College students, 20-somethings make joyful noises before God in Catholic Underground
After hour of prayer, attendees let loose with praise, rock or rap style By Margaret Ramirez |Tribune reporter March 12, 2009
It's Thursday night, and inside a candlelit Roman Catholic chapel on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, a group kneels in prayer for Eucharistic adoration.
Immediately
after the service ends about 8 p.m., the college students and
20-somethings head next door to the lounge, which has been transformed
into a mini-nightclub. Lights flash, music pumps and the monthly party
known as Catholic Underground kicks into high gear.
"Everybody in the house throw your C's up," shouts hip-hop artist Yung PK.
"Throw your C's in the air if you're Catholic," he raps.
The crowd grooves, with many raising their hands in a cupped shape to resemble a "C" for Catholic.
With word traveling through MySpace and word-of-mouth, Catholic Underground has quickly gained popularity
as the region's only nightspot that mixes hip-hop and rock music with
dancing, videos and messages about the Catholic faith.
Deep
prayer before hard partying seems like an unlikely combination, but UIC
student Michelle Chandy, 20, said that's what makes the evening unique.
"It
wouldn't work without the Eucharistic adoration at the beginning,"
Chandy said. "We pray first and that's like a source of energy. Then we
come in here and it's loud and crazy. So, we burn off the energy."
Her friend Cathy Sorich, 21, agreed and said Catholic Underground connects the church's past with its future.
"In
the chapel, we have the rituals, then you come to the next room and
it's young people who are the future of the church," she said.
Catholic
Underground began in New York in 2006 by the Bronx-based Franciscan
Friars of the Renewal and set off something of a religious revolution
as dozens of other youth leaders launched their own versions in Long Island, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. There are eight Catholic Underground locations in the U.S. and two in Europe.
The Friars' inspiration for Catholic Underground, they say, was a call from Pope John Paul II, continued by Pope Benedict XVI, that the gospel must be in conversation with culture.
Friar
Agustino Torres said the monks first started in New York with a casual
"chilled-out devotion," followed by a punk rock or spoken word
performance. But people asked whether they could get more
contemplative. Thus, Catholic Underground was born, a marriage between
prayer and performance.
Catholic Underground fills a need for
young people seeking activities outside of church, many leaders said.
Torres added that the event also provides a link between the faith and
today's digital age.
"It is one thing to go to mass, but there
is a lot of cultural mediums that your average Joe is used to that you
just don't use in church. Catholic Underground attempts to help people
pray ... and it gives a forum to the many artists who are trying to
glorify God through their art."
Chicago's Catholic Underground,
on the first Thursday of the month, started in September 2007 when
UIC's Catholic chaplain, Rev. Pat Marshall, connected with Rob
Kaczmark, 25, director for Spirit Juice Studios. Marshall said he
wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between the church and the daily
lives of young people. Kaczmark, who produces Web sites and multimedia
for Catholic groups, said his goal for Chicago Catholic Underground was
to show young people through videos and music that that there are
different ways to experience God outside of Sunday mass.
"We
wanted to give it an edge," said Kaczmark. "So this is something that
really changes the way we look at religion. We're trying to make
religion hip—but in a way that's glorifying to God.
"We want people to get pumped about their faith," he said.
Although
evangelical churches have long used rock and hip-hop in worship and the
Internet to reach young people, the Catholic Church has been slower to
embrace multimedia and contemporary music to spread the gospel. But in
recent years, bishops have begun to use blogs and Web videos. The pope
launched his own channel on YouTube. Chicago's Cardinal Francis George will debut his own Internet venture next month on which he will feature short reflections.
Kaczmark
said he senses fear among some church leaders when they hear about a
Catholic event with hip-hop or rock music. But, he believes that is
changing.
"Whenever you tell people about Catholic hip-hop,
they want to know if you're trying to put hip-hop music in the mass,
and that's not we want to do," he said. "I think as more leaders push
things forward, it will make things easier for the rest of us."
So
far, some of the artists that have performed at Catholic Underground
include Catholic punk rock band Last Day, Christian rappers Mars ILL,
Flip Caderao and Sammy Blaze.
Last week, pop singer turned
Catholic evangelist Sal Solo performed a mix of reggae and hip-hop
while video images flashed on a large screen behind him with messages
against poverty, the death penalty and abortion.
Oscar Lara, a
Catholic youth leader from Melrose Park who learned about Catholic
Underground from MySpace, said he was considering starting a similar
event for Latino young people.
"We have so many kids out there
and you see the connection between violence on television and what's
going on in the streets," he said. "So, if television can do that, why
not use media in a positive way?"
Taylor Szatkowski, 20, said
she liked listening to music that touched on social justice issues, but
the best part of Catholic Underground was connecting with other young
Catholics.
"I really enjoy it," she said. "It's cool to have
something like this where you can meet other people who share your
faith and have a great time."
