Young Adults and the Catholic Church

Abstract

Much has been written in recent years about the religious attitudes and aspirations of young adults. It is clear that many Catholics are concerned about what they perceive to be the distancing of young adults from the institutional church. In a 2003 poll, more than half of Catholics surveyed said that the lack of participation by young adults is a serious problem for the church (D’Antonio et al., 77). They listed this concern as one of the three most serious problems faced by the U.S. Catholic Church, along with the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the decline in vocations to religious life and the priesthood. In his recent study of young adults from all religious backgrounds, Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow compares them to young adults of the 1970s. He concludes that “young adults are less likely to participate in religious services than they were a generation ago” (Wuthnow, 214). He describes himself as “troubled” by his findings about the religious involvement of young U.S. Americans. It is evident that the challenges set before the Catholic Church with regard to eliciting young adult participation are also faced by other religious groups. I am currently involved with young adults in two settings: the theology classroom, where I teach systematic theology to graduate students, and through young