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PDF versionTwenty-Something Catholics: The lost generation?
by Jamie L Manson on Feb. 02, 2011
Have young adult Catholics lost their way?
Has the church lost twenty-somethings?
These questions and several others were explored this past weekend at a forum and conference entitled “Lost? Twenty-Somethings and the Church” at Fordham University.
Apparently, these concerns are on the minds of many, since conference organizers had to open up a second auditorium with live web-streaming to accommodate the overwhelming number of registrants.
Seven different panels of experts were appointed to help sort through these matters. The panelists chosen to speak represented a comprehensive cross section of interested parties: theologians and sociologists; campus ministers and pastoral associates; and editors of magazines and websites.
The result was a veritable fantasia on the state of young adult Catholics in the U.S.
There were discussions on the liturgical needs and the social challenges of twenty-somethings. Some panels considered the distractions of our media-soaked culture, while others explored the impact of casual sex and later marriages on young adults’ ties to Catholic communities.
These conversations were rich enough to dedicate several columns of reflection on them, and this I plan to do. But first, it is important to grasp the gravity of the situation.
The conference began with a remarkably spirited discussion of statistics. In his opening presentation, James Davidson, professor emeritus of sociology at Purdue University, offered an intriguing interpretation of this ostensibly dire statistic: Two-thirds of Americans raised Catholic no longer attend church. Of that two-thirds, one-third no longer call themselves Catholic; the other one-third call themselves Catholic but do not participate in the church.
Davidson argues that only those who have made a “clean break with the church,” that is, have either become atheists or converted to another denomination, should be considered “lost” to the Church. Invoking Canon Law, he asserts that Catholics who consider themselves unaffiliated or agnostics should still be considered Catholic. Though they no longer attend Mass and disagree with any number of doctrines, they will still seek a priest for baptisms and last rites. They are not lost, but “more like less involved affiliates,” Davidson argues.
Davidson pointed out that the church suffered a similar decline in the participation of young adults during the late nineteenth century, particularly during the papacy of Leo XIII. It wasn’t until the 1930s that attendance grew stronger and reached it apex in the 1950s.
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One contributing factor to this boon was the influx of immigrants to the U.S. Many of them suffered persecution and found a refuge in their parish communities. Among non-immigrants, the reining culture of conformity, sometimes fueled by guilt and fear, also gave Catholicism a particular appeal.
Twenty-something Melissa Cidade, who serves as director of Pastoral Assistance Surveys and Services at the Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), shared in Davidson’s hopefulness.
Studies performed by CARA suggest that the belief systems of the millennial generation are about the same as those of the Vatican II generation. The difference between the generations lies in religious behaviors.
Contrary to popular belief, Cidade asserts that it isn’t the church’s doctrines on social issues like abortion, gender equality, and gay marriage that keep twenty-somethings from regular church attendance. The culprit, she argues, is that “the church’s message isn’t salient for them…They aren’t getting a message worth getting out of bed for.”
Paraphrasing Jesus’ parable of the sower, Cidade believes, “twenty-somethings are fertile ground -- and we are called to plant the seeds.”
But are these appeals to Canon Law and CARA studies smoke and mirrors that mask a church teetering on a demographic precipice?
Fellow panelist Robert Putnam would emphatically argue yes. Putnam, who is Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, co-authored the new book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.
The book is based on two of the most comprehensive surveys of religion and public life in the U.S. Its findings that churches are hemorrhaging young adult members sent shockwaves throughout many religious communities. Aftershocks could be felt in the Fordham auditorium as Putnam -- in a collegial, but blunt tone -- called the theories of Davidson and Cidade “far too optimistic” and “seriously underestimating the problem.”
Putnam, the only non-Catholic on the panel, shares the widely held belief that without the influx of Latino and Latina immigrants -- who make up between 48 percent and 58 percent of practicing young adult Catholics -- the church would be facing immanent collapse.
“The recipe for a healthy church is large families and deep involvement,” Putnam asserts.
Putnam argues that two-thirds of Catholics are lost because “they are not taking the sacraments and they are not raising their kids Catholic. Since they are neither participating in the life of the church nor contributing to it financially, it would be foolish to call them Catholic.”
Regardless of the definitions stated in Canon Law, Catholics of the unaffiliated or agnostic stripe cannot and will not sustain the church’s future.
The remainder of the conference considered the reasons behind these sobering statistics.
But one particular question loomed over each panel discussion: how do we get twenty-somethings to go to church?
One twenty-something, practicing Catholic suggested offering a social component in addition to Mass -- like a dinner, or a movie-night, or even a happy hour. A thirty-something parish minister insisted that vastly improved homilies and music were essential to making liturgy appeal to young adults. Another thirty-something encouraged priests to give an explicit message of welcome to all of those gathered at Mass. A campus minister urged a major overhaul of Catholic religious education, since no substantive program ever replaced the abandoned Baltimore catechism.
As each participant ably gave their insight into this question, a different set of questions entered my mind:
Was there ever a time that the church strove to appeal to the personal and spiritual needs of the faithful? How many Catholics in the last seventeen centuries have attended Mass out of genuine desire or enjoyment?
Before the reforms of the 1960s, how many Catholics attended Mass in the hope of hearing an interesting sermon or exquisitely, moving music? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that throughout most of the church’s history, Catholics attended Mass because they believed that the fate of their souls depended on it?
Because of its spiritual power, the church has never had to attract the faithful to Mass. Many families went to Mass because not to attend was a sin. Whether it appealed to them or not, young people went to church because their families expected it of them. The church did not have to be particularly inventive or interesting when it came to the education of Catholic youth. The Baltimore Catechism provided absolute answers to all questions about the faith.
Even those who longed for the changes of Vatican II also grew up in this world of conformity and devotion to the church. And though many of them later rejected these strictures, their identities nonetheless were formed by prescribed church attendance and religious instruction. For this reason, many chose to continue to attend Mass after the reforms of the 1960s.
But their children and grandchildren did not have their identities formed by the teachings and rituals of the church. As a result, new generations do not have a stake in the church and its future. And they are unlikely to make a commitment to something they do not enjoy. They’re overscheduled enough as it is.
The Fordham conference demonstrated that young adult Catholics have a whole new set of needs when it comes to participating in the church. And as a result, the institutional church is being asked to do something that it has never had to do before: it has to work at bringing people into its pews.
No longer can the church rely on the need for a refuge, or on the desire for conformity, or the fear of damnation to ensure lay participation. The church suddenly finds itself having to make an effort at being not only welcoming, but intellectually stimulating and liturgically meaningful to new generations of Catholics who were not formed in its tradition.
It has to develop a catechesis that challenges the mind, feeds the spirit, and engages the inquisitive nature of young people.
Because of the way Catholic leadership is structured, changes as simple as being more welcoming or offering better homilies lie squarely on the shoulders of the clergy.
One wonders whether they are equipped to fulfill these needs. Their numbers are dwindling, too. And most of the young men being ordained are far more interested in rubrics and orthodoxy than they are in potlucks and hospitality.
The problem may not be that twenty-something Catholics have lost their way to the church. Rather, the church seems to have lost its way to twenty-somethings.
If young adult Catholics are fertile ground, the sower is going to need directions to the field.
[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]
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Why are they the lost
Why are they the lost generation? Because of the NCR baby boomer generation who abandoned their faith and didn't fulfill their promise at marriage to bring up their children in the faith--or perhaps even worse they taught what the NCR considers the Catholic faith not what the Catholic faith really is.
I frequently disagree with
I frequently disagree with Jamie's views but this article was right on target. The "John Paul II priests" we are getting now are a throwback to a bygone era and unable to adjust to the modern church. They come to rule, not to lead. They seek status not service.
The more traditional and
The more traditional and conservative Catholics would have us believe the younger people are moving like a herd of cattle toward the Tridentine Mass and support Pope Benedict XVI without question. Have we any proof of this? I tend to think this is an undocumented claim typical of right-wing groups with a liturgical agenda.
I hear Catholics in their late 50s, 60s and 70s saying the church of Pope Benedict seems strikingly foreign to what they associate with the Catholicism of their youth. Certainly, following World War II, Catholics moved to the suburbs in droves. Abandoning the urban, inner-city parishes of their youth and all the nurturing and sense of community their parish life once gave them. That sense of community and solidarity in the suburbs is radically different from what it was in the cities.
The Generation X Catholic laity have become well educated, much more affluent, more urbane, well traveled, more likely to attend non-Catholic schools, living the life of suburbanites with the lifestyle issues common to other suburbanites. It has also become a religion of the smaller towns in exurbia as well. Sharing so many small town values. It is little wonder they're perfectly at home with "protestant" style churches and liturgies. Is it surprising educated Catholics are less likely to embrace "Humanae Vitae" teachings?
The old Church of their youth today has become an extension of the economic and educational levels of the lower strata of our society. The old Church is expected to have mostly poor Hispanics making up it's membership in the next 30 years. It will keep the population growth stable, but radically different from the 19th and early 20th century foundations made up of Germans, Irish, Italians, east europeans, etc.
This explains in large part the Catholic hierarchy's barrage of appeals to evangelical protestants and pentecostals in the arena of arch conservative causes and issues. Educated Catholics are less likely to embrace "Humanae Vitae" teachings. It's just a matter of time before they're also walking away in droves.
Their old Church is foreign to them. Inhospitable and increasingly more conservative. It will take more than coffee socials and "happy hours" to keep them in the fold, or bring them back. Their Church has become a far right-wing extension of the Republican Party. The "Tea Party Church"??
Vatican II and the sharp negative feedback on the liturgical changes and the issue of reinforced celibacy sent Catholics into mainline Protestant churches, the Orthodox Church in America and the western rite of the Antiochene Orthodox Church. Close to one-third of the total membership of these churches today is comprised of former Catholics. They're undoubtedly drawn to their Byzantine liturgy, but there may be other reasons as well. Almost half of the priests are former Catholics, many of them former ordained Catholic priests.
Anglicanism has drawn more liberal Catholics, especially women, but then again American Anglicanism has always been a rich tapestry of former mainline Protestants. Some have been confirmed as Anglican. Many simply attend regularly and pay their dues, but haven't converted. The number of cradle born Anglicans today may be far smaller than the 2 million or so figure given for the Episcopal Church. However, this is still the favorite church of disgusted and alienated Catholics. Lutherans (ELCA) run a very close second.
Jamie, this is a very
Jamie, this is a very thoughtful article. The article I read in the mainstream Catholic press say that the current generation of twentysomethings are in Opus Dei and want the rubric driven church the bishops keep espousing. Needless to say, that is pretty hard to believe.
"...without the influx of
"...without the influx of Latino and Latina immigrants -- who make up between 48 percent and 58 percent of practicing young adult Catholics -- the church would be facing immanent collapse."
If there hadn't been immigrants in the 17th century, there would have been no Maryland. If it hadn't been for the Louisiana Purchase, there would have been no U.S. Catholics in the Midwest. If it hadn't been for wars with Mexico, there wouldn't have been U.S. Catholics in Texas, California, etc. Immigration is part of the ebb and flow of all populations, so the fact that US Catholics are increasingly Hispanic is nothing new or remarkable; neither does it mean that when this tide ends, the U.S. Church will be in numerical decline. The Catholic Church is the largest single denomination in the U.S., in the Americas, and in the world. I teach and minister at a major university where hundreds of students attend every celebration. I think you're drawing too many conclusions from CARA's data.
By the way, the idea that "no substantive program ever replaced the Baltimore Catechism" should be run by our friends at Sadlier, et. al. I suspect they'll have a different opinion on that subject. I realize you're relatively new to the field, but I hope you'll consult some historians before you make such generalizations. All the best. - Robert.
I think Jamie's point is not
I think Jamie's point is not that the church has a burgeoning number of Hispanic immigrants, but that the descendants of previous immigrant Catholics have left the church in astounding numbers.
The Catholic chruch has an absymal record of retaining followers over the generations.
Are the grandchildren of today's devout Hispanic Catholic going to go to mass 50 years from now? If they're anything like the Irish Catholics, No.
Back in the early 1900s, there were few places more Catholic than Boston, few immigrants more devout than the Irish. Yet today their grandchildren are abandoning the Boston Church.
The statistics: 108 parishes closed in 15 years (a 25% reduction), 40% of the remaining churches don't take in enough from collections to cover their operating costs, A mass participation rate of 17%, an almost 50% decline in active priests over the next decade (350 current to about 180).
Catholicism Incorporated is
Catholicism Incorporated is going bankrupt. The episcopal sees and the growing criticism worldwide of Benedict, his stewardship, and the lack of it from his Praetorian Guard of undaunted munchkins in scarlet and violet are proof of it.
However, Catholics will survive, as they always have. They're starting to build a new Church from the bottom up using the essence of the gospels from the historical Jesus, the essence of scripture and the early church fathers---the wisdom of Catholicism with it's rich patrimony of art, culture, and liturgy-- eastern and western.
Like a snake shedding its skin, structures will fall away from disuse, or from outright rejection. It won't matter what those at the top of the organization chart think or do. It is out of their hands now and out of the hands of their lieutenants, the bishops. The ingots are in the furnace and a new sculpture is being forged.
It still remains to be seen if this pope joins Leo X, Paul III, Pius V, and Clement VII in the pantheon of pontiffs who tried to keep the old snake skin from shedding while peddling the same old snake oil.
Two-thirds of Americans
Two-thirds of Americans raised Catholic no longer attend church. Of that two-thirds, one-third no longer call themselves Catholic; the other one-third call themselves Catholic but do not participate in the church.
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should that perhaps read: "Of that two-thirds, one-half ... one-half" ?
The March for Life in DC last
The March for Life in DC last week had hundreds of thousands of young Catholics on fire with their faith, led by thousands of young priests and seminarians, and women religious truly in love with Christ and His Church. I didn't see any of the anger and bitterness than many baby boomer Catholycs have.
Did the Catholics have a C
Did the Catholics have a C tattoed on their foreheads and the Evangelical Protestants have a P tattoed on their foreheads and the Orthodox Jews have a J tattoed on their foreheads so that you could tell who was whom?
Also, have you ever come across the term "sampling error"?
Dear vitriolic and amusingly
Dear vitriolic and amusingly uninformed poster,
It's pretty obvious who is Catholic/Protestant/whatever when they are holding up posters like, "Knights of Columbus," "Byzan-TEENS," "[insert name] Bible Church," etc. After seeing most of the marchers, I can say that Catholics were by far the most numerous.
Of course, you would have known this if you had gone, which I would posit that you did not.
Pretty sure that most of
Pretty sure that most of those young people who packed the Basilica for Mass and Adoration and the packed the youth Mass weren't Jewish or Protestant. I'm also pretty sure that those guys in collars and cassocks marching behind Catholic banners and the young ladies in habits weren't Jewish or evangelical either.
2/2/11 Jamie hit a bullseye
2/2/11
Jamie hit a bullseye as to why my elder generation and that of my parents( early
1900's) went to church,namely out of fear of hell, sin, and a complete negative
presentation warning us of eternal damnation if we not only lived differently
than we were being taught but even if we questioned it.
John P. Lynch
No. Smithfield, RI
Mr. Lynch, certainly there
Mr. Lynch, certainly there were pockets of people in previous generations who "only" went to Mass out of fear of hell. But in the same vein, there were also pockets of Catholics who DID enjoy Mass attendance and all that was Catholic then, as well as now. Generalizations should not be made. Much of what is happening in the Church has to do with moral relativism, just as that has created far-reaching problems in all of "post-modern" society. Human nature being what it is, the Church continues to be heroic in even remaining in existence within the moral morass in the wider world. Obviously, the moral morass even exists among members of our beloved Church and its clergy, as has always been the case to one degree or another. Each family needs to be more responsible for raising their own children in Our Faith and according to its true moral compass. This IS beginning to happen among Catholic homeschoolers and other committed Catholic parents. We must all do our part. Mother Teresa forewarned of the need for this. See this article for info about the movement: http://www.catholic-homeschooling-resources.com/homeschooling-facts.html
This is not news, it has been
This is not news, it has been going on for years. While I do not agree that the church needs to make significant changes to the mass etc. in order to cater to the young people I will say this.
The Chuch is about birth through young adults, then it is about engaged people, then married, then married with children, repeat. If you are single person over the age of 25, if you are a widow or widower, if you are elderly there is very little place for you in the church.
I cannot count the number of times that I as a single/never married was totally overlooked by the outreach and programs at various parishes. If I was included I was lumped in with the widows/widowers/elderly which while a learning experience was not the place to put a 25+ person.
It wasn't until I finally got fed up at 30 and approached the priest at a church about inclusion of 25+ single people that I was finally able to feel heard. It took many tries before I found one who would listen, but listen he did. Then he worked with me to help form outreach programs for that segment of people. Sadly, I had to move.
For the past 14 years I have been wandering again, being unheard, unseen, invisible, as I do not fit the 'demographics that Catholic Churches worry about" as told to me by one priest.
Masses and music do not need to change. What needs to change is the big gaping holes that are left in individuals parishes when the 25+ - 65 single/never marrieds are treated as invisble. Ironic that all the churches I've been at have been quick to take my money, even though they treat me and others in my demographic like the plague. Being single is not a disease and you cannot catch it.
I'm still waiting to hear for
I'm still waiting to hear for the first time any recognition of the pain that the 8% of infertile couples endure on Mother's Day and Father's Day. It has gotten to the point where my wife will skip mass on Mother's Day and pray privately for her own departed Mother.
jlynn's experience mirrors my
jlynn's experience mirrors my own. I can't tell you how many times I have heard heard discussions of "why young adults don't go to church" end with the words "they'll come back when they want to marry, or get their children baptized."
I guess this was addressed somewhat in the conference, when they brought up how people are marrying later. The approach seems to be that the church will fit you in once you have gotten yourself into a state of life that it's used to dealing with. This assumes that everybody will eventually marry and have kids. What about those who don't, or as another responder mentioned, can't? And for those who do, what about in the meantime?
I have found the most community as a young, single adult in Catholic student groups, at World Youth Day, and in a singles' group (though in my experience, too, that tended to cater mostly to widows and widowers). Sometimes the memory of one of these (and staying in contact with friends from the group) could tide me over until I found the next bit of community. Young people also find communities with non-Catholics. It's practically a necessity when so many frinds have left the church or see no reason to join in the first place.
Sometimes I feel like married adults and adults-with-kids are hostile to a young person trying to get involved with the church. It's like they feel that I should come back when I'm a "real" adult with a family. Priests, who are in the same position, can sometimes be more welcoming!
Homilies and adult education have been brought up several times on this page. I have to point out that this is another place where the priest or other leader can make young, single adults feel welcome or not. If all the homilies are about married life (and there's something very strange about being a single person listening to a celibate guy give a homily about married life...I don't care how much marriage counseling he might do...) it feels like my time is not important. I refer to both my time listening to the homily and to what I do the rest of the week. As for adult education, too much of what I have attended starts with the phrase "We all remember when..." and reminiscing about the world before Vatican II. I really wish facilitators would remember that the post-Vatican II church is all some adults have known, because it concluded years before we were born.
jlynn also brings up the issue of moving away from a parish. Being less rooted is another change in the way we live that parishes need to acknowledge.
Thank you for a great and
Thank you for a great and insightful article Jamie. You have pegged all of the Catholic church's generational problems. Tragically, the current leadership of this church continues to read from the same playbook of happily trading the wider gospel message, for a narrower, controlled flock. Christians will return to this denomination, only when it actually has some relevancy to their lives.
Although I agree with some of
Although I agree with some of the determinations that the conference made regarding the disaffection of the 20 somethings, I believe that they missed some major points. The first being a transcendent God who is not confined to one religious organization. The second, that the individual can have a direct relationship to God without the need of an intermediary priest. The third, basic theological issues which are considered to be outdated and relevant. Lastly, a Church that is inhuman, who does not admit its mistakes and legally averts prosecution through misuse of power.
These young people know these things. Many of them are much more awakened spiritually than they are given credit for.
The statement toward the end
The statement toward the end that maybe it is the church that has lost its way to the 20-somethings, is a crucial point to be understood. As an early-30's Catholic who struggled in his 20's (and still struggles) with a church-going experience that didn't meet his needs, I can personally attest to this. I have been discouraged in recent years by the apparent certainty on the part of the clerical hierarchy, and all of the young/newly ordained priests I've encountered, that the problem is with young people failing the church, and not the church failing young people.
An interesting and
An interesting and well-written article to be sure.
I sincerely hope for the best for you (speaking as a 30 year old "lost Catholic" with 12 years of Catholic school under his belt)
"No longer can the church rely on the need for a refuge, or on the desire for conformity, or the fear of damnation to ensure lay participation."
--I heartedly agree this helps participation en masse--just hard for me to understand that is the kind of participation an entity would want to embrace. For me it was not only "gender equality, gay marriage", etc that steered me away (though that was a good start), but it was also not wanting to believe in something "fueled by guilt and fear" rather than reason. If you can solve this dilemma, you might appeal to more young people. Though I suspect it is more a difference in philosophy between people like me with a more scientific, open mind and the church rather than a difference in philosophy, I still wish you the best of luck on your quest.
It seems that the attendees
It seems that the attendees see one of the main failings of the clerics in charge as "lack of truly pastoral concern or care for the ordinary 20 something Catholics"???
Most of the remaining clergy seem to lack pastoral care for the LAITY OF ANY AGE RANGE -- they all seemed to be focused on bowing to Rome as "yes-men", identifying with the institutional structure, not Christ...
The effects of secularization
The effects of secularization are mirrored across denominations, where previously devotion and cultural and cultic identity trumped individualism. Catholics and Non-Catholics (such as this writer) need to stop beating the Church up over this.
I just attended a wedding and met a slew of Catholic 20- somethings that love rubrics AND potluck, sing heartily new hymns I have never heard before, and who aren't navel gazing about what's wrong with the Church.
and here comes the Roman
and here comes the Roman Missal--that will surely attract them--NOT!
Wow! I found something here
Wow! I found something here that is absolutely on target:
"Was there ever a time that the church strove to appeal to the personal and spiritual needs of the faithful? How many Catholics in the last seventeen centuries have attended Mass out of genuine desire or enjoyment Before the reforms of the 1960s, how many Catholics attended Mass in the hope of hearing an interesting sermon or exquisitely, moving music? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that throughout most of the church’s history, Catholics attended Mass because they believed that the fate of their souls depended on it?"
Those who want to "attract" any age group by adding bells or whistles - or modifying the liturgy - are sadly misguided. We conform to Christ, He does not conform to us.
My faith group, the United
My faith group, the United Methodist Church, has been steadily losing members for the last 50 years. We have not had an influx of immigrants from other "Methodist countries" to mask the problem.
In all our discussions about both the cause and solutions, it has not occurred to anyone; left, right, or center to blame the people we haven't reached for our not reaching them.
Excellent. Thought
Excellent. Thought provoking. I think your best insight is this: The Church never had to work at attracting people before. The Protestant churches around me are often better at this, but I wonder how deep it goes.
WRONG,WRONG,WRONG and did I
WRONG,WRONG,WRONG and did I mention WRONG.
No matter what age a Catholic is, they want and need a personal relationship with Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The RCC doesn't give them that and only in Catholic Charismatic Renewal circles is this facilitated and fostered.
The pricipal agent of a personal relationship with God is the Holy Spitit,but the RCC doesn't want to give control of the Church to the H.S.
So the end result...a dead church with dead people.
As someone eloquently once put it: Separate the body from the Spirit and it dies.
But it should be like this...
People who speak in tongues, give prophecies, pass on words of knowledge, conduct spiritual warfare, pray for healing effectively, use the Word of God like a sword, who are directed by the released Spirit of God inside them, who are sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit inside them.
The RCC is about as interested in the release of the Holy Spirit in the lives of its people as the Pope is in buying a double bed. Until then it matters not a jot what age groups are not attending.
Here is hope
Loved your second to last
Loved your second to last sentence!!!
You're welcome. That
You're welcome. That second-last sentence PROVES that the RCC is NOT EARNESTLY following Jesus, for He himself said that these would be the signs of those who believe ... Mark 16:17. What priority do these things have in the RCC? Little to none.
The collapse, without the
The collapse, without the influx of Hispanophones, may or may not be "immanent," but your author probably meant "imminent."
Thank you for the write up of
Thank you for the write up of this article. Granted that you asked many important questions, I do think a few things you need to either research better or, at the very least, try not to be so one-sided:
You wrote: "The church did not have to be particularly inventive or interesting when it came to the education of Catholic youth." This is not true; simply look a the Catholic school systems runs by the local diocese and/or the various religious institutions in the United States. From elementary to university, these institutions were erected because the Church, though its members, had every incentive or interest in the Christian/Catholic education of its members as well as the larger community. Your further wrote that: "Because of the way Catholic leadership is structured, changes as simple as being more welcoming or offering better homilies lie squarely on the shoulders of the clergy...One wonders whether they are equipped to fulfill these needs." Here, I think you miss an important point: The two-way relationship between a pastor and the people in the pew; a parish priest is not like a university professor who teaches his lessons regardless of his students; there is a relationship between the parish priest and his community that cannot be ignore. Lastly, you wrote that: "Their (priests) numbers are dwindling, too. And most of the young men being ordained are far more interested in rubrics and orthodoxy than they are in potlucks and hospitality." This is really an unfair reading of socially popular statistics and gross generalization of young priests today--albeit this may simply be your experience or opinion...
I agree about the problems of
I agree about the problems of the younger priests not being the sort of personality who will be able to keep young adults coming to church.
Other mainstream denominations have the same problems with bleeding of young people. The ones who are growing are the fundamentalist Evangelical "community" churches -- and what are they doing? Providing a lively, vibrantb commmunity --- young mens' groups, mothers' bible studies, book discussion clubs, potluck suppers, and liturgies which literally rock. And of course, lively engaging preaching, which is the center of their liturgies.
We can't keep people in the Church, or bring back the ones who were never firmly tied to it, by trying to return to 1962.
I am 29. I go the the EF
I am 29. I go the the EF Latin Mass whenever I can. I do not like clown Mass. I don't know any young adult who likes clown Mass. 'Catholic-Lite' has no vocations, dwindling congregations, they contracept and they abort their children, and they are dying on their feet. The only way is the Catholic faith in its fullness and beauty and truth. I love the Catholic faith but it is denied the people by the liberals in power and control at parish and diocesan level.
It is obvious that you
It is obvious that you haven't lived long enough to see much truth.
I guess you didn't hear
I guess you didn't hear Benedict last month, calling for better verbal manners on the internet, even on catholic sites. Surely you don't regard him as a clown pope.
Excellent article with good
Excellent article with good throught provoking questions. In order to stem the exodus, all of us, bishops, priests, religious, and all committed people must begin to honestly deal with the question you pose, "how do we bring young people into the pews"?
Very interesting insights.
Very interesting insights. Many Catholics today and since WWII go to mass because it is a sin or fear for their souls. But since WWII Catholics have become much more educated with many even getting degrees in theology. They no longer consider it sinfull to miss mass and the church doesn't stress it either. The church is in the position of haveing to create liturgies which will attract young people. The church leadership does not like that. It goes against their DNA to ask lay peopole for input or enter into dialoque with them. One of the things we badly need is better music especially more contemporary music which relies more on electronic synthesisers, guitars, pianos and percussion. However the will run into opposition from most diosecan "music police." We also need better homilies but with so few priests being ordained we have to take them whether they are good homilists or not. The solution is homilies by only good homilists whether they are priests, deacons, nuns or laymen.
I believe the most important
I believe the most important thought about the article and 20 somethings " it has to work at bringing people into its pews". A concept unheard of 50 years before or even 45 years before.
It would be a good thing to see the church adapt and change. However, the church will not change its ways of secrecy and openness. Simply put, the laity does not need to know what the church is doing, especially when it comes with the priests and bishops.
Recently, the Diocese of Camden has been going through a merger process as well as many other diocese throughout the country. The reason for the mergers have been priest shortages. However, those displaced priests have not been assigned to new parishes. Rather the convener is determining if priests stay or do not stay. It has raised suspicions in the diocese by the laity as to why good priests are let go.
Conveners have seem to have set up their own agendas, not necessarily to the betterment of the merged parishes. Communication is quite one sided, perhaps dictated by the convener and expected to be approved by the representatives of the merged parishes.
I do not believe the twenty
I do not believe the twenty somethings are any different than us sixty somethings, and all the in betweens for that matter. A simple truth would indicate that we are looking at the church continually from a hierarchical standpoint. If we break away from that, you could easily reverse the direction of the indicato arrow and statte that we are all waiting hopefully for the hierarchs to get on board. Of course things are not yet dessperate enough to convince them anything serious is amiss. You can tell this is so, all you have to do is loook at the young troglodytes they are passsing off as
clergy. I do not mean to be unkind. It simply is wrong to have a few items
as a litmus test to enter the seminary.
Turning out priests to serve in the 1930s is hardly a move that would bring anyone back. Unfortunately the current trend is to get back to Trent.
I hear the bishops are now going to insist on the Marriage kisk again and
refuse to entertain the idea that the marriage right is not always the property of the HRCC. Most interesting to me is the fact that Marriage is
the very latest of the sacraments only daying to the Council of Trent. Prior to that the only marriage done in a church would have been for the nobility.
Ordinary people seldom even had the privilege of making their vows on the
steps of a church. So where were the Hierarchs all the time until Trent?
Simply a case of the Nobility having little or nothing to do with the Peons.
We have a long way to go in taking our Hierarchs down to earth and into the
real world. Godspeed!
The meek shal inherit the earth.
TomC
"Most of the young men being
"Most of the young men being ordained are far more interested in rubrics and orthodoxy than they are in potlucks and hospitality."
Thank you for so broadly painting me and my brother seminarians with your misinformed paint brush. Being concerned with the correct celebration of the Mass and Orthodox Catholic belief do not mean that we are cold and heartless. We have been attracted to the priesthood by the example of good and holy priests but we want to form a better picture of what it means to be Catholic. We were not privy to the cultural Catholicism of our parents and so have had to stress more clearly what it means to be Catholic. Being a Catholic looks like something but it also means being hospitable. Your false dichotomy is unfortunate and misleading. You can be orthodox and hospitable.
We will hold you to that.
We will hold you to that.
The challenge is to be
The challenge is to be hospitable to those who feel strongly (and probably correctly) that being "orthodox" is for them not the path to greatest holiness and Jesus-ness.
“No longer can the church
“No longer can the church rely on the need for a refuge, or on the desire for conformity, or the fear of damnation to ensure lay participation. The church suddenly finds itself having to make an effort at being not only welcoming, but intellectually stimulating and liturgically meaningful to new generations of Catholics who were not formed in its tradition.
It has to develop a catechesis that challenges the mind, feeds the spirit, and engages the inquisitive nature of young people.”
This may be the generation that is the catalyst for moving from an Axial Age religion i.e. Catholicism, to a post-Axial Age faith. Why were they not formed in the tradition? Multi-faceted erosion is an answer. Intense adult faith education regarding where the institution came from and where it seems to be going is a basic need that is another answer. But I do not equate this with catechesis. The committed laity itself has to engage in faith and morality issues in the academic mainstream. Once it is further educated and has sufficient credibility to invite the twenty-something Catholics to join them, everyone will have found themselves.
2-6-11 “The committed laity
2-6-11
“The committed laity itself has to engage in faith and morality issues in the academic mainstream. Once it is further educated and has sufficient credibility to invite the twenty-something Catholics to join them, everyone will have found themselves.”
I say this simply to remind those who would appreciate the reminder, one plan that Catholic laity can use to advance their education is to be alert to credible reading sources in the secular press. For example, back in Nov. 2006 here is a part of my online writing.
“An example of the historical change regarding scriptural interpretation is seen in Thomas Sheehan’s article “Revolution in the Church”(The New York Review of Books June 14, 1984.) In 1943, Pope Pius XII produced his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. This document gave scripture scholars permission to use contemporary scientific methods in their work. Thus began what Sheehan calls the dismantling of traditional Roman Catholic theology. As I understand Sheehan, the courage and wisdom of this supreme head of the Catholic Church set in motion the most vigorous renewal since the high Middle Ages, in which Catholic theologians and exegetes produced the most advanced scriptural scholarship -- until recently the work mainly of Protestants -- and used it for a radical rethinking of their faith. “
”But I want to emphasize that this search for the truth after about 2000 years of adherence to traditional Christian doctrines has been eclipsed by the current fundamentalist (fundamentalist, used in a broad sense) resistance (both Catholic and Protestant) to accepting the best evidence as to who Jesus was."
The profound change and the resistance to the change is in my opinion the root of the problem of Catholicism’s theological snare today, almost fifty years, a half a century (!) later. How do we extricate ourselves from the snare? We search the literature for appropriate reading that brings us to the implications of “the dismantling of traditional Roman Catholic theology” and what follows from this monumental shift i.e. “a radical rethinking of their faith.”
I am a former campus
I am a former campus chaplain. My conclusion is that the church has to provide a welcoming community for young people who now have many other social media ways of forming community. The typical Sunday Mass with a 70ish priest, now often a 40ish foreign one, offering boring -- sometimes stupid --- homilies in a traditional Mass setting just isn't going to cut it.
If they opt to go to church at all, the youngish non-denominational (supposedly) church down the corner is more attractive.
It is sad, while I am not a
It is sad, while I am not a twenty-something, to read about the history of cultic indoctrination and even brainwashing once practiced by the Church.
There is no excuse for having ANYONE believe that their souls are at risk if they do not make it to church on Sunday. At some point, what counts is the truth. The truth is that Jesus loves us, and the Gospel nowhere suggests, either in the Epistles or the Gospels that God wants us to believe this.
If you look at it from another perspective, it is like a protection racket. Go to Church, and God won't strike you dead. The Pope as the Godfather of a form of spiritual fascism.
In truth, because God DOES love us, He chooses to ignore our folly at times, and does not strike us dead. Instead, He shows great compassion and lovingkindness.
It is MY patience that is wearing thin, with the way even adults seem to gloss over the evident psychic cruelty and utter absurdity of some aspects of Canon law.
If you want the next generation, give them Jesus. Give them truth. Give them a hope that does not fade. Spare them the legalisms that are a remnant from the Inquisition.
AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, GROW UP!
As a thirty-something woman,
As a thirty-something woman, raised Catholic, who has spent half of those years engaged in a spiritual journey that has weaved toward and mostly, away, from active participation in a Catholic Church, I found your blog extremely relevant and enlightening. And I look forward very much to reading most posts concerning the particular points and presentations at this conference.
I do not mean this as a criticism, but the language in your article struck me, as much of the language at NCR frequently does. The conference seemed geared, (forgive me if I am missing something here - I am basing this only on what your first post reported), on getting twenty-somethings into church, not getting twenty-somethings to enter in a loving and graced relationship with God or Jesus through the Church.
I would like to share just one aspect of my own journey in response to the overall question you pose. I went to a Catholic Church every Sunday from the month after I was born to the age of twenty. And I listened, with fear and knots of dread, waiting to learn once again how I had sinned and for something new to add to the ever-growing "not to do" list. When I entered a certain ivy-league Protestant Seminary in my mid-twenties, I was immediately challenged by Protestant friends who asked me about my personal relationship with Jesus and how I lived in God's grace. I am amazed in hindsight that I honestly had no idea what they were talking about.
10 years later I have come to have a sense of this kind of language in my spiritual life, but through participation in the Emerging Church, New Monasticism, Anabaptism and Sufism. (Yes, even now I hear the comments of some NCR readers - take her name off the list, now!) The line that made me the saddest from your article was Davidson's comment: "only those who have made a “clean break with the church,” that is, have either become atheists or converted to another denomination, should be considered “lost” to the Church." Feel free to cross me off your list, but how can I explain that I will never feel "lost" to the Catholic sense of Sacramentality or a metaphysical understanding of man and the Imago Dei, but that more than an allegiance to an Institution, albeit a sacred institution, I needed to develop an intentional commitment to a relationship with God? How can I explain how a more fundamental understanding of Jesus' words: "whenever two or more of you are gathered in My Name..." has made me understand that 'church' means that no one can ever be crossed off the list?
I cannot help but wonder if the question might be more effectively asked: how do we help bring God and twenty-somethings (or anyone for that matter) into a closer relationship with the other, rather than how do we statistically verify that more people of a certain age demographic walk into a certain building with measurable frequency?
Thank you for your post on this topic, Jamie. I eagerly look forward to hearing more about the particularities of this conference.
Your sister,
Marissa
YDS '04
thanks, Jamie, as usual. And
thanks, Jamie, as usual. And thank you for this thoughtful response, Marissa. I think that you have named a very important re-framing of the question. A wise Catholic priest once told me, regarding my challenging relationship with the Institutional Church - "It is a sin to stay where you are not nurtured." There have been lapses, but I have found in many different cities, Catholic communities which nurture me, so I stay. However, my loyalty is not to the Catholic church, it is to a spiritual life and community. If/when I can no longer find that under the Catholic umbrella, I will go elsewhere.
Wait a minute. Isn't this the
Wait a minute. Isn't this the generation that flocked to countless World Youth days to be catechized by John Paul the Great?
"The problem may not be that
"The problem may not be that twenty-something Catholics have lost their way to the church. Rather, the church seems to have lost its way to twenty-somethings."
People who leave the Church have either thought a lot about it first or, perhaps more likely, they've valued the Church so little that leaving was the only sensible thing to do. In either case, it would be wise to find out exactly why they left before running after them and begging them to return.
To find out why they left, you need to do a professional study, not just have a seminar or two. I've heard nothing about such a study being planned. It looks as though nobody - you or the hierarchy - really cares about this very much at all.
"It has to develop a
"It has to develop a catechesis that challenges the mind, feeds the spirit, and engages the inquisitive nature of young people."
May I suggest a starting point?
A "preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a
church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the
poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the
middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources used for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
"And most of the young men
"And most of the young men being ordained are far more interested in rubrics and orthodoxy than they are in potlucks and hospitality."
Maybe a little rubrics and orthodoxy are what young people are looking for now. Our society used to have a certain level of what was morally acceptable, not anymore. Combine that with what our media pushes and it is no wonder that young people are looking for something that is solid and stable, something they can commit their lives to. That's why you see a lot of very conservative seminarians and young priests. And just because your 20 something year old priest doesn't wear rainbow colored vestments doesn't mean he isn't hospitable. And just because he speaks with authority because he can doesn't mean he's not hospitable either. If you actually took the time to get to know one of them you would be very surprised.
We do NOT see A LOT of
We do NOT see A LOT of conservative priests. What we DO see is what FEW priests that are being ordained are by and large mostly conservative orthodox robots who can spout Canon Law but have little or no ability to balance Canon Law against the real lives of their parishioners. A lot of us are absolutely convinced that we'd have a lot more talented and empathetic priests if the seminaries were open to married men, and women, be they married or unmarried.
Under the current paradigm, Catholic marriages are way, way down and falling like a rock. The inevitable result will be fewer and fewer sons making themselves available for the priesthood. Unless a change is made, the priest shortage will intensify and there will not be enough African, Indian, or S. American priests in the world to make up the shortage.
Here's a video response by
Here's a video response by twenty-somethings at the conference to the very question, "Who's LOST?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqszq6TTVQ0
This is a valuable
This is a valuable perspective from the mouths of the actual subjects of this conference. It's impossible to generalize about such a large and diverse population, but if we think about the culture in which these adults have been raised, it's not surprising that they are not attracted to an institution that refuses to dialog on any particular subject, especially subjects that concern those they are compelled to listen to and interact with as their primary spiritual counselors and leaders. Given the events of the past decades concerning abuse of this very generation and their parents, the credibility of the hierarchy has become questionable. It seems inevitable, then, that because this very hierarchy has calcified into a rigidity that accepts no input from them, it becomes irrelevant to them and the population seeks communication and inspiration elsewhere.
Dear Ncr, When I read this:
Dear Ncr,
When I read this: "No longer can the church rely on the need for a refuge, or on the desire for conformity, or the fear of damnation to ensure lay participation. The church suddenly finds itself having to make an effort at being not only welcoming, but intellectually stimulating and liturgically meaningful to new generations of Catholics who were not formed in its tradition." in your article, I thought isn't it a shame that the most welcoming, and intellectually stimulating and liturgically meaning church in the Cleveland area has been shut down, and now the people and its priest leader who dare to continue meeting as a Faith Community are being threatened with the most dire punishment. Something is very wrong here.
Good article. As a convert,
Good article. As a convert, I can tell you that Catholics are not accustomed to welcoming new people. I first become Protestant - they evangelized and welcomed new people - they wanted to share Jesus with me. I had to fight my way into the Catholic Church - they weren't as in touch with their need to evangelize and attract people. And now that I've been Catholic for many years, I feel that they assume that we will all continue to come because of the obligation... Times are busier now - people are over-scheduled - as this article points out. The Church has to respect the value of people's time. It's not safe to assume people will get out of bed or drive to church if they aren't SURE it's giving them something of value spiritually.
I went to our archdiocesan
I went to our archdiocesan "dog-and-pony-show" last night about the upcoming Roman Missal (it was one of several such programs being offered at various sites). I saw perhaps 35-40 people in attendance. I'd guess that 3/4 of the attendees were age 50 or older and that, of the remaining folks, none was under age 30-35. Anyway...
Jamie, you make some
Jamie, you make some excellent points.
The biggest problem facing the Catholic Church in the U.S. and Europe is how to recruit and retain members from societies whose members are relatively sophisticated, as educated as the average priest, relatively well off, and have a firm belief in civil rights and liberties.
Unfortunately, the church has yet to find a solution. The social upheavals of the 1960s severed the baby boomer generation's bonds with the church. And Generation X, the millenials, and everyone who followed never established any. Hence the long slow decline in mass attendance.
An important question the church needs to explore is: Why are the bonds people have with the Catholic church so easily broken? Seriously, the slightest change in life (going to college, starting a new job, moving to a new apartment in another part of town) and the church is dropped. It's almost a rite of passage now for Catholic college freshman to stop attending mass. And increasingly to never come back.
I could be that Catholic church is only viable in counrties with a large, poor underclass. This was the case in the countries of medieval Europe and modern day Africa (where the Catholic Church is experiencing phenomal growth)>
The church will never regain its footing in modern societies without serious reforms to the priesthood. Marriage and celibacy aside, the most basic problem with the priesthood is that the men who tend to finish seminary tend to be bookish, retiiring, socially uncomfortable. Mind you, not evil, perverted, or weird, just introverted. A relative of mine is currently studying at a seminary. He is like this. I've gone to many functions and found this to be the case with most of his fellow seminarians. I went to a Catholic school for 8 years and witnessed the same thing with established priests.
The problem is the church then asks these introverts to be the face of the institiution. To fire up the faithful. The face of the Catholic church for your average lay person is the parish priest. And most parish priests are woefully unsuited to the tasks set before them.
Another problem with the current priesthood: Elderly, unmarried, childless men are not good at building communities of families.
You know who are very good at building communities of families? Moms.
I think all the contractions and declines we are witnessing--My home archdiocese announced two days ago that they were considering consolidating up to 114 parishes, having already closed 65 in the past 6 years--are the death throes of the current state of the hierarchy. Something new will emerge--hopefully, before the church consolidates into nonexistence!
Jamie, I enjoyed reading the
Jamie,
I enjoyed reading the article on "Twenty - Somethings Catholics." I am a Sixty - Something Catholic and feel the same way. I long for intellectual stimulation, meaningful homilies and spiritually invigorating parishes.
I make it a point of attending classes, lectures, etc. where the environment is open to growth, challenge and dialogue. Unfortunately, this requires that I travel outside my own diocese to find and partake of this wealth.
I do think that the "church as we know it" needs a dramatic transformation.
The Spirit is calling and inspiring all ages - the hierachy is turning a deaf ear and heart. May we someday work together for the benefit of all.
It has been possible for
It has been possible for Church leadership to observe present trends over several decades. Many Faithful have reacted throughout the period with impacts measurable by the numbers at Mass, ordination, confession, and other sacraments. Countervailing impacts by the leaders appointed to sanctify, teach, and govern are difficult to identify.
Of the two-thirds of Americans raised Catholic who don't attend Church, the majority used to be 20-somethings. As they have become 40- to 70-somethings, empty homilies, non-supportive church interactions, and incredible and inexplicable teachings have too commonly been the face of the institutional Church in the settings where many Catholics have seen it. Revelations of long-running crime-related behavior in the hierarchy, facilitating and concealing sexual abuse, are one more nail in the coffin. Contrary to often-heard complaints about ignorance and apathy in those departing, many have left with honest, well-informed, passionate reasons and regret, aiming to worship God.
It is reasonable to assume that most priests and bishops do what their training, experience, and orders from superiors call for. To the extent that is true, it is difficult to see how significant change to bring 20-somethings or anybody else to church can possibly happen with the Church as it is is hierarchically structured and operated today. The laity have spoken for years and continue to do so with little effect. Re-training large numbers of middle-aged and old men in positions of authority is not a process likely to occur.
This and other's notes on the Fordham conference are noteworthy for no mention of interesting questions from the bishop(s) or diocesan representative(s) who came to listen. Is that an accidental omission?
The solution generational
The solution generational issues are known. We need better music, coherent, relevant homilies, and relevant social opportunities for people. None of these are controversial issues or involve doctrine. Unfortunately, instead of implementing these solutions, the church is content to comission study after study, and panel after panel to discuss them. As a result, nothing gets done, and twenty/thirty somethings remain with the perception that the church is not relevant.
"It has to develop a
"It has to develop a catechesis that challenges the mind, feeds the spirit, and engages the inquisitive nature of young people."
Good news, Jamie!
It's HERE:
http://www.nccbuscc.org/romanmissal/
Anxiously awaiting next year's sequel to this article once the new and improved Catholic Mass works its magic:
"Twenty-somethings: the FOUND generation!"
NOT!
Memo to USCCB-
The subtextual YOU GIVE/WE TAKE message of this statement obviously isn't flying:
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/stewardship.shtml
I don't think anyone really
I don't think anyone really sees what is being talked about here. What all of this comes down to is NOT what the Catholic Church is and is NOT offering but rather where our human natures are taking us. Because of our sin and eagerness to be accepted into this world, we (as young adults, me being one of them) are the ones who are at fault for the numbers in the church pews falling. The Catholic Church has been the same for 2000 years and only in difference because of God's Divine Revelation to us that helps our church to grow in its UNDERSTANDING of things we already believe. This does NOT mean that our beliefs change in any ways it only means that we can better express our beliefs because we better understand them through Divine Revelation. We are beginning to become BLIND to our faith. We expect the church to mold to US when in fact WE should be molding to the CHURCH. IM PROUD AND EXCITED to know that our new young priest are focused on the orthodoxy of the church. That means that the real beliefs and true structure of the faith will come out; sacraments, liturgy, etc. Where I live, we have some AMAZING, strong young men being ordained right now and they are very structured in the traditions of the Catholic Church. Due to this, all of us as young adults are able to better understand what we are celebrating every Sunday. If this understanding were to have been kept I whole-heartedly believe the pews would be filled still. But to throw full blame of the loss of understanding on the Church I believe isn't the right move. We are the sinners. Yes, all the ones who help daily in their vocations to run this Church are as well sinners, they are all included as well. We all make mistakes but we cannot blame our blindness and stubbornness on the whole Catholic Church. We need to be taking responsibility for this and stop expecting the Catholic Church, of whom we believe as Catholics was formed here on Earth by Christ Himself, to form to us and our selfish needs. If we would only give a little more to our inner need for this church and actually let it give to us all that it can instead of expecting it to give to us in a way we only want it to then we would see a drastic change in our numbers. Not to mention, if people stopped focusing on numbers then we could all start putting our focus towards praying for our church and communities, to grow in our understanding of our sacraments, and to watch as the Lord guides His church as it should be. WHY ARE WE ASKING OUR CHURCH TO FORM TO US? WE SHOULD BE FORMING TO IT! Our faith in the Catholic Church should be our way, especially as young adults, of finding our form, finding who we want to be and how we want to live our lives.
As an involved (in
As an involved (in youth-ministry, prayer-groups, attending holy mass, etc.) 20-something Catholic with many friends also highly involved, I think I speak for many or most of us when I say that what draws us in is tradition rather than excitement or warm-fuzzies. We want order in a world that is chaotic. We want discipline because many of us have experienced the chains of sin and desperately long for the freedom that comes from living in a state of grace.
Older generations need to get past the idea that making young people "feel" good will draw them into the Church. What draws people in is real love. Real love requires sacrifice, choice, discipline, and often discomfort. Of course it is inviting and engaging, but it has to go beyond the "Jesus pep-rally" we see in so many other churches. When we see real love, we recognize it and our will is naturally ordered toward that good. If Catholics truly let their hearts be converted in the grace of the sacraments, the world will follow.
Young (and otherwise) people
Young (and otherwise) people go to Mass when they have learned (because they have been catechized) that the Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary where they can partake of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, without which there is no salvation. (Gospel of St. John 6:53)
"Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you."
Young people, etc do not leave the Church but rather strive and struggle to profess, practice, and preach the Catholic Faith when they have come to believe that it is the only true religion. (Gospel of St. Matthew 16:18)
"And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Of course, the pseudo-Catholic attempt to modernize the Mass and the Church by turning the Catholic Faith from a God-centered religion into a man-centered spirituality has resulted in the current apostasy.
Wherever Modernism triumphs religious faith withers this is true not only in the Church but also among Protestants; mainline denominations are in complete decline while the Evangelical and Fundamentalist congrgeations are thriving.
This article does a good job of identifying the disease but unfortunately it once again fails to offer the only medicine that will heal the Body of Christ: orthodox Catholicism.
Until the Church jettisons for good all strains of modernism, the apostasy will continue.
I think Catholics should
I think Catholics should focus on what they bring to Mass, instead of what they "get out of it"
Some young adults withwhom I
Some young adults withwhom I work were discussing the following article on Facebook; the article itself was written by a 20-something:
“Those of us who are already self-flagellating, crusade-supporting, meat-free-Fridays Catholics know the answer instinctively. The minute I tell someone I'm Catholic I become the public face of the Catholic Church and must defend against myriad verbal wallopings from my secular friends and Protestant brothers. The hierarchy of the Church sends me, whether they intended to or not, to do the public relations work they have grossly failed to address since the Boston scandal broke. I've had practice, but many people my age haven't had the luxury of sitting in theology classes for six years.” –Tyler Mahoney, Duke University Divinity School Graduate Student, Co-Founder Churchrater.com.
Go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyler-mahoney/the-99-lost-sheep-20-some_b_... for the entire story.
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