In union with the whole Church, the Catholic Center exists to challenge students, faculty and staff at the University of Vermont and Champlain College to answer the universal call to holiness in imitation of Jesus Christ through spiritual, intellectual, human and evangelical formation, preparing them to live out their vocations and take the Gospel into the world.
For over 100 years, special centers have emerged on secular college and university campuses to serve the spiritual needs of Catholic students, faculty and staff. These centers are named after John Henry Cardinal Newman, an English educator, convert, faithful priest, and holy soul in the 19th Century. Among Cardinal Newman's extensive theological writings was a series of essays called 'The Idea of the University' where he observed that the university and Church are driven by the same quest: the search for universal truth.
Our chapel is named after St. Augustine who tirelessly sought the answers to life's most fundamental questions. Unbaptized and burning for knowledge, he left Africa blinded by pride and stubbornness. Despite his intellectual accomplishments, he quickly fell into a life of immorality, yet the young Augustine still recognized an emptiness in his life. In a moment of grace, he came to realize that every human heart is created with this great abyss which cannot be filled by worldly pleasures. He proclaimed to God, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."