Faith & Service
Growing in Faith and Purpose
Guided by our Catholic mission, the University fosters a community where students are encouraged to explore life's biggest questions, grow in faith, live their values, and serve others with compassion.
As a Catholic university founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, Notre Dame welcomes students from all faith traditions and backgrounds. Approximately 80% of undergraduate students identify as Catholic, while 20% represent other world religions or no religious affiliation.
Here, faith is lived through meaningful relationships, service, and a shared commitment to the common good.
Senior Joonhee Bock reads to an elementary school student at the Robinson Community Learning Center.
Faith on Campus
Notre Dame represents much that is best and most generous in the American tradition.
- More than 80% of Notre Dame students participate in service or service learning before they graduate.
- About 5% of each graduating class spends a year or more in volunteer service.
- 900+ Notre Dame graduates have served in the Peace Corps.
Sacred Spaces
- Every week, more than 40 Sunday Masses and 160 daily Masses are celebrated on campus.
- You can find more than 70 priests on campus serving as professors and administrators.
- 30 religious retreats are offered annually through Campus Ministry.
- There are over 50 chapels on campus, including a chapel in each of the 33 residence halls, for personal reflection and weekly Mass.
- Each year, just prior to Commencement, the senior class celebrates one last Mass together in the Grotto.
All Faiths Welcome
We are a Catholic institution, but all faiths practiced within our community are welcomed and supported. Notre Dame has one of the largest campus ministry organizations in the country and our Campus Ministry serves all faiths through Masses, faith sharing groups, and retreats. You can work with high school participants at the ND Vision retreat, serve as a Eucharistic minister at your residence hall Mass, or lend your voice in worship to the Liturgical Choir, the Folk Choir, or the Voices of Faith Gospel Choir.
Faith in Action
Let us help you make the world a better place. Applying our knowledge to real-world issues is central to the Notre Dame mission. We do that through service-learning programs that combine academics and ethics; through partnership with major nonprofit organizations; and by championing causes we believe in. Whatever your path, your academic experience will inspire in you a solidarity with the global community and a passion for serving the common good. These are some of the ways we turn our faith into action.
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Institute for Social Concerns
U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Notre Dame's Institute for Social Concerns as one of the national leaders in community-based learning and service. Each summer, the institute offers more than 200 Notre Dame students the opportunity to engage with communities and organizations around the globe that are devoted to the common good.
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The ACE Program
The Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) places more than 180 college graduates in over 120 parochial schools throughout the United States and provides elementary and secondary school students and teachers with valuable resources.
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Mission and Mettle
A long tradition of athleticism and service gives student-athletes one more way to give back. The Bengal Bouts men’s boxing tournament has raised money for Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh for more than 80 years. The Baraka Bouts women’s boxing club contributes to the Holy Cross Missions in East Africa.