I want to chime in here, because, despite being “young in the faith” (just shy of 1 year since receiving the Sacraments).
My town is relatively small, and the population does fluctuate depending on the time of year. We have three Churches; AoG, Anglican and the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church has, by far, the
worst youth attendance, despite something like 30-50% of our town being “culturally Catholic.”
My Sponsor, from RCIA, has suggested several times in casual discussions that there are 3 things needed for children to embrace the faith, and not wander off:
- Parenting. It starts from birth in demonstrating the faith to the kids, and impressing it upon their minds, in the everyday ways and movements of Catholic life
- Teaching. From a young age, kids need progression onto stuff that can’t just be demonstrated, like morality, sins, the Sacraments and so on.
- A Personal Encounter with God. This is the big one, in my opinion. If the kids are well-educated and instructed, then it is now up to them to lead themselves in prayer life and have personal revelation. If this doesn’t happen, the kids drift away gradually or quickly.
Another big problem is families who want their kids “to be Catholic,” by enrolling them in the Sacraments, but never actually showing up to Church and giving them that experience in the faith.
What happens here is like in Norway, where events such as Confirmation are trivialized into “something that is ‘just done’ because we always have,” and not because there is any underlying meaning in the Ceremony and Mass. This breeds families full of ‘Cultural-Catholics,’ those ‘in name only,’ which are harmful (Scandalous to the Church?) for the rest of us practicing Catholics.
Unfortunately, we are also faced with a Priest shortage. The problem here is that in some parts of the globe, like rural Australia, Mass is only available as the Priest visits, anywhere up to 2-3 times monthly (perhaps less), depending on what the nearest Priest can work out (as he does have responsibility to say, 2 or three Parishes).
Priests themselves have told me that once there is no longer a permanent Priest in the Parish, those with a weaker faith tend to drift away, and only visit for the Masses, before drifting further and only attending at Christmas and Easter.
Some might say that those with weaker faith are better off not coming; I say otherwise. If you can get a Mass more often, then these people are attracted and it should certainly strengthen their faith in God. The fact is, having a Priest VISIBLY present in the community makes the Church seem more approachable, and far less alien.
The big thing here is the Priest, whether permanent or not, NEEDS to go door-knocking, and make themselves more accessible to the public. This can help people have their questions and doubts answered, among other things.
Personally, I would disagree with “Youth Masses,” mainly because kids need a realistic representation of reality for when they grow older. Tailoring it to their needs teaches them that the Church will go to them, not the other way around, as it had traditionally meant to be!
If you teach kids “The Church will come to them,” then you end up with silly ideas that we have in society today: That the Church “needs” to abandon Z, Y and/or Z teaching before I will go, and in that you loose the teachings of the Bible and have people thinking the Church is whatever they want it to be…
Last year, at the Sacramental Mass (led by our Diocesan Bishop), I requested many of my friends (about 10) to come. They all did. Several are “culturally” Greek-Orthodox, some are undecided and one is a practicing Anglican and two belonged to the AoG Church.
Aside from the Anglican, and two other friends (principle in my formation) none of them are remotely concerned with religion. Unfortunately, liberalism in the media and from parents and friends have taught them that “religion is a hoax, and is used to control people and get their money. An all-superior and reigning God would never permit all the suffering in the world.”
While I appreciated their support, friendship and understanding in my conversion, I know I could never get them to come back. I have prayed that this one occasion will be enough to get them started in some sort of belief in God - but I haven’t a clue where to take it from there.
I apologize for the long post. Brevity is NOT something I can do well. But to summarize:
- Children need parents with a firm belief and faith in God, who are willing to share this with others. This will better prepare them to personally experience God in some way, shape or form
- Parents need to give children the faith with full intention of them growing into “Good Catholics.” Not giving them “a faith,” because “its a family tradition” or whatever.
- Particularly in regional areas, Priests need to be more visible in the community to remove this “smokescreen” that surrounds the Church. People who don’t understand or know are afraid!
- Church needs to be The Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but The Truth. No “children’s Mass,” and no Choirs/Bands/Praise Singers that merely entertain the crowd, instead of drawing people to contemplate God
- Lastly, for Youth who didn’t have a religious upbringing (such as myself), the rest of us MUST demonstrate our Faith and pray for those without the Faith. We MUST plant seeds, ask questions and be the One, Holy, Catholic Church we claim to be!
and just sit and talk with the priest about theology and anything that comes to mind. I’ve not attended one, but from what I know it’s actually very informative. Younger people aren’t afraid to ask questions about the Church and talk things out as a group. It’s quite popular and seems really effective.