A surprising statistic was brought to my attention the other day. Did you know that lay people make up about 99.9 percent of the Catholic Church in the United States?

This came as a shock to me because I, like many fellow Catholics, consider the clergy one of the most visible signs of the Church. How then could I explain this perception of a Church of priests in the face of such striking evidence to the contrary?

One of the reasons for this misconception probably was the high profile nature of priests as the administrators of the sacraments, but I don,t think that this explains it completely. For example, do I think of politicians when I think of America?

No, I have a firm idea of America as the sum of all its citizens, not just the most visible political leaders.

Further reflection led me to think more about the attitudes of many lay people. The majority of lay Catholics hold a position that is not in the official ministry of the Church. So even when I see people at Mass, I still identify them by their profession: this person is a doctor, that one is a lawyer, and that one a student. Only secondarily do I identify other lay people as Catholics.

I believe that this is unfortunately how many people do think about their religion. They see faith as something secondary or separated from the daily activities of their week. I did not think of the lay people as the Church because they do not think of themselves as the Church.

Gaudium et Spes, a document of Vatican II, warns against this attitude, however. It says, “Since they have an active role to play in the whole life of the Church, laymen are not only bound to penetrate the world with a Christian spirit, but are also called to be witnesses to Christ in all things in the midst of human society.”

This is the great calling of Christ and the Church in the modern world-not for lay people to renounce the world and join a monastery, but rather for them to embrace the world with an inner spirit that is infused with the message of Christ.

And now, more than ever, there is the possibility to accomplish this. New ministries and spiritual opportunities are being opened up to lay people, that would have been largely unheard of 50 years ago. Positions like liturgical minister, catechist and parish administrator have all come to be held largely by laity.

Unfortunately these chances go unappreciated by so many. They see religion as something that is done in an hour a week on Sunday. This narrow view leaves religion a hollow shell that is in no way comparable to the extraordinary call of Christ present in the Gospels.

Even outside of official positions of ministry all of us are called to bring our faith to the positions and professions that we hold in daily life.

Here at the University for example, it is not acceptable to be a student in one part of life and a Catholic in a separate part. One’s Catholicism must influence how one meets every challenge and decision of the day.

And this duality continues after we graduate. It will not be enough to be either merely a Catholic or merely a lawyer, one must be a Catholic-lawyer. These values and spirituality must be taken up and lived out within the world.

Only if our private values are applied in the public world can a positive difference be made in society. Imagine the difference that it would make if every Christian businessperson made his or her daily decisions according to the teachings of Christ! I,m willing to bet that there would be a lot less need for special efforts like SLU’s food drive to provide for the needy.

Changing people’s priorities cannot be accomplished easily, however. That is where educational institutions like SLU become of great importance. As a Jesuit University, we have a responsibility not only to train students for future professional careers, but we have a responsibility to form Christian professionals capable of making positive and dramatic changes. If that does not happen, then what differentiates SLU from any other private or public university?

It is time that laity laid true claim to the Catholic Church. Just as we all make up America despite not working in the government, we must create the Church in the same way.

We, the 99.9 percent, must make ourselves its most public face, ready to present to the world.

Chris Schroeder is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.