A day in the life: Catholic Priest

Father Charles Cummins is the priest at the Newman Catholic Student Center, which is located adjacent to the Weber State University Ogden Campus. Father Cummins has been the priest for almost 20 years, and performs mass daily at 12:30 in the afternoon at the center.

Signpost: How long have you been a priest at the Newman Center?

Father Cummins: I've been at Weber State since 1989. Four years before I came to Weber State, I would come and say mass and there was another priest there. I became full-time in '89.

SP: What is your educational backround?

Cummins: I graduated college with a major in accounting. Then, I went into the Marine Corp. From there, I went to seminary and a got a B.A. in Philosophy. It took me four years.

SP: What is a basic, normal day like for you?

Cummins: It's hard to say what's normal because I also have a church 12 miles from here in Huntsville. On Sunday, I say two masses in Huntsville in the morning, and two Sunday evening in Weber State. I also have a daily service at the Newman Center.

SP: What is the most difficult part of being a priest at Weber State?

Cummins: One of the things that is difficult is that we're nontraditional. We have 19,000 students, and only 1,000 of them live in dorms. We're a commuter campus. People go to churches in the proximity of the campus. SP: Do you have many people in your congregation who are not college students? Cummins: Less than 10 percent are college students. 200 people come here on a Saturday night, and of that 200-250, less than 10 percent would be students. Many students go to their own church in the area where they live.

SP: What made you choose to come on campus to the Newman Center?

Cummins: I was in Ogden, working at St. Benedict's Hospital. I would come over and do services, and then I decided to come and take the position.

SP: What made you want to be a priest?

Cummins: A lot of people think something happened, like someone died, that made me want to be a priest. But it wasn't like that. I started the seminary thinking if I failed a test or something, it just wasn't meant for me. Seminary gave me courage. I think I would have been a coward through life without it.