious, but are they also religiously illiterate? Do people actually read the Bible?

“I think that a lot of people do read the Bible, but I also know that you should have a guide to read the Bible, because it was written for a different time and a different culture and many different people. Now, the newspaper said 77% of American people are practicing religion or have a place for God, and I didn’t realize it was that high! I think we’re in a time when people don’t read the Bible as much as they used to or should, so I think they should have a guide to it. Here at the church, we have a program for people who are becoming Catholic, and it’s called the RCIA, and that goes back to the ancient way that people used to study religion. It stands for ‘The Right of Catholic Initiation of Adults.’ It’s the study program for people who are becoming Catholic. A lot of times, sponsors will come with [the students], who are already practicing Catholics, and often times they’ll say, ‘I didn’t know that!’ and they always finish the program saying, ‘Wow! I learned so much!’ and that confirmed something I’ve always thought about not just your generation, but my generation that went to parochial schools and thought, ‘Oh, I’m done with religion because we learned it at school,’ and so it became almost an infantile approach to religion in the sense that you’re increasing in your adulthood, but you are not increasing in your study of faith and religion. And then the pope in 1965 encouraged Bible study and more scripture study, and programs like that.”

There are so many different interpretations of Bible stories. Do you think the adam (or seed) in Genesis implies evolution? Can the Bible be interpreted that way? If people knew this, would they think differently about religion?

“There are various different interpretations of the Bible because there are so many different religions, and each religion interprets it according to their creator belief system. I think a lot of people will say, ‘I don’t believe,’ or maybe what they’re saying is, ‘I don’t want to think that deeply into it.’ I mean, I’ve seen so many people who didn’t have faith, but when a crisis comes along, their faith gets very strong, you know, if they get sick or something. It just seems that they’re facing the inevitable and they’re thinking more about [their faith]. And this is not only the non-believers, but the religious people, as well.”

Are there times when people are facing the inevitable the opposite happens—they feel as though they’ve lost faith in God, like, “Why, God, are you doing this to me?”

“Well, I think that’s always a question. It can be the most religious of people who ask that question, and I think that it’s a human question, and of course, the Bible is filled with that question. People who have been through wars, for example—they’re just not the same. They’ve had these experiences happen to them that are so damaging that they can’t get over it and question everything. Now, with this new abuse thing going on in the Catholic Church, many people have left the church—people who were affected by it, people who were abused—but, I was just reading again the other day about two people who run a column about abuse, and they said that it strengthened their faith. I was surprised to read that…I think it’s just an individual [faith].”

Has there been a recent increase in participation within the Christian community because of new ideals being adopted by religious authority figures and Pope Francis?

“Definitely. They call that ‘The Francis Effect.’ Because of him, a lot of people have been coming back to the church. Especially on the news, people will say, ‘I’m not even Catholic and I like this guy!’ or, ‘He’s making me think about my commitment.’ He has such a familiarity with people. Of course, he worked with the poor and he sees the injustice between the haves and the have-nots, and the Bible does tell us to share what we have, but a lot of people don’t want to do that. They’ll be the ones who say, ‘Believe in the Bible!’ but the Bible tells us to help the poor and visit the prisoned and visit the sick. [Pope Francis] believes that God loves the poor, and we as God’s children and representatives should work to help the poor. That’s why he has barbers coming in now to give haircuts to the homeless. He put showers in the Vatican for the homeless to use. He took a group of the homeless to eat with him in the Sistine Chapel—he wanted them to see it. In other words, he’s not just talk. He’s doing some concrete actions.”

Can homosexual people be a part of the Catholic Church?

“My own opinion about someone who is gay is: that is the way God made them, and that they should have a life filled with dignity. As the pope says, ‘Who am I to judge?’ Not, ‘Oh, you’re damned. You’re going to Hell. You’re this, you’re that.’ One thing I like about Pope Francis is his willingness to be open. Over the summer, we do these things called ‘Mission Appeals.’ We get so many churches here in Boston and all over the country involved. You go and give a talk about the mission [of the Catholic Church] and take up a collection, and that’s one of the ways we fund our work in Latin America. This past summer I went to Most Holy Redeemer Church in San Francisco, and that is in the Castro District, or the ‘gay area’ of San Francisco. It was a beautiful experience. I felt a deep faith there from the people attending mass—a very beautiful commitment to their faith. Many of them said to me, ‘It was hard for me to come to church—or to come back to the church—because it condemns my lifestyle, but I couldn’t life with out it. I thought, ‘Isn’t that true?’ but now, under Pope Francis, there seems to be such an openness. I think the Bible condemns so many other things, like adultery and lying and poverty and discrimination—so many things that people continue to do and believe in spite of what the Bible says. For instance, with Saint Paul when he’s writing his letters to the people and calls them saints, then goes onto accuse them of every kind of sin possible: ‘My sisters and brothers—saints of Christ—stop doing this, that, the other, and that, too.’ I just feel so often that we are judgmental when we shouldn’t be. We should be welcoming, and I think the church is trying to be welcoming, especially like that parish out west [in San Francisco]. I felt that it was a very welcome parish to gay people and everyone at that church.”

If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?

“It would be to forgive anybody who caused you any kind of pain or problems, especially within the family. I think a lot of people hold grudges against family members, and then the resentment builds up, and that leads to unhealthy attitudes… I think the Amish give us the best example of forgiveness. Fifteen years ago, this guy went to a school and shot a bunch of children—a bunch of Amish children. The Amish then brought [the shooter’ family] food and were the only ones who attended the funeral. In other words, they were the only ones who showed signs of forgiveness, where as we tend to condemn someone right away. I mean, I say this now, but I’ve never experience the murder of a family member, but I would hope that my faith would say, “Don’t put them to death.” Why? In the gospel, Jesus says, “Let the good wheat and the bad wheat grow together,” because maybe the bad wheat will change. God gives us time.”

How has forgiveness had a significant impact on your life?

“The people you don’t forgive have control over you. You’re holding that resentment and you’re holding that bitterness, and in fact, you’re being controlled by that person and whatever the situation may be.”

What would a faithless world look like?

“I think it would be very boring…at least from my perspective. Now, as someone who wasn’t practicing and didn’t have faith, they might say, “Oh, it’s wonderful.” With the rise of atheism and more people becoming atheists, they seem to be very happy with their lives, but speaking for myself, I think I would find it to be a very boring world. I find not only that faith gives me a meaning or purpose, but just to know that God is with me through good times and bad is a great help to me. If I didn’t have that, I would feel a deep void and uncertainty in my life. I hear it all the time from people, “Father, I don’t know how they can live without faith,” and there might be some tragedy or somebody gets killed in a car accident, and it leads to an absence of faith. I was at a benefit dinner for Haiti the other night. There are a lot of doctors from Boston who go to Haiti to work at St. Boniface Hospital, and somebody was telling me they’d been to a beautiful funeral, and a lady went up to the priest afterwards and said to him, “Father, that was beautiful. I only with I had done that for my mother.” In other words, the woman didn’t have a church funeral, and then she went to this funeral and it had such an impact on her that she was saying, “I wish I had done that.” Can you imagine if we didn’t have faith? We’d have no Easter, No Christmas, no St. Patrick’s Day, no Halloween—those are all religious holidays! Sunday, the weekdays, Valentine’s Day, Hanukah, all the Muslim holidays—if you took away religion, it would be a very boring world.”