I don’t know if I still count as a “young person” at 23, but I have two little sisters, the youngest of whom is seventeen, so I guess I have some knowledge of the cool, hip youth of today.
I’d say that except for friends I’ve met directly through church (youth groups, volunteering, etc. etc.), all of my college and work friends are agnostic at least, though a good chunk of them were raised Catholic or mainline Protestant. The most religious of my non-church friends are two Jewish young men and a Muslim woman. I’ve rarely met anyone under 30 who is openly hostile to organized religion, though many are clearing uncomfortable with Christianity. Friends who otherwise are the model of atheism regularly ask how my faith life is going and every so often will ask for prayers. Even if they don’t believe lighting a candle and saying a rosary does anything, they know 1. it comforts me, and 2. putting good thoughts into the universe can’t hurt. My two greatest comforts in matters of faith are a communist lesbian couple who send me encouraging Bible quotes when I’ve had a bad day and are actively campaigning for me to become a nun.
As for why they left, that’s complicated. My little sister (21) has a close friend who was sexually abused within the church. She now has panic attacks in religious settings. If any of my friends have experienced that, they have not come forward, but do not doubt that hearing about these scandals has weakened their faith. Especially for those of us around the Eastern seaboard and in close proximity (give or take a few hundred miles) to Boston, it is not easy to trust an organization complicit in the rape and abuse of children.
I have a few friends who attended parochial schools and across the board they all had bad experiences. As a dedicated public schooler until college, I don’t know exactly what the problem is with Catholic education, but I can tell you secondhand that there’s a lot of bullying.
Finally, not sure how relevant this is, but many of my friends are deeply involved in socialist politics and charitable organizations. While my faith informs my charity (look at Dorothy Day!), I know that for many, it’s hard to spend day upon day working with the homeless and not begin to have your faith, not only in the Church but humanity, crumble a bit. There’s a great sense of anger that so many bishops and cardinals live in opulence while so many suffer. The Church is seen as a symbol of the ruling class, the 1%.
NOW, for good news: I have NEVER met a “young person” (gonna say under 30) who did not react enthusiastically to the teachings of Jesus. It’s impossible to live in America and not know a bit of the Bible and the New Testament is almost universally received well. The well-known saints (particularly Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth Ann Seton) are praised and invoked as role models. Everyone’s read some CS Lewis (Narnia is standard for dreamy kids with overactive imaginations). Similarly, Pope Francis is universally adored, even as my more “hardcore commie” friends side-eye his politics.
These are not heartless heathens rejecting all moral teachings, but good-hearted, idealistic kids who don’t think that the Catholic Church is a model of morality. They are, in a word, disillusioned.
But then again, this is all anecdata from a highly specific bit of the population (college educated liberal hippies in DC). I would LOVE to see a real scientific survey of the question.
