A 2025 report from the Pew Research Center suggests that while Generation Z remains less religiously affiliated than older Americans, interest in spirituality and organized faith is beginning to rise among young adults.
“There’s a beacon of light on the corner of East Adams and Walnut Park that is very tall and great, and I think everybody can see it,” said Father Gerry Waterman, who has led the Catholic Center at Syracuse University since 2016.
Surrounded by fraternity and sorority houses, the newly expanded St. Thomas More Chapel and Catholic Center opened Wednesday, marking the first new Catholic worship space built in the city of Syracuse in nearly two decades.
Neighbors, clergy, and university members filled the new chapel to celebrate the dedication. What began as a small ministry of a few dozen regular attendees has grown to more than 250 in under ten years, prompting a donor-funded expansion that now serves both the university and the city at large.
Chancellor Kent Syverud, who has led Syracuse University for twelve years, called the project both a physical and spiritual investment.
“It’s important that students be able to belong and to find belonging,” he said. “Many find that in different faiths, and we have to support all faiths here. Hopefully this inspires what can be done in all sorts of faith communities.”
Syverud, himself a recent convert to Catholicism, said the chapel also reflects the partnership between campus and city.
“The broader Syracuse community is what helped build it,” he said. “It’s not just a Syracuse University facility—it’s for all the institutions on the Hill, the city, and beyond.”
Bishop Douglas Lucia of the Syracuse Diocese blessed the chapel with holy water during the dedication and said the expansion reflects a broader renewal of connection across the city.
“Faith is alive,” Lucia said. “Our young people are searching—for purpose, for community—and that’s evident across the board.”
That spirit extends beyond the university. Parishioners from across Syracuse often take part in services and community projects, including monthly sandwich deliveries for the Assumption Food Pantry on the North Side. Campus ministry leaders describe these efforts as a bridge between the Hill and the wider community.
Campus Minister Patrick McLaughlin said the new building symbolizes what’s been developing inside for years.
“The building is just a representation of the work that’s being done here,” he said. “We’re fostering a sense of oneness, and we hope to spread that love into the Syracuse community.”
As for Waterman, he said the chapel’s green-lit cross now rising above East Adams is meant to shine for everyone.
“It’s all because of them,” he said. “They go out and tell their friends, ‘Come with us. We have a good thing going.’ We wouldn’t need this building without that kind of spirit.”
