Provo • At first glance, the rosaries may seem out of place on this Latter-day Saint campus, but Catholic students at Brigham Young University have passed them out for years.
The school’s Catholic Newman Club, founded in 1997, was named after renowned theologian John Henry Newman and formed as a gathering space for the faith on campus. Years after the club’s initial popularity diminished, it has made a significant comeback since 2022 — rosaries in tow.
“When we first started in the club, we wanted to make it kind of like a hub for Catholics,” club President Javier De Los Reyes said. “But over the past year, we also wanted activities to be more open to anyone, even if you’re not Catholic.”
While BYU is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ flagship educational institution, members of other faiths make up a small chunk of the student body — less than 2%, according to the school. To attend, those students must receive an ecclesiastical endorsement from another religious leader or the university chaplain and agree to follow the school’s Honor Code.
When Fernanda Romero, an international student from El Salvador, first arrived in Provo in 2022, she enjoyed the welcome she received from Latter-day Saints, but she still desired a place to practice her Catholic faith.
“On orientation day,” she said, “they were saying [words] like, ‘wards’ and ‘stakes,’ and I had no idea what they were talking about.”
Missing out on Mass
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students walk between classes on the BYU campus in 2022. Students revived a Catholic club on campus, leading to the school's first Mass in years.
Growing up in El Salvador, Romero was used to being surrounded by Catholics, who make up more than 40% of the population. In the Beehive State, though, 4% of Utahns identify as Catholic.
Romero, new to this Latter-day Saint campus in an overwhelmingly Latter-day Saint city, searched for a place to fit in. That’s when she discovered the Catholic Newman Club.
“I started doing some research,” Romero said. “I found a Catholic club and then I sent them an email but never really heard anything back.”
So she decided to email the university chaplain, Jim Slaughter, who invited her to meet. Slaughter suggested that Romero restart the Catholic Newman Club.
“He asked me if I wanted to lead the project,” she said, “and so I was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’”
The group’s revival inspired other students, like De Los Reyes, to join. When he moved to Utah in 2021, De Los Reyes had no way to get to Mass on Sundays, missing out on attendance for his entire first year of school.
He was surprised when Romero reached out to him to join the club a year later, but he was excited to create a space for other Catholic students. He loved his school, but he didn’t want to feel like he was missing out on living his own faith.
De Los Reyes had ambitious plans with Romero and others, with the ultimate goal of starting a weekly Mass for BYU students. Since its resurgence, the club passed out rosaries and invited students across campus to join them.
Making Mass happen
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students walk between classes on the BYU campus in 2022. Students revived a Catholic club on campus, leading to the school's first Mass in years.
By 2024, the group, now with more than a dozen members, was ready to bring a celebration of Mass to campus.
The school was open to the idea, De Los Reyes said, but wading through campus bureaucracy and getting it approved — and finding a priest — were tricky. The relatively few Catholic priests in Utah were so busy, it was hard to find someone to commit.
After finding a priest and a location for the event, De Los Reyes said the club faced a final obstacle.
“They were not letting us do the Mass in a lot of rooms across BYU because we used candles. That’s how the Mass is celebrated,” he said. “And then people were like, ‘Oh, no, you can’t do that because it’s an open flame.’ But at the same time we’re all adults.”
Eventually, the school relented. On Jan. 16, the club hosted the first Catholic Mass on BYU’s campus in years. More than 300 people attended — most of the participants were Latter-day Saints.
“We anticipated like 150 people showing up,” De Los Reyes said. “But then 350 people showed up. It was an insanely packed room. People were standing everywhere. There were no empty seats, which was super cool to see.”
De Los Reyes said that he’s been amazed at how the club has taken off and how it has turned into a group that welcomes students of other faiths.
For her part, Romero said she is excited for how far the club has come and that she has high hopes for its future.
“I wish that the Catholic Club was already a thing my first semester,” Romero, now a junior, said. “So I hope that it also continues to stay. I’m having a great time practicing my religion on campus, and I’m glad that other people are having the same singular experience, too.”
Although the group is taking a break for the summer semester, Romero said she plans to continue growing the club next school year — with the help of those rosaries.
Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories.