The ‘nones’ – why some Americans are forgoing religious labels

August 9, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Washington D.C., Aug 9, 2018 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Among the growing share of religious “nones” in the U.S., a majority say that questioning religious teachings is one important factor in their lack of religious affiliation.

A Pew Research analysis released Aug. 8 explored the reasons that people give for being “nones.”

As of 2014, roughly 23 percent of U.S. adults said their religion is “nothing in particular,” according to Pew, an increase from 16 percent in 2007.

Pew’s new analysis – based on a survey conducted in late 2017 – asks more than 1,300 religiously unaffiliated adults about why they do not identify with a religion. The vast majority of religious “nones” were raised in a religion, but have since fallen away.

Sixty percent of respondents said questioning “a lot of religious teachings” was an influential factor in their lack of religious affiliation. Nearly half said they dislike positions that religious groups take on social and political issues.

Forty-one percent said they do not like religious organizations, and 34 percent said they do not like religious leaders. Just over one-third said they do not believe in God, and a similar percentage said religion is irrelevant in their lives.

The data indicated some differences among subgroups of unaffiliated individuals. Among atheists, nearly 90 percent said that not believing in God was a significant factor in their lack of religious affiliation. In contrast, just 37 percent of agnostics gave the same answer, and 21 percent of those who are “nothing in particular.”

Sixty-three percent of atheists said religion is irrelevant to them, compared to 40 percent of agnostics and 26 percent of those who are “nothing in particular.”

Other answers saw more consistent responses. About half of all subgroups said they dislike the positions churches take on social or political issues. Between 31 and 42 percent of each subgroup said they dislike religious leaders.

Asked about the single most important reason they are not affiliated with a religion, atheists pointed to their lack of belief in God, while agnostics cited their questioning of many religious teachings. Among those who are “nothing in particular,” no single reason predominated.

 

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The Dispatch

Synod’s next steps? U.S. bishops look to Rome for guidance, say priests and poor need a voice

November 15, 2023 Catholic News Agency 17
Father Iván Montelongo, a priest from the Diocese of El Paso, Texas; Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas; and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend, Indiana, discuss the Synod on Synodality at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall meeting in Baltimore on Nov. 14, 2023. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNA

Baltimore, Md., Nov 15, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

U.S. bishops are hoping for further guidance from the Vatican before they formulate concrete plans to prepare for the final stage of the Synod on Synodality next fall.

At the conclusion of the synod’s first assembly that took place at the Vatican between Oct. 4–29, delegates approved a 42-page synthesis document titled “A Synodal Church in Mission” containing more than 80 proposals, including recommendations aimed at giving lay Catholics a greater role in decision-making.

The preliminary document did not, however, specify the next steps that dioceses and episcopal conferences should take during the interim period before the synod reconvenes in October 2024.

On Tuesday during the fall assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore, two of the synod delegates — Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana — emphasized the need for an “executive summary” of the synthesis document to help guide continuing engagement with U.S. Catholics.

“When you think about it being a 41-page document, how are we going to consult people? Are they going to read 41 pages?” Rhoades said during a Nov. 14 press conference with Flores.

“At this point, I think we do need to identify exactly or more clearly what are the big items that we really need to have the input of the faithful. And I think that’s a work in progress because maybe the Vatican is going to provide those for us,” he said.

“We don’t know yet. If not, I mean, we have to get moving, so we may have to do it ourselves,” he added.

Flores agreed that the USCCB might have to produce its own summary if the Vatican doesn’t provide one soon. Asked if there was a timeline for when additional steps need to be taken, he said it was premature to formulate a schedule.

“To be honest, I don’t think we’ve gotten to the timeline stage yet because it is still fairly recent,” Flores said.

The synod’s synthesis document was the fruit of the delegates’ small-group discussions of issues raised in these listening sessions. The document calls for greater “co-responsibility” among all members of the Church and recommends specific steps to take and proposals to consider to achieve that goal.

Bishops: Not enough voices were heard

Pope Francis initiated the Synod on Synodality in October 2021, kicking off a multiyear worldwide Church effort to engage in listening sessions with Catholics. The faithful were asked to submit feedback to their local dioceses on the question “What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our ‘journeying together?’”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, had noted at last month’s synod that only 1% of Catholics participated in the listening sessions.

“One thing we have to do going forward is to encourage greater participation and invite people to partake and engage in this process of speaking, and listening and praying together,” Broglio said in October, adding: “That would be a source of growth for the Church.”  

Flores echoed these sentiments Tuesday, calling for a greater variety of voices to be heard as the synodal process continues.

“The voice of the pastors and the priests was not heard as clearly as we need to hear it, “ Flores said. “I think we all, as bishops, will get an encouragement to kind of find the vehicle by which, with their priests, they can reflect on what this document says as we prepare for going forward.”

“But they’re not the only ones. We all admitted that because it was our first sort of effort that we could do a lot better in consulting with the peripheral materially poorer. It’s because it’s hard, because you’re not always going to get a welcome,” the bishop of Brownsville said.

In his remarks, Flores said he expects to send some “resources” out to bishops and dioceses before the U.S. bishops’ conference in June.

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