On January 24, 2023, the Chaplain’s Office resumed its annual Multi-Faith Prayer Service to represent the many faith traditions on and around campus. Many were excited for this tradition to resume, particularly those like me who practice religions different from Holy Cross’s Catholicism. What many envisioned as an opportunity for people of all faiths to come together in individual and collective prayer unfortunately turned out to be quite different than one would expect of a “prayer service.” There were some good things about the service, but overall, it hijacked the expectations of students to preach a partisan message and belittled the traditions of many students on campus.
The most problematic element of this “service” was the fact that very little emphasis was placed on prayer, reflection, or religious unity. It was instead focused on the heated political debate on climate change. Each speaker, the most extreme of which was Holy Cross President Vincent Rougeau, insinuated that each of their faiths required action by everyone to pursue partisan solutions to climate change without regard to the costs or feasibility of their proposed solutions. Rather than preaching a uniting message to bind us together as a community, these speakers, especially President Rougeau, decided to present a message that divides Americans along partisan lines and present it as a supposedly unifying message.
The issue of climate change is far from a unifying issue. The political debates around climate change range from those who literally believe air conditioning should be banned (clearly, they’ve never been to the South) to those who outright deny that climate change happens (which is factually inaccurate). However, most people fall somewhere in the middle and differ mainly on how to balance short-term necessities like a functioning economy and cheap, reliable energy with long-term goals such as energy diversification and carbon neutrality. These differences usually fall along partisan lines between Republican and Democrat, distinctions that should be absent from our faith communities.
Despite the divisive nature of the policy debate on climate, President Rougeau decided to equate being a person of faith and joining Eco-Action, an organization that constantly (admittedly not always) pushes a partisan agenda on climate without putting the ‘Democrat’ label on it. President Rougeau falsely claimed that all major religious organizations prioritize the specific climate policies promoted by the Left, stating that this is an issue that unites us. While many religions believe that it is man’s responsibility to be good stewards of the earth, that principle does not lead all people of faith to the same climate policy conclusions as President Rougeau and the Democratic Party. Furthermore, President Rougeau implied that those who do not share his views on climate change policy are selfish and irresponsible.
Another issue of the service is that it denigrated the Christian faith. While it represented Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, and Hindu faiths by inviting faith leaders to read their scripture (and expound on environmental issues from their perspective), there was no such representation of Christians. While all other faiths read their scripture or equivalent, there was no Christian text read (besides the shared Old Testament text of Christians and Jews). The only Christian representation was in the form of a song that does not even mention God or Jesus, while Islam’s Allah and Hinduism’s various deities were not only named, but glorified. Instead, the “Christian” song was dedicated to “Mother Earth,” a deity unknown to Christian doctrines. The Hindu minister talked about and glorified her goddess, the Muslim minister read from the Quran and glorified Allah, yet Jesus Christ was never even named. On top of this, the other faiths were represented by ministers of their faiths while Christianity (in which there are several faith traditions) had a college president — not a priest, preacher, or pastor.
After the service, we enjoyed a very nice meal, to the Chaplain Office’s credit. During the meal, I spoke to some of my Catholic colleagues on what they felt about the service. One junior told me that the podium from which the speakers presented their scriptures and messages is only to be used for reading the Bible in their tradition. She explained that “not even announcements or the priest’s message can be read from that podium.” The fact that Islamic and Hindu deities were exalted from that same podium (false gods in a Christian context) and that each speaker used it to promote a partisan agenda were extremely offensive to the Catholic students I interviewed. One sophomore told me that the service was highly unorganized, and students did not even know they had a role in the service until a few minutes before the event began.
Overall, this event was disappointing, as I was hoping to unite with those of different faiths to pray for each other. Instead, the event seemed like a McFarland Center talk on politics with a creepy bell between each speaker. As Alexis de Tocqueville advises, clergy should stay out of politics, as once a political movement inevitably fades, so will the religion that bound itself to that political movement. Faith communities should transcend partisan differences and seek to reach souls, not push a partisan agenda in the name of faith. Next year, I hope the Multi-Faith Prayer Service stays true to its name and that the Honorable President does not hijack faith for his political agenda.