Benedictine welcomes record 30 students into Catholic Church

A record 30 Benedictine College students entered full communion with the Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, the largest group the college has welcomed to date and a milestone that reached well beyond the chapel in Atchison.

Eight of the 30 received all of the sacraments of initiation, while 22 were confirmed after months of preparation through weekly OCIA meetings. The students had spent the previous eight months in formation led by fellow students and assistant chaplain Father Christian Schwenka, a pace of preparation that turned the celebration into the end of a long process of instruction, discernment and steady campus support.

Archbishop Shawn McKnight celebrated the liturgy. McKnight, who was installed as the 12th bishop and fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas on May 27, 2025, congratulated the students after the service, underscoring how the moment connected Benedictine’s campus life with the wider Catholic community across northeast Kansas.

The size of the class made the event stand out inside Benedictine, but its impact also reflected the college’s role in Atchison’s religious identity. Benedictine said the 30 students represented about 10% of the school’s non-Catholic students entering the Church that Easter season, a share that shows how strongly the college’s Catholic culture continues to shape student life and local faith formation.

Father Schwenka said the students were deeply committed, and that the weekly sessions often ran long because they kept asking questions and wanted to keep learning. That kind of sustained formation matters in a town where Benedictine is one of the most visible institutions, because it ties the college’s mission to the churches, families and parish networks that surround it.

Freshman Rance Ridley was among those received into the Church. Ridley said he looked forward to receiving the Eucharist every week after watching others receive it for the entire year, and Father Schwenka served as his godfather and sponsor. His story put a personal face on the larger number, showing how a campus-wide milestone becomes a family-level and parish-level moment as students move into full participation in Catholic life.

The liturgy drew a packed house, with the student body turning out in force to support classmates and new Catholics. For Benedictine and for Atchison, the record turnout signaled more than a successful ceremony. It showed a growing Catholic presence that is now helping define the college’s identity and deepen its connection to the community around it.