Humanist Ferrick Is Appointed As Chaplain to United Ministry

Thomas M. Ferrick, a Humanist minister, was appointed as a chaplain to the United Ministry of Harvard and Radcliffe last week by the American Ethical Union.

Ferrick said he asked the union to appoint him earlier this fall because he felt that a number of students want an alternative to "cynical, technocratic religions or exotic, esoteric non-Western religions."

Ferrick, a former Catholic priest, said his conversion to Humanism resulted from his difficulty with church discipline on sexuality, abortion and other contemporary issues. "Faced with the failure of theoretical and practical Catholicism, I felt I had to leave the Church," he said yesterday.

Human Faith

"Humanism is not science, nor mysticism, but is a faith in human experience," Ferrick said. Humanism says that while man is not God, man cannot avoid accepting himself as the measure of all things, he added.

Although Ferrick said he expects a "very modest" student response to Humanism, he said the complexity of university life may hinder the popularity of Humanism. "But at least Humanism will be available to those interested," he said.

Ferrick said yesterday he is planning a colloquium on "Humanism: A Religious Alternative" at Phillips Brooks House on November 7. "I want the members of the academic community to know that Humanism is a viable religion," he said.