In the News: Assistant VP of Advancement Discusses Men’s Ministries with U.S. Catholic Magazine

Mark Carbonara, assistant vice president of advancement at Dominican University, was interviewed for a story on men’s faith groups published by U.S. Catholic magazine.

In the feature “Men’s Ministries Refocus on Friendship and Vulnerability,” Carbonara, a men and masculinities scholar, shares that there is often a resistance among men to participate in faith-based social groups.

“Most men haven’t been taught to be vulnerable or have been punished for being vulnerable. That makes them avoid those faith-based spaces,” Carbonara said. “They want it, but knowing if they go there, they’ll have to be seen. And being truly seen—that’s the scariest thing in the entire world.”

When men do seek out a space for community, spiritual sharing and support, the impact is powerful, Carbonara says.

“Men’s-only spaces almost always end up being phenomenally cathartic and needed for men," he noted.

Read the entire piece at U.S. Catholic.