Going, Going, Gone

While Dr. Bob McCarty’s presentation on Saturday, August 18th at Loyola University concerned the dire matter of young Catholics leaving the Church at an alarming rate, and he told us that he was not going to give us the answers to turning the situation around, we left Miller Hall with our HOPE intact. 

The surveys by CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) and St. Mary’s Press provide plenty of statistics and anecdotal evidence that support the devastating outflow of young people from the Church in which they were baptized and, for the most part, educated, either in parish schools of religion or Catholic elementary and high schools. 

So where is the HOPE?  The situation seems overwhelming.  Where do we begin? The HOPE lies with us.

It’s all about “relationship.” We must be in relationship with our students, and this takes TIME. This situation will not be turned around in a month or a year, maybe even a decade. Relationships take time. Genuine relationships engender trust, and this trust is what our young people must have in us before they will believe what we say. 

Dr. McCarty indicated to us that THE most important things we can do with our young people is to “LISTEN more,” “walk WITH them,” “try to understand what they are seeking.” We can only educate our youth AFTER we engage their hearts.  Do we know God?  Do we know Jesus? Can we listen and with love lead our young people to the Person of Jesus, rather than to the completion of a program? Can we not only allow them to express their doubts and wandering, but encourage them to seek the truth which is found in the Truth. Are we cheered and enlivened by knowing Our Lord and His Church? Do we express that by our lives? Can we assist parents in clearly stating why they want their children to stay connected to the Church? Many participants shared the ways they are currently doing these things.

If we can train or re-train ourselves to do this, we can begin to “turn the tide,” and our young people, as they go on to become parents, will believe and help their families continue to believe.

The full report Going, Going, GONE: The Dynamics of Disaffiliation in Young Catholics can be found at www.smp.org/product/5926/Going-Going-Gone.