The Catholic Student Society is a new faith-based group at Oakland University. The group uses prayer and guest speakers to help its members express their faith.

The organization’s treasurer, Emily Fitzgerald, explains how the club got its start.

“Three of my other friends and I got together freshman year — we’re juniors now. We lived in the dorms and we started saying the rosary every night together. And then we had this idea, ‘What if we had a club where we got people on campus to get together to pray the rosary,'” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said the group meets twice a month, with a speaker meeting every other week. The weeks in between there are bible studies. Each meeting is ended with saying the rosary.

She also talked about the group’s involvement in this year’s America Needs Fatima Rosary Rally.

“Groups of people throughout the United States gather in public with groups of their friends or colleagues, anyone from their church and they pray the rosary in a public place,” Fitzgerald said. “We prayed the rosary in front of the Oakland sign, the main one off of Squirrel and University.”

Fitzgerald is looking forward to building a solid Catholic organization, as well as community.

“We are hoping to make a close-knit community,” Fitzgerald said.

The group’s president, Bianca Marrogy, describes what inspired her to start the organization.

“I didn’t see the Catholic presence I wanted on campus, so I guess I wanted to share that with other students,” Marrogy said.

Marrogy said the speaker meetings and bible studies will be the main focus of the group, with a different priest from surrounding churches speaking at speaker meetings.

She also discussed one of their upcoming events that will take place in Detroit.

“We are having Detroit church tour. We’re planning it for the end of the semester,” Marrogy said.

The organization faculty adviser is professor Grzegorz Tokarski. He teaches Italian at Oakland University. Tokarski is also a priest to three churches in Detroit.

Tokarski leads many of the group’s bible studies and has appeared as a guest speaker. He says the group is a place for students to share in their faith and it is open to students of other faiths as well.

“It’s an opportunity for students, first of all to sit down, to meet, to talk and to share experience,” Tokarski said. “It’s about faith but I wouldn’t mind having students from other faith.”

Tokarski believes OU is a great place for students to grow intellectually as well as in their faith.  

“University is a place of intellectual dialogue and faith. Faith means I use my mind too,” Tokarski said.

Tokarski wants students to feel comfortable and at home within the organization.

“This is the way also to provide students with this kind of welcoming spiritual environment,” Tokarski said.

The Catholic Student Society meets every other Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Lake Huron/Lake St. Clair rooms of the Oakland Center.