
The front page of our website reads, "The mission of the St. Robert Bellarmine Fund is to empower Catholic students who are committed to orthodoxy and the teachings of the magisterium of the Catholic Church by providing scholarships to authentically Catholic universities. Our goal is to enable these students to receive a quality education that will equip them to become effective missionaries in all fields of work. By exclusively offering scholarships to universities listed on the Saint Robert Bellarmine Fund website, we aim to support the growth and development of the next generation of Catholic leaders who will make a positive impact on our Church, our society, and our world."
Why are we doing this? Why are we so concerned with providing students the support they need to attend these specific schools? Our short answer: We do this in order to save souls. We do this to help save as many souls as possible both within the Church and in secular society. For a more robust response: It doesn't take long to realize that the state of higher education in the United States is in shambles. High school seniors receive letters of acceptance from so-called elite, Ivy League schools with excitement and optimism. Yet, more often than not, the culture college students experience at secular institutions (Ivy League or not) is one that actively works against their spiritual, intellectual, and moral development. Rather than being fed with the great classical tradition of the West, they are force fed polarized, ideological talking points which they have no other choice than to accept for fear of being cancelled or ostracized. Rather than being given the tools to live authentically human (and thus free) lives, they are indoctrinated with inherently anti-Christian (and thus anti-human) principles. We must also mention that the practice of the Catholic Faith is often subjected to a classroom shared by other groups since Catholicism is considered just another "club" among many. The culture among college students on most secular campuses is widely vicious, intemperate, unchaste, and altogether incompatible with the dignity of the human person.
Unfortunately, many Catholic colleges across the country do not pose much of an alternative to their secular counterparts. Professors and administrators at many Catholic colleges actively contradict the teachings of the Magisterium in and out of the classroom. With the exception of the name of the institution, it is not uncommon to be unable to tell that a Catholic college is indeed Catholic. Students are not taught sound theology and philosophy. They are taught dishonest science and history. The Faith is often invoked as a guise for what is actually opposed to Christ and His Church. Quite unfortunately, it is clear that many institutions that purport to be Catholic are remarkably unworthy of the name.
Understanding that college is not simply ordered towards an academic education but a wholistic human formation, The Saint Robert Bellarmine Fund (in conjunction with the Cardinal Newman Society) has chosen to support an approved list of colleges that are guaranteed to aid the salvation of every student's soul. These colleges are entirely ordered toward every student's personal relationship with Jesus Christ within His Body, the Catholic Church. These colleges are places with a rich sacramental life, authentic Catholic theology, sound philosophy, and honest academia in all other disciplines. They are places ordered also to the professional and technical training of their students so that they might go forth into the world as true missionary disciples competent in their individual fields of work. An authentically Catholic university offers an intentionally guarded culture of virtuous friendship, profound leisure, life-giving recreation, and growth in character. In short, the Catholic university aims to form the whole person into a Saint--it is ordered towards the sanctification of each soul.
The Saint Robert Bellarmine Fund is fully committed to supporting students who are pursuing an authentically Catholic formation so that they might go forth into the world as leaders in the Church and in society. We work with these colleges in order to fortify the future of the Church--our future bishops, priests, religious, fathers, mothers, mentors, and professionals. We seek to build up the Kingdom of God with modern saints.
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