Catholic Young People in the UK?

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Andy_42

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Hi

Any young (as in teenagers / early twenties) catholics in the UK or even anywhere where your basically fairly alone in your beliefs, who follow their religion closely?.

How do you manage in a country where the majority of the country doesn’t really follow religion? … do you ever feel like an outcast?

Does it bother you when you friends are out sleeping around, getting drunk etc (not that i think this is a good thing)

Andy
 
**I’m not that young anymore:o and I’m not in the UK. But I am in Canada where the religion of choice is either “do what you want, it’s all good” or “call yourself Catholic but don’t actually practice it”.

It is very hard to be a faithful Catholic. I don’t have any faithful Catholic friends. Most of hubby’s coworkers are as secular as they come. And with him being in the military we have plenty of exposure to the “get drunk and sleep around” crowd. Or worse, the “cheat on your spouse” crowd. I’m not saying they are all like this!!! just that we hear plenty of it.**

**And, while I agree that it is hard to be a teen or young adult who is a faithful Catholic, I regret to tell you it doesn’t get any easier. While right now you may have to deal with the partying, drinking, fornicating crowd, as you get older you will have to deal with other people your age who don’t take marriage seriously, don’t instill morals or values in their children etc etc etc. (And for many the partying and drinking and fornicating never goes away no matter their age:()

Being a Catholic is never easy. But we were never promised an easy road. Take comfort in knowing that God loves you and is happy to see you holding on to your faith even when it is lonely.
**
 
Hi

Thanks for your response. But don’t you worry about your kids?. I mean, the larger part of society is telling them its the norm to sleep around, cheat on your partner etc yet their religion / parents are telling them different therefore making them go against the flow. Don’t you worry they may grow to resent you / rebel, or simply lead dual lives, one that is acceptable to their parents while at home but another when out of the house.

I always remember when at college a couple of tutors told us white kids that the reason so many muslim asian kids hung about in the corridors / library / any other place in the college after hours was because at home they had strict religious lives, where as outside of home they basically followed more mainstream rules, had b/friends etc

Andy
 
**Of course I worry about our daughter!!! As soon as she was born our (Hubby’s and mine) whole outlook on life changed. We saw the world through parents’ eyes for the first time…and boy is it scary!

But our goal is not to have a “strict religious” home. Our goal is to raise Lily with faith. If she can understand why we believe what we do I think it will be easier to be strong in her convictions. But we also know that we won’t be able to control every aspect of her life, so we won’t. We hope to equip her with good decision making skills, a properly formed conscience, and the ability to recognize a mistake and repent. And, more importantly, to know that everyone makes mistakes. That’s ok. One of the greatest aspects of our faith is forgiveness.**
 
I’m a young(ish, 26) person in the UK. I am lucky enough to belong to an excellent University Chaplaincy, with a vibrant young community, a very orthodox priest who engages with young people, and a lot of student-led activities, ranging from volunteering, charismatic renewal prayer group, pilgrimages, catechesis, which offers a daily morning & evening prayer and rosary as well as daily mass (at lunchtime, so late-sleeping students won’t miss it). We currently have at least 3 people discerning priesthood or religious life (actually, all 3 looking at religious life, 2 men, 1 woman, nobody looking at diocesan priesthood at the moment), as well as having some young families and older people who also attend and give the parish group more depth.

It’s also a great help to have such an international student group around the University, which keeps us close to the universal truths of our Catholic faith, and away from the risk of becoming a Scots/Irish cultural club.

I guess it would be much harder in rural areas than in cities. Of the 3 cities I know anything about, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, all have centres of young Catholic spirituality, if you know where to find them.
 
Andy_42 said:
Hi

Any young (as in teenagers / early twenties) catholics in the UK or even anywhere where your basically fairly alone in your beliefs, who follow their religion closely?.
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Twenty here, trying to follow the faith.
Andy_42 said:
How do you manage in a country where the majority of the country doesn’t really follow religion? … do you ever feel like an outcast?
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All the time, but it isn’t that bad, people aren’t as discriminatory as they used to be, at least not to your face.
Andy_42 said:
Does it bother you when you friends are out sleeping around, getting drunk etc (not that i think this is a good thing
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Yes it does, to the point where I have cut off contact with a lot of my friends because of how uncomfortable it felt being with them while they indulged in their lifestyles. It is sad but I hope one day we’ll be able to have a decent friendship again. My only regret is not telling them why I wasn’t going out with them any more.
 
Andy_42 said:
Don’t you worry they may grow to resent you / rebel, or simply lead dual lives, one that is acceptable to their parents while at home but another when out of the house.
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I’m 23 and British. For me it’s quite the opposite situation to the one you suggest - I’m annoyed that I didn’t have a proper Catholic upbringing. Now that I’ve discovered the fullness of the faith, I can’t see why anyone would want anything else.

I’m still close to my friends from before (though I couldn’t manage without the support of my Catholic friends), and it saddens me that they’re caught up in promiscuity/drunkenness/materialism &c. I can see how it’s making them jaded and joyless. If God blesses me with children one day, I hope to give them the positive Catholic upbringing that I missed out on, so they can get on with ‘living’ much sooner.
 
Well, I’m a 37-year-old UK mom-of-2, so…not that young anymore. We live in Carlisle and the girls attend a wonderful Catholic primary where the teachers really do their utmost to LIVE the Faith! Little altars in every classroom, statues of Jesus and Mary, little shelves with religious literature, the priest visits almost daily, they go to church once a week…I have HOPE for the future!
 
anna1978 said:
We live in Carlisle and the girls attend a wonderful Catholic primary
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Lucky you. And I gather that the schools in Lancaster Diocese can only get better after Fit for Mission: Schools. Thanks be to God for Bishop O’Donaghue!
 
I’m a university student in Canterbury, and on campus there is quite an active Catholic society. It is where I became Catholic and think of as a second home. It is run by the Catholic chaplain, and it is a really nice place to be, especially because most of the members come from overseas.

I don’t feel like an outcast, at least, not during the meetings anyway :D. It helps to show us that the Church is everywhere, and we can take it with us. If we do start to feel alone, then we can always turn to each other and Father for advice and comfort. I suppose at times it can get a little daunting because of my course, but CathSoc is my life, and what a life it is!

It bothers me that my friends are mixed up in the ‘culture of death’, but I hope that my life can at least show them that they don’t have to. Luckily, for the most part, a lot of my friends are either in relationships or happily single, so it isn’t like I’m dealing with extremes.
 
Hello

What an interesting post 🙂 I’m 22 and live in the UK.

I have grown up as a Traditional Catholic (as in I’ve only ever attended the Tridentine Mass.) This has made it doubly hard to keep to the narrow path, as getting to Mass regularly is not easy. The year I spent at College was a serious challenge to my faith due to the crowd I mixed with. My Dad is not a Catholic which did make things difficult growing up. But I’m still with the faith and I find it a great comfort. :heaven:

In my life so far I have been blessed with good friends who are not Catholics or indeed any religion. There have been times when I’ve been around people that weren’t a good influence, but God has guided me to good friends now.

I agree being a Catholic in today’s society is certainly an uphill struggle, and I have often longed to belong to at least a more Christian if not Catholic society. But despite the difficulties I wouldn’t want to be anything else! 🙂
 
Andy_42 said:
Hi

Any young (as in teenagers / early twenties) catholics in the UK or even anywhere where your basically fairly alone in your beliefs, who follow their religion closely?.

How do you manage in a country where the majority of the country doesn’t really follow religion? … do you ever feel like an outcast?

Does it bother you when you friends are out sleeping around, getting drunk etc (not that i think this is a good thing)

Andy
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I’m neither young nor living in Britain, but…where I work, I’m definitely isolated as a Catholic Christian, and active disciple of Christ. *NO ONE *in my immediate work environment is religious – no one. The majority are functional atheists, e.g., they act as though Christ never existed. Christianity is the farthest thing from their minds. Many actively loathe it. I cling to Christ ever more resolutely, and put my fate in His hands, every single day. I frequently reflect on Jesus’ teaching that we should be prepared to be persecuted for our faith.
 
I am a young Catholic from England and I have no Catholic friends, or religious friends for that matter. I don’t even know any other young Catholics, or Christians.

My friends all have totally different beliefs than me, and their lives revolve around getting drunk and having parties. A lot of my acquaintances take drugs, but I try not to have much to do with these individuals.

I used to find it very hard to live the faith and I constantly used to worry about finding friends who shared my beliefs. While at University, I went to the Chaplaincy a few times but it wasn’t my sort of scene.

These days, it doesn’t bother me that I don’t have any Catholic friends. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have to let my friends influence my behaviour. I have my beliefs about life, and they have theirs. I do my best to live a good moral life, and I don’t judge my friends by my moral standards. I know that we have different beliefs and opinions, and I respect that.

Being a young Catholic in modern Britain is a difficult thing, but Jesus said it wouldn’t be easy. Even though we live in a very un-Christian society, it is still possible to be a good Catholic, even if you don’t have the support of like-minded friends. You just have to stand your ground and never compromise your beliefs.
 
Hi everyone.
I am also from the UK. By some standards I am still considered young-I am 29. But having been married for 10 years with 5 children I don’t feel young.😃
I too am disapointed with my lack of education. I managed to attend Catholic Schools for 12 years and manage to learn nothing about my faith, and generally found that the faith I did have was dismissed and ridiculed.
 
and generally found that the faith I did have was dismissed and ridiculed.
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I know exactly what you mean. For some reason, British society really frowns on any form of religiousness. However, the people who ridicule religion are generally of low intelligence. At least that’s my experience.
 
Hi there, Im from Ireland, and there are not many young people in their twenties who are serious about their faith, I don’t really have any Catholic friends, Would love to get chatting with any young Catholics in the UK / Ireland area,
 
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