by John Kudlicka

From a pre-Civil War house across the street from St. Catherine of Siena Church on Summer Street a 26-year-old order of  Roman Catholic brothers minister to students on four campuses in three states.

“We bring the New Evangelization proclaimed by John Paul II primarily to college students at secular universities, reaching out to inactive and uncommitted Catholics,” said Brother Rahl J. Bunsan, General Superior of the Brotherhood of Hope in Somerville.

Founded in New Jersey in 1980 by Father Philip Merdigger, the Brotherhood’s main focus has always been campus ministry, Brother Rahl said.

‚ÄúFather Philip had a conviction that the Lord wanted him to begin a brotherhood of men who pray and do ministry and live together,‚Äù he said.  ‚ÄúSo, we‚Äôre brothers.‚Äù

Brothers eat, sleep and pray in the house, and spend most of the rest of their day doing campus ministry, he said. There is a chapel in the house, where they hold Mass every morning. “As you can see by the simplicity of the place, we really do take a vow of poverty,” he said.

Brother Rahl said brothers are to monks what sisters are to nuns. “Men who take vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, who live in a community together and serve as brothers.”

The difference between a brotherhood and a monastery is that monks, as well as nuns, have people coming to them, looking for a place for prayer and retreat, whereas brotherhoods and sisterhoods are more actively involved in the community around them, he said.

“We’re out there in society,” he said. “Our main mission is campus ministry; we interact with college students more than anyone else.”

The Brotherhood of Hope has branches at Boston University, Northeastern University, Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., and Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., Brother Rahl said.

There are two sources of the brothers’ success in growing their college ministry, he said. “I would say relying on the Lord’s Grace to present the Gospel in a way they can understand.”

The other source is the word of mouth amongst the students, he said. “When they experience the internal freedom Christ gives them, they become ambassadors to other students on campus.”

The Brotherhood’s Somerville branch, which is now the headquarters for the organza-tion, started very simply with only a few participants, but now boasts 25 members at different stages, he said. Although the Brotherhood started in New Jersey, the main office moved to Somerville in 1995.

“As things developed, it was clear God wanted our headquarters here,” he said. “The church up here is the church that approved of us; it worked out well.”

“We get at least three guys, college age, a year who come up and live here for a week,” he said. “We all pray and then train them to go out and do ministry.” He said this was usually done during spring break.

‚ÄúThese young men are in the process of discerning their vocation,‚Äù he said.   In addition to its campus ministry, the brotherhood encourages a more confident manhood that is informed by Faith, he said. ‚ÄúYoung people don‚Äôt have many good solid models of strong, male figures. Good Christian manhood has confidence and strength, under control and at the service of others.‚Äù

At its campus centers, there is an equal balance of par-ticipation by male and female students, he said. “But the fact is we are guys and we can speak directly to the problems others guys are having.”

The Brotherhood has expanded its efforts to ministry work in South Boston and Charlestown, Brother Rahl said. “We’ve walked the streets of Charlestown.”

The Brotherhood also travels to Tanzania for two weeks every summer to work with orphans, build homes, and bring them food and clothing, he said. “We helped Mother Theresa’s sisters over there, we repaired a school.”

The Brotherhood recently released “into the deep,” their second CD, Brother Rahl said. “They have a common theme of spiritual growth, trying to get people to hear the good news.”

The producers of the album, Harry King and Mark Grundhoefer, have worked with musical talents the likes of Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker, he said. “Both of them have taken off pretty nicely, but this one is better. It’s a little more contemporary.”

“I would attribute our growth to a focused identity as brothers, a focused mission, and a focused Christ-centered spirituality,” he said.