Dr Philippa Martyr Urges Young Catholics to Step Beyond the “Catho-Sphere”

At Campion College’s Formal Hall on Thursday evening, guest speaker Dr Philippa Martyr delivered a compelling and humorous reflection on what it means for young Catholics to live their faith authentically in the modern world.

Drawing from her own experience as a university lecturer and writer, Dr Martyr described the “Catho-sphere” – her term for the insular comfort zone many Catholics inhabit – as a space where “all your friends are Catholic, your interests revolve around the Church, and you go to Mass where everything is done the way you like.” While such circles offer friendship and formation, she argued that they can also become a barrier to the Church’s true mission.

“To carry out your mission,” she said, “you are going to have to leave the clump — you’re going to have to leave the sphere.”

Using the biblical images of yeast, salt, and light, Dr Martyr illustrated that faith is not meant to be contained. “Yeast has to be worked through dough to make it rise,” she said. “It doesn’t work if it all clumps in one place. The same goes for salt and light. You don’t hide all your lamps in one room — you place them throughout the house so the whole space is bright.”

Dr Martyr, who lectures in biomedical sciences at the University of Western Australia and writes a weekly column for The Catholic Weekly, spoke candidly about her life as a Catholic working in secular institutions. She contrasted the uncertainty she sees in many university students with the conviction she often finds among young Catholics, noting that both extremes can hinder genuine dialogue. “Nothing impedes your ability to learn like being very certain of your opinions,” she reflected. “But this lack of strong opinions also saddens me – it tells me that many young people have become universal relativists, so unsure of truth that they don’t care about what really matters.”

Her address combined sharp insight with practical wisdom. “If you want to be yeast and salt and light,” she said, “you have to learn to meet people halfway. You have to find common ground, and that starts with really listening.”

Dr Martyr also addressed the fear some Catholics feel when stepping outside familiar faith environments. “The world outside the sphere is full of people who won’t agree with you about anything you think is important,” she said. “Many won’t even be curious about your faith. And yet this is what we’ve been given to work with.”

She encouraged young Catholics to see ordinary parish life as an opportunity for quiet evangelisation, even when it feels uninspiring. “Get out there into those parishes — they’re yours for the taking,” she said. “They may not be perfect, but they’re full of good people who love God and the sacraments. That kind of faithfulness matters.”

Campion College President Dr Paul Morrissey thanked Dr Martyr for what he described as a terrific address – serious in message yet delivered with humour and warmth. He also commended her recent book, Witness: The Future Catholic Church in Australia, calling it “a serious and timely study of faith and culture in our country today.”

The evening also marked the annual Classics Dinner, held in celebration of the study of classical languages and culture at Campion. Students undertaking Classical Latin and Classical Greek were honoured as the night’s distinguished guests, seated at the High Table alongside members of faculty and the evening’s speaker. The dinner formed part of Campion’s broader commitment to the liberal arts tradition, which draws deeply from the intellectual and linguistic heritage of ancient Greece and Rome.

See below for photos from the night.