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CURRENT
ISSUE: February 19, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 4Oakland,
CA
‘Millennial’ Catholics a paradox
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WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- Young adult Catholics have a strong Catholic identity but do
not feel much of a commitment to the institutional Church or its moral
teachings, two sociologists said Feb. 6 in Washington.
The seemingly paradoxical assessment came from James A. Davidson of Purdue
University in West Lafayette, Ind., and Dean R. Hoge of The Catholic University
of America in Washington at a Woodstock Forum on the campus of Georgetown
University.
Davidson and Hoge are co-authors with William V. D’Antonio of Catholic
University and Mary L. Gautier of the Center for Applied Research in the
Apostolate at Georgetown of “American Catholics Today: New Realities
of Their Faith and Their Church,” to be published in late March
by Rowman & Littlefield.
The book analyzes Gallup surveys from 1987, 1993, 1999 and 2005, and finds
that Catholics born after 1979, in what the authors call the “millennial
generation,” have deep differences from previous generations of
Catholics -- differences that are unlikely to disappear when they marry
and have children.
“There’s a disconnect between them and the institutional Church,”
said Davidson. “And when they get older, they are not going to be
like the Catholics of previous generations. They are going to be the Catholics
they are now.”
Hoge said the disconnect might be exacerbated by the fact that the young
diocesan priests who will serve the millennial generation are moving in
the opposite direction, becoming more strict about some Church teachings
and more likely to adhere to the “cultic” model of priesthood
as a man set apart than to the “servant-leader model” favored
by the majority of older priests.
For example, while 94 percent of priests 35 or younger said they believe
ordination confers “a permanent character making (the priest) essentially
different from the laity,” only 70 percent of priests ages 56-65
said that. Asked whether the Church “needs to move faster in empowering
laypeople in ministry,” 86 percent of the priests ages 56-65 and
54 percent of the youngest priests agreed.
For the purposes of their book, the sociologists divided the entire adult
Catholic population into four groups -- pre-Second Vatican Council, those
over 65, who make up about 17 percent of U.S. Catholics; the Vatican II
generation, ages 45-64, 35 percent; the post-Vatican II generation, ages
27-44, 40 percent; and the millennials, ages 18-26, 9 percent.
On abortion, 58 percent of the pre-Vatican II generation said abortion
was a core Catholic teaching, but only 7 percent of the millennials did.
Sixty-nine percent of the oldest group said homosexual behavior is always
wrong, while only 37 percent of the young adult Catholics agreed.
On the question of premarital sex, there was a sharp drop in those who
believe it is “always wrong” from the pre-Vatican II generation
(62 percent) to the Vatican II generation (26 percent). The figure was
only slightly lower for the post-Vatican II generation (22 percent) and
the millennial generation (21 percent).
Referring to the forum’s theme, “Young Adult Catholics: Believing,
Belonging and Serving,” Davidson said, “Belonging is not a
problem; they feel comfortable calling the Church home. And I don’t
think serving is a problem. It’s the believing that’s the
problem.”
Young adult Catholics see the Church as having “no credibility,
no plausibility, no authority,” he added. “They practice their
faith by caring for other people.”
Responding to the sociologists’ talks, two women who work with young
Catholics found signs of hope for the Church in the next generation.
Catherine Heinhold, a campus minister and director of the Catholic retreat
program at Georgetown, said many students believe “it is more important
to serve the poor than to go to Mass” but they also feel “a
very real, deep desire to grow in their faith and spirituality.”
“They respond well to outreach,” she said, “and they
are really hungry for God.”
Holy Names Sister Mary Carroll Kemp, a ninth-grade religion teacher at
Gonzaga College High School in Washington, said that although community
service and retreat programs at the Jesuit-run school are not obligatory,
“everyone wants to do them.”
But she said the most important element of the service programs and retreats
is the time spent in faith-sharing and reflection each day, “talking
the talk about Jesus, the Gospel and God.
