Review

Critical Masses

Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the Church
by Christian Smith, Kyle Longest, Jonathan Hill, and Kari Christoffersen
Oxford University Press, 2014
(333 pages, $29.95, hardcover)

reviewed by Leon J. Podles

The authors, two of whom teach at Notre Dame, surveyed the religious lives of a representative group of Catholic young people in 2002. At that time, the members of the group were between the ages of 13 and 17. The sociologists re-contacted the same group in 2005 and again in 2007–2008. They therefore were able to see how attitudes and practices changed as the teenagers became emerging adults.

Their main finding was of stability. As the teenagers were, so were the young adults. Any change was in the direction of less commitment to Catholicism.

Comparisons & Changes

The authors' surveys also show that Catholics are significantly less likely to be religious than non-Catholics, both as teenagers and as emerging adults. Church attendance is about ten percent lower among Catholics in these younger groups, and the overall percentage of Protestants who attend church surpasses that of Catholics. Both Catholics and non-Catholics distance themselves from church during adolescence, but fewer Catholics will probably return as they grow older.

Catholic attitudes changed in the 1970s, becoming much the same as those of the larger American society, and have been stable since then. For example, both general and Catholic opinion have become more accepting of homosexuality (Catholics even somewhat more so) but less accepting of adultery, and Catholic support for the death penalty has followed the rise and fall of general public sentiment.

Because the Catholic Church tried to come to terms with modernity in the space of less than a decade in the 1960s, it experienced far greater turmoil than did the Protestant churches, which had adapted to modernity over centuries. As Vatican II ended the "fortress mentality" of Tridentine Catholicism and opened the Catholic Church to the world, the world itself, particularly in the United States, was undergoing revolutionary changes.

Catholic teenagers have come to share the prevailing attitude that sex, binge drinking, and recreational drugs are a normal part of adolescence. Adolescents have always tended to take a break from religious practice and then return when they marry and have children, but delayed marriage means that the break is longer and the return to religious practice less likely.

Problems with Passing on the Faith

Although such a loss of Catholic identity was not intended by Vatican II, the changes the council made, according to the authors, caused a general uncertainty about what should be passed on to the next generation. Compounding this problem was the large-scale departure of priests and religious, which brought about a 92 percent decline in the number of religious teaching in Catholic schools. Because Catholics in general are far less generous to their churches than are Protestants, and have become even less so, many parish schools had to close because they could not afford to replace their unpaid staff of religious with paid teachers and programs. The remaining Catholic schools have only a modest influence on the religious practice of those who attend them, mainly in keeping a residual attachment to Catholicism.

The authors point to several factors that increase the likelihood that children will grow up to be practicing Catholics. Having conservative parents helps—the children of liberal parents are noticeably less practicing. It also helps if both parents are Catholic, and it is extremely helpful if the father is a committed and practicing Catholic. That is, having a "committed Catholic father" is not a "sufficient" condition, but it "seems to be a necessary condition" for producing children who will be committed Catholics. In general, practicing Catholic young people have better outcomes on generally accepted standards, such as refraining from risky behavior, having a sense of purpose in life, and being able to plan for the future.
If current trends continue (always a big if, as the authors acknowledge), Catholic Mass attendance will continue to decline, and such active members as the Church retains will be on the conservative side.

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