A sense of urgency for ‘Young Catholic America’

CatholicAnchor.org
Historic, orthodox Christianity affirms the existence of God, that he became a man and walked the earth 2,000 years ago to model, teach and to ultimately pave a way for fallen creatures to untangle their broken souls and embark on a new life with their Creator.

Additionally, Catholics believe that Christ established a physical church to endure through the ages in order to preserve and proclaim this message to the ends of the world.

Most of you know and believe this already — that your kids and grandkids do is less certain.

Today, the majority of young adults, ages 18-25, who were raised with Catholic parents and attended regular Mass, say they don’t need the church to be religious (74 percent) and think it’s fine to pick and choose personal beliefs (64 percent). They also don’t believe the church to be the ultimate teacher of Christian doctrine.

These discoveries are related in a new book, “Young Catholic America,” by renowned Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. His research is based on a three-part survey from 2002 to 2008 that followed more than 3,000 young people from their teenage years into young adulthood.

Smith reports that only a minority of young adult Catholics attend Mass on Sunday, pray daily or consider themselves strongly Catholic. Unsurprisingly, 33 percent of this group consider abortion to be okay for any reason, 43 percent find nothing wrong with homosexual sex and more than 90 percent reject Catholic teaching against premarital sex.

It’s safe to say that we live in a time when the historic message of Christianity is being drowned out and watered down. Hyper individualism has many believing they can reinvent and reorient their lives however they wish. Belief in fixed moral realities and religious truths are increasingly difficult to swallow and are more likely to be seen as naïve sentiments held by children and those who grew up in a simpler time.

To be clear, just going to regular Mass or even sending kids to Catholic schools, is normally not enough for the faith to endure in the next generation.

This point hit home during last month’s Alaska Catholic Youth Conference, where more than 300 teens gathered for a four-day conference aimed at igniting and deepening their faith. For the most part, these teens were not typical Catholic youth, but kids who likely attend weekly Mass, serve the church and participate in parish youth groups.

Even so, one of the keynote speakers (Karlo Broussard of Catholic Answers) was flown in for the specific purpose of presenting good, philosophical reasons for simply believing that God exists and to dispel notions that we are merely matter, not spiritual beings.

Conference organizers should be commended for recognizing the need, even among youth from committed Catholic families, to show that belief in God is not superstitious or mere child’s play. But this also tells us something about the state of the faith and the pressing task that lies before Catholic adults who care about the emerging generation.

We need to know (by asking) what questions our youth struggle with. Do they wonder about the existence of God? Do they question the reliability of the church’s moral precepts? Do they see and experience the relevance of Sacred Scripture, the sacraments, the saints and the great theological truths?

If we don’t know whether they struggle with these challenges, then it shouldn’t be surprising to find a whole generation abandoning Catholic faith and morals.

So what can be done?

According to Smith — and this should come as no shock — young adults who persevere in the faith are more likely to have parents who actively teach and model the faith to them. Additionally, they are more likely to have other adults — youth pastors, priests, friends and relatives — who live out the faith in concrete ways.

But many adults feel ill-equipped to address philosophical and theological questions. Not to worry. Solid resources abound. For theological and doctrinal starters try reading the Youth Catechism (YOUCAT) together. To answer challenges posed to Catholic faith, watch videos or read short articles from the Catholic Answers website (catholic.com).

And for a clear, straight forward presentation of basic Christian beliefs, try reading C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity.” It’s directed to young WWII soldiers who did not see the point of Christianity.

The teen years are a fleeting opportunity to help youth embark on a mature adult faith. We must raise the pressing questions and together explore the answers.

The writer is editor of the Catholic Anchor, the official newspaper and news website for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.