Knowledge of faith on display in fun event

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
MOBILE — Young people representing Catholic schools in Mobile and Baldwin counties came to a place where it was cool to know their faith.
The Archdiocese of Mobile Office for Evangelization and Family Life sponsored the inaugural Catholic Challenge Cup on May 5 at Our Savior Parish in Mobile. 
The daylong competition was similar to a scholars’ bowl, but all centered on the Catholic faith. 
“They get to be a ‘religion geek’ in a place where that’s cool,” Janet Masline, associate director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life, smiled and said. “It was just fun to see them be excited over being smart about the faith.” 
Mobile and Baldwin schools brought a team of up to six middle-school students.
Each team competed in six topical preliminary rounds and the top school in each category was crowned. Each school also sent one selected representative to the “Tournament of Champions” round and they battled it out in a round of Catholic trivia for the honor of being the individual champion. 
Corpus Christi Catholic School’s James Edwards earned the honor of being the first CCC champion. In team competition, Christ the King Catholic School won three team competitions - Saints, Church History and Sacraments. Other winners included St. Ignatius (Prayer), St. Dominic (Life in Christ) and St. Mary (Liturgy).
Each school chose how it selected its representatives. Those chosen received a fun day away from the classroom, but they also gained knowledge of their faith.  
“They put in extra time studying their faith beforehand,” Masline said. “For the last couple of months they have been preparing and doing some extra studying, brushing up on their prayers and things like that.”
The CCC debut was actually in the making since 2019. Back then Masline said she discussed the idea of a “Religion Bowl” with chairs of religion departments at various schools. 
The idea received a warm reception and it was initially scheduled for May 2020. But COVID-19 nixed that as well as last year’s event.
“It was so nice watching the kids come in and seeing the excitement on their faces. They were just good kids and they had fun,” Masline said. “They didn’t know what they were stepping into either, but everyone really came in with a good attitude and had a great time.”