Since the beginning of the last century, special parishes and centers have been set up to serve the spiritual needs of Catholic students at non-Catholic universities and colleges. These centers were named after John Henry Cardinal Newman, an English educator and churchman from the 19th Century. Among Cardinal Newman's extensive theological writings was a series of essays called "The Idea of the University" in which Newman pointed out that the university and Church are driven by the same quest: the search for universal truth. The words "catholic" and "university" are respectively from the Greek and Latin words which mean "universal". Newman Centers are established as part of the university community working along side the university staff and faculty to offer students a more complete education. The Newman Center is a registered student organization which participates fully in the life of the University and a functioning Catholic community which provides all the services of a traditional Catholic parish for members of the university community and others who choose to be a part of our primary mission "to be the presence of Christ on the U of A Campus."
