Cardinal-Designate and World Youth Day (WYD) organizer Americo Aguiar generated lots of heat with his remark that the Lisbon event is not about “conversion” but “fraternity.” The blowback has led to walk backs, from “I was read out of context” to “I didn’t mean that” to “I hope everybody has an ‘experience of God.’”
We even got Aguiar’s version of an “I Have a Dream” speech:
Above all, my dream is that these young people who come to Lisbon return to their countries with the desire to be better, better people, regardless of their religion, regardless of everything else. Why? Because in Lisbon they found white and Black people, large and small, from the South and the North, rich and poor, Muslims, Jews and others, and they discovered that difference is wealth. And that all this diversity of brothers and sisters is always an opportunity.
A lot of critics—myself included—have argued that young people are being served watered down Catholic-Lite Kool-Aid in lieu of rich Catholic Cana wine.
Nobody can argue with the hope that young people return from Portugal “better people.” Who would want them to come back “worse people?” But, apart from that platitude, go back and read Aguiar’s quote. And, above all, do you notice what is missing?
The one missing word is “Jesus”.
We can concentrate on the Christological anemia of WYD (or at least its coordinator). And while I hope Catholic youth go home with broader sympathies for those with different skin pigmentation, height and weight, and yearly income, let’s widen our aperture—because WYD is not the problem.
No, I think it’s a symptom of something deeply wrong in the Church.
It does not take a Ph.D. in sociology to tell you that the Church is hemorrhaging young people. “Nones”—young people who profess no religious affiliation—are the fastest growing demographic, and a lot of them are coming out of the Church.
Our “theology of initiation” notwithstanding, Confirmation is de facto the sacrament of ecclesial exodus, no matter how much liturgists agonize over when to administer it or how to rack up “service hours” to show one’s “faith commitment.” Once upon a time, marriage served as a potential vector for bringing young people back into the Church. But with delayed marriage and a cultural endorsement of “marriage means anything two people want it to mean,” that sacramental moment is increasingly tenuous.
So, are we now pinning hopes on maybe when they bring the kid for baptism? Or, rather, “if?”
Let’s be honest. Plenty of parishes focus their catechetical attention on elementary school because, in most places, you have three sacraments to confer: First Confession, First Communion, and Confirmation. In lots of parishes, high school level, post-Confirmation catechesis pales next to the elementary offerings.
Then the young Catholic goes off to college. Many will go to state colleges or universities and, to be honest, I’m almost relieved at that. Many Catholic student unions, Newman Centers, and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students offer far more orthodox, if not more robust religious programs than many Catholic colleges or universities.
The problem, of course, is that there’s no institutional promotion of their work. Want to join the Catholic students? OK. Want to be a Satanist? We’re diverse and tolerant. While some Catholic groups might be more proactive, the burden still largely falls on the Catholic student to search them out.
Having worked at Catholic universities for a long time, I’ll voice disappointment. Catholicism is often on prominent display in recruitment literature. (Even Princeton probably gets more attention by putting pictures of its neo-Gothic chapel in the promo handouts). But, as the father of two children who just finished higher education, I’ve gone through my share of college tours where “student ambassadors,” after making the obligatory stop in the chapel, knowingly assure prospective students that “they have Mass here but nobody makes you go.”
In those Catholic institutions of higher education, the “mainstream” approach of the faculty that deals with Catholicism varies but is generally not robustly or clearly Catholic. The worse variants are “Departments of Religious Studies,” which make it clear that they treat “religion,” Catholicism being one species. But many “Departments of Theology” are no better. Often populated by dissenters who dress up their opposition to the Magisterium as “intellectual inquiry,” critics will be told that this is “theology,” not “catechesis.”
The dirty little secret is that religiously illiterate Catholics, most of whose “catechism” ended with Confirmation and the bishop’s questions they long ago forgot, are hardly in any position to “critically” engage in theological speculation. They will parrot their professor’s dissenting opinions. Should we be surprised? Considering that even private Catholic universities find the need to steer ever-larger blocs of incoming freshmen into remedial computational and writing classes, who really believes their “catechesis” has prepared them for “critical theological inquiry?”
I’m not the first person to write about the failure of the Catholic higher education system in the United States as part of the Church’s evangelizing mission. (Yes, Notre Dame, your task is to evangelize, not compete for U.S. News and World Report rankings.)
But I want to develop two other thoughts that we don’t focus enough on: the role of the college years in religious identity and the bishops’ failure to support that work with priests.
First, consider the role of the college years in religious identity. In the classic television drama “The Paper Chase,” Prof. Kingsfield would begin first-year classes at Harvard Law School with the memorable line: “You come in here with a skull full of mush. You leave thinking like a lawyer.”
I know some will debate whether the mush transformation process in colleges has broken down, but it does happen. There is a palpable difference between a late teenager, tentatively stepping on to campus as a freshman, and the college graduate ready in theory to swim in an adult world. There is a change of mindset.
When I was in college, the college president used to talk about the academic, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of college formation. He’d compare them to four wheels on a car.
College gives young people a more sophisticated view of the world and how it works. It helps them to stop acting like teenagers and start acting as young adults, as leaders. It widens their horizons. And it should deepen their spiritual lives.
How many colleges—including Catholic ones—neglect that last aspect?
If you have a car and inflate three wheels to 35 pounds of pressure and leave one at 15 pounds of pressure, that ride is going to be painful and bumpy. Eventually, you will get rid of the underinflated tire and replace it.
Why do we expect Catholic young people to “ride well” with a baccalaureate level view of genetics but shards of religious opinion fastened to catechism ideas they learned preparing for Confirmation or maybe even First Communion? They are going to jettison that underinflated tire and buy a new model. They’re likely to become “spiritual … but not religious,” believing that Jesus is just another great teacher or guru—not the Incarnate Word, the Savior of mankind, the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings.
Aware of that transitional moment, why is the clergy so absent from places of higher education? I’ve met no small number of bishops in my life who thought the idea that diocesan clergy should be in colleges and universities was, in the words of Tevye, “absurd, unheard of!” How many hesitate to spare a priest even for campus ministry? How often, when this is a time in young people’s lives that they need clerical contact, are “chaplaincies” held by students or Sister Wackadoodle? And by not having priests on faculty, how do we send the schizophrenic message, “learning over there and there’s this thing we do over here?” That is frankly bizarre for a Church committed to faith and reason.
But we have done it that way for generations.
Given the marginal contact young people get from the institutional Church just when their adult religious identities are crystallizing, are we surprised that, instead of the Catholic symphony, WYD is apparently gearing up for Marvelous Mantovani Easy Listening elevator music? That’s been our institutional repertoire long before Bishop Aguiar.
So, instead of decrying the “watering down” of WYD, shouldn’t we instead use the moment to re-examine what we’ve been doing—and maybe why we’re bleeding—young people? Because I would rather convert them than lose them.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Amen.
Yep, Bishop Aguiar has done us a favour with his candid remarks.
Efectivamente, confirmou que os ventos de Satanás entraram na Igreja com o Vaticano II e em Portugal com a data da perfídia (25Abr74).
Dúvidas?
Basta ver como têem reagido ao longo dos anos contra o aborto e a serem colaboracionistas com abortistas, corruptos, estalinistas e eutanazis.
I find it interesting that the Mormons seem to have little problem sending their young adults out on mission for a two year period. Wouldn’t it be smart for our USCCB bishops to inquire of them how exactly they go about getting the kids to go out on mission?
You want kids to be sustained in the faith? Give them a faith to live for. Give them a faith to make sacrifices for. Give them a faith to die for. But for Christ’s sake, don’t give them what Aquilar is dishing out.
I was at a little BBQ restaurant recently Deacon Edward with my grandson & 2 very polite, neatly dressed young men were enjoying a meal at the next table. I don’t remember if they wore name badges or not, but you could immediately sense they were Mormon missionaries. You couldn’t ask for nicer, more courteous, & friendly folks to sit next to. And they were actually engaging in conversation with other diners. Not staring at their phones.
Two dear friends of mine are LDS & I believe tithing is a real part of their church stewardship. If Catholics took that more seriously perhaps our dioceses & parishes would have more funds for Catholic education & missions.
I know the tithing/stewardship model works in some Catholic parishes & allows families participating to send their children to parochial school sans tuition no matter what their income level. The trouble is that few Catholics seem to want to commit to that. Plus, with falling marriage & birth rates, how many parishoners would be eligible or interested in the first place? We live in strange times.
They essentially have government-mandating tithing in German via the “church tax.” The German Church, like the US Church, is actually flush with cash–which promptly gets misspent on endless meetings promoting the Synodal Path–or whatever they call it.
.
Tithing is simply not a good idea.
Good morning!
Stewardship programs are a different thing from what you see in Germany. No US family has to participate to belong to the Church or the local parish. It’s completely voluntary and makes tuition unnecessary and parochial education possible for everyone in the parish regardless of income. Regular Mass attendance and volunteer time are eligibility requirements for parents too.
I personally think tithing is an important thing but it’s a voluntary thing. Not a tax.
Of course, we can always send Cardinal Wilton Gregorry to Chile to find out just how they went about this: (See story on CWR)
“1,000 Chilean college students go out on mission projects during their winter break.”
Perhaps we shouldn’t be encouraging college for many of our children in the first place?
Unless one has medical, legal, or scientific aspirations is it really worth the risk of debt and indoctrination?
I overheard a conversation about AI recently and how that may impact the workplace. The person speaking said that hands-on, skilled trades were the real future for young people. Whatever requires an actual pair of human hands.
So, that was an interesting view. I know two oilfield related business owners who are high school dropouts and multi millionaires. Money isn’t the most important thing but it’s what quite a few people expect to acquire from 4 year degrees and that may apply less in the future.
I whole-heartedly endorse what you’ve written.
A student at an orthodox Catholic college where I lend a hand who comes from a farm family in Canada, spent two years at the college. I hired him to do some work at our home and he told me that he was leaving the college after this, his second year. I asked him why and he told me that he had found what he came to the college to look for – a wife. He was married last week and he and his bride are heading back to the farm to begin their lives and start a faithful Catholic family just as his parents did some years back at this same college.
Good for that young Canadian man & his bride & God bless them.
Two of my children met their spouses at orthodox Catholic colleges & praise God those marriages are where 11 of my 16 grandchildren come from. But in both cases great tuition debt was incurred. You can’t put a price on finding a devout Catholic spouse & reinforcing your faith in a truly Catholic environment but still…
I really wish there was a third way-orthodox Catholic community colleges or trade schools. I believe there is a Catholic trade school like that out there.
Just a PS on the same theme: last evening I was at a meeting & a gentleman sitting next to me introduced himself & explained that he was a truck driver with a degree in Anthropology & a minor in Archeology. He drives an 18-wheeler picking up loads of toxic waste from train wrecks, etc. He can pick & choose which load pays the most & enjoys driving all across the US. His job gives his family the freedom to live anywhere but he recently moved back here to help his elderly parents.
It was great to talk to someone who loved their job & performed a real service. I suppose anthropology includes who you meet & interact with at truck stops. Truckers have their own sort of special culture too.
1) Rules matter. It is very difficult to play a game, or be involved in a club, when there are no rules, or worse, there are rules but no one follows them and no one cares.
2) Lack of belief in “the mission”–or worse, the belief that those in charge don’t believe “in the mission” and are there mostly for the paycheck.
3) Crumbling family. Mary Eberstadt writes about this in both her books “How the West Really Lost God” and “Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited.”
Freemason Catholic Leaders are taking Jesus out of the Catholic Church to make way for their Freemason New World Order.
“Papal ban of Freemasonry,
Leo XIII “emphasizes that ‘the ultimate and principal aim’ of Masonry ‘was to destroy to its very foundations any civil or religious order established throughout Christendom, and bring about in its place a new order founded on laws drawn out of the entrails of naturalism’.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_ban_of_Freemasonry
EWTN, Wolf in sheep’s clothing
https://youtu.be/ZnKB9NzgD4k
I don’t know. I’m no advocate for Masonry but if you look at US Masonic Lodge memberships it’s like Tales from the Crypt. Pretty much like every other fraternal US organization they’re aging out & having difficulty attracting younger members.
I do believe there are in fact secularist energies determined to undermine & weaken the Church & family. And that’s why we should be extremely cautious when issues arise to divide us. Divide & conquer is a tried & true method.
Hello mrscracker,
Have you ever read the 1890 version of the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel? Pope Leo XIII is deathly afraid of evil men in the Vatican, I am thinking evil Cardinals, taking control of the Chair of St. Peter to do evil. So Pope Leo XIII sends out an SOS Distress Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, to have him come and deliver the Catholic Church from death and destruction. The Prayer was read after all low Masses from the 1880s till 1964. Pope Leo XIII is also the Pope who put the papal ban on the Freemasons.
If you watch “Vatican Girl” on Netflix, it seems the two girls were abducted, raped and murdered by Vatican Bank Mafia Cardinals, who wanted ‘their’ money back, which Pope John Paul II had used to finance a political movement to bring down the Berlin Wall. Pope Benedict seems to have been pushed out of office by the Vatican “Gay Lobby”. The auditors who Pope Francis hired to rid the Vatican of corruption, was pushed out of the Vatican by Vatican Bank Mafia Cardinal corruption.
Former Vatican Auditors Sue Vatican for Damages-
Milone and Panicco’s recently submitted claim goes further than protesting their innocence. It makes several other allegations and disclosures which, if true, paint a picture of extensive cover-up, corruption and unjust practices at the highest levels of the Roman Curia.
https://www.ncregister.com/news/former-vatican-auditors-lawsuit
Report: Benedict XVI’s memoirs say ‘gay lobby’ tried to wield power
https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/report-benedict-xvis-memoirs-say-gay-lobby-tried-weild-power
Then we watch EWTN’s, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, on how the Progressive, Liberal, Democrats are spending massive amounts of money, and corruption, to infiltrate, and destroy the Catholic Church, over the past century plus. Connecting the dots, it is all the same guys, whether you call them Freemasons, Liberals, or Vatican Bank Mafia Cardinals. Yes, it is not the old guys at the Masonic Lodge in small town America. Or at least I don’t think so.
A portion of, Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel 1890 edition
These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions.
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most blessed Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.
Arise then, O invincible prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and bring them the victory.
Quoted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_to_Saint_Michael
The important thing about the Masonry criticism is that it reflects a mindset, not necessarily an organized and self-aware commitment to a cult. It really boils down to syncretism, a pseudo-religious attitude that has permeated much of Catholic thought for a hundred years, including the thought of very high prelates. The author amusingly made passing reference to the young who become Satanists and the response of mature Catholic tolerance for the decision.
The main problem with challenging the young today is that we don’t challenge them to be aware that they have to be prepared to confront grave evil when becoming lay missionaries. This alone might inspire them to fortify themselves in ways their lack of good education failed to provide.
About the “wolf in sheep’s clothing”…I can’t help myself. So, here, from five years ago–a picture is worth a thousand words, and to which are attached the at least 1,000 words!
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/05/17/lay-evangelization-and-the-smell-of-the-sheep/
A great piece. I would like to see you unpack it into a lengthy reflection, perhaps for a journal like First Things. Yes, when moral decay advances, we treat it like it never happened before and the whole of the human condition needs the rethinking of elite minds to reset or redefine our lives, but on revolutionary terms not the immutable truths of our creator. Nothing new under the sun.
No, we should do both, with God the Holy Spirit prophetically both, decry and address, with and after His Examination – after all, that’s the way to graduate to glory….blessings
Great article and sadly too true.
The Way is narrow and few find it. We must help our young people to find the Way and walk the narrow path. Get them into the Gospels and understand sin, confess it and make a decision to follow Christ. We must not be afraid to offend, but it can be done in love. None must be excluded from coming to the Youth Day. Atheist, Agnostics, Muslins and Jews all need Christ.
Thank you John. I cannot agree more that the best new idea for WYD is to boldly preach Christ. Every generation needs evangelization.
I have experienced this at our Parish. We are bursting with new members, especially young people. Families with six+ kids are common. We are amazingly diverse by culture and language. Several hundred kids receive Faith formation all year. None of our Sacred Music is after 1950. A hundred help with choir; our hymns spill out onto the streets at Mass, which is standing room only. Confession lines are long. Hundreds of young adults are Confirmed each year and Holy Matrimony is common. The sick are Anointed and visited. The dead are reverently laid to rest. It is a constant struggle to provide for all of our candidates for priesthood and religious life. The poor are fed and new charities are added every year. We protect children and vulnerable young adults from abuse. Our finances are audited and transparent. We are worn thin trying to help countless converts with CCE, and grow in Faith formation. Donations keep coming; we have beautiful new buildings. People literally come to to photograph our gorgeous, traditional architecture. Visitors often comment on our warm hospitality; we are “like a friendly small town.” In sum, we are thriving. What’s our secret?
Our clergy preach the full Gospel – All are welcome and encouraged to “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
God bless you and your congregation! We too are in a gorgeous structure, dedicated to our Saviour and not for priestly aberrations. However, we are ICKSP
and therefore, Latin Mass. It’s wonderful. It draws people from miles around, especially young family. It’s by far the very best we’ve ever experienced. The Lord is with us. Good people who try to live their faith. Why Bergolio is trying to destroy that is inexplicable. God knoweth though.
Dr Grondelski with a long career in academia addresses an emerging reality. The creation, apparently according to design of a new paradigmatic Church. Key words from Francis, the only garment needed for the Eucharist is faith, theological mentor Fr A Spadaro ed La Republica, “We deny them what [the Eucharist] what they really need”, new new paradigmatic Church, unrestricted, inclusive for all.
From this writer’s Thomistic, philosophical perspective Pope Francis the navigator of this new Church follows the originator of the concept of radical change via ongoing synodality Card Carlo Martini then Archbishop Milan. Morally, and in secular ethical terms it’s conceptually a Church of the people [Fratelli Tutti] authority rising from the ground up rather from above.
Many have caught on to the ruse of listening to the word of the Spirit, asking ‘which’ spirit. It’s not the Word of the Holy Spirit who has spoken once and for all time revealing to Man the means for salvation. It’s an ecclesial vision that is Antichrist in character.
Excellent article with a lot to think about. I wonder how the Evangelical Protestant universities and colleges are dealing with these same issues, as they are also draining members who, if they go anywhere, it’s to a highly entertaining and low-level commitment “megachurch.” Campus Crusade and Inter-Varsity used to provide wonderful opportunities for Christian college students–not sure what they’re doing now. But in the long run, IMO as a convert to Catholicism from vibrant Evangelical Protestantism, I would say that it’s really up to the parents and the extended family to help their children grow up into practicing Christians, especially in this time in history when churches can’t seem to figure out what exactly they should be offering in the way of “activities” outside of “church services” and “Masses”. It’s up to the parents and grandparents now to provide those extra-church real-life experiences that help keep their kids and grandkids stay connected to “church” and faith. Both of our daughters grew up in the church (various Protestant churches, changed whenever we moved), and continued to practice some form of religion in college, but lost interest when they were in their 20s as they graduated, got jobs, one got married, the other has had a series of good boyfriends but no lasting commitments (she moved a lot)–but they never lost interest in or respect for “religion” because their Mom and Dad continued to be involved with faith and church. When we converted to Catholicism, they were both supportive and our older daughter entered RCIA and converted, too. After their dad (my beloved husband) died of COVID in 2020 at age 62, both daughters and our son-in-law renewed their commitment to God and to church. Our younger daughter and her husband entered RCIA and became Catholic this Easter and had their son (age 2) baptized into the Church and plan to send him to Catholic school. Now they are getting involved in various “family” activities in their parish. But the local church can only do so much, and many people nowadays simply aren’t “sociable.” Cocooning at home, going online, watching movies, going out to eat or getting food delivered to the house, etc.–these are the activities of a modern family, which tend to isolate them! And of course, there are the involvements in children’s sports, which tend to make church involvement (especially in activities other than worship services/Masses) difficult to find room for in the schedule of practices and competitions. Sports generally end when the child grows up unless a college gives the child a scholarhips for the sport. Christian families can certainly do all these “modern life” activities with a clear conscience, but they have to remain faithful to the Lord and His Church, no matter what! I do think that the Catholic Church does a pretty poor job of getting their parishioners involved and helping them to find a ministry and a place in their parish! Many Catholic churches don’t have much of anything for children and teens unless it’s through their school! I hope that the many Evangelical Protestant converts to Catholicism will be able to bring in some of the delightful hospitality practices that have always attracted people to and kept them involved with Evangelical Protestant church life. Catholic parishes have good fellowship activities, but not enough of them, and even less opportunities for service and evangelization, and many youth groups are just plain LAME! These fellowship/service activities help keep people involved and engaged in their faith, and youth groups can be extremely effective in making sure young people are well-educated and well-grounded in their faith. And church socials need to happen more often than the Annual Advent Women’s Tea and the Lenten fish fries! Yes, they take time and funs to plan and carry out, but they bring about a family atmosphere that keeps people coming back to Church!
Thank you, Mrs. Sharon. Amen to more fellowship that involves the whole parish. Our parish doesn’t even have coffee & doughnuts after Mass. I have offered to help set that up but there’s been little interest. Before the last hymn’s finished people are streaming out of church through both doors to the parking lot. It looks like the Red Sea parting.
Something Protestant churches offer & I’ve seen once at a Catholic parish is adult Sunday school. We had that in our former parish & it was great. Children’s CCD was held at the same time. Both parents & children could learn about their faith & then attend Mass together afterwards.
And yes, youth groups can be lame & that was the case even in the Dark Ages when I was growing up.
Of the AGULAR MANIFESTO, we read: “The one missing word is ‘Jesus’.” Of course! Even the template for the future Church “walking together” and on the move excludes “Jesus Christ”–the 27,000 word Instrumentum Laboris for the tautological 2023 Synod on Synodality.
Thus, the Synod on Youth is a “symptom” rather than the “problem”…
So, about the problem, then, this MEMO TO THE SECCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES and, yes, also “the servants of the servants of God”: The purpose and goal of Synod 2023 also to “stand together” to actually respond responsibly to the “listening” phase—with the gift of the whole Church…
FIRST, those submitted matters ecclesial are to elevated by the corresponding conclusions discerned already by the Council—and now to be fast-forwarded from the two Constitutions on Divine Revelation and on the Church. Synods expand, but do not contradict or replace Councils.
SECOND, those matters related to the Constitution on the Church in the World will be sorted out—yes, in some difficult way—between (a) what the universal Church can actually and appropriately do for the culture in different continental settings, and (b) what different influences the Church can exercise–in both time-tested and new ways–on those secular powers directly responsible for the common good (a distinction found in Gaudium et Spes).
THIRD, Useful lenses for this exercise in sorting-out actions and for reclaimed accountability—above any risk of an “inverted pyramid” or federation (c)hurch as in the seven continental assemblies—are the seven sacraments, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the seven (or so) dimensions of the Catholic Social Teaching, including (!) the always conjoined subsidiarity and solidarity. And, again from Gaudium et Spes: “Contemplating the melancholy state of humanity, the Council wishes to recall first of all the permanent binding force of universal natural law and its all-embracing principles. Man’s [well-formed] conscience itself gives ever more emphatic voice to these principles” (n. 79).
FOURTH, since the German synodal variant is already identified as a “non-synod”—because of its blurred voting structure of laity with ordained—by importing this mutation, is the Synod on Synodality itself now a Germanized non-synod? Another focus group, writ large? A Council and synods (e.g., the Synod on Youth), and even non-synodal focus groups are what the Church DOES, not what the Church IS.
So, as for the past “facilitator” phase of synodality, or whatever, and as for “what the meaning of IS, is” (very presidential and clericalist, that!), we still do have CLARITY—from a peritus who actually took part in the Council and who later even became a successor of Peter:
“[….] An interpretation of the Council that understands its dogmatic texts [the Constitution on the Church, the Constitution on Divine Revelation] as mere preludes to a still unattained conciliar spirit, that regards the whole as just a preparation for Gaudium et Spes and that looks upon the latter text as just the beginning of an unswerving course toward an ever greater union with what is called progress—such and interpretation is NOT ONLY CONTRARY TO WHAT THE COUNCIL FATHERS INTENDED AND MEANT, IT HAS BEEN REDUCED AD ABSURDUM BY THE COURSE OF EVENTS [caps added]” (Ratzinger, “Principles of Catholic Theology,” 1982/7).
How, in October, to “un-swerve” and heroically salvage the course of an otherwise ad absurdum synodality? Of which, the Synod on Youth is a symptom.
A couple of years ago, it was reported in the B.C. Catholic Newspaper that serves the province of British Columbia, Canada that 83% of young Catholic adults, by the time they reach the age of 25, have left the Catholic Church.
At the World Youth Day festivities, young people from across the world will join the Holy Father in praising and thanking the Giver of Life. Strengthened by the Good News, they will request the Almighty to shower peace on the people of Ukraine, Russia, and the rest of humankind. They will pray for the conversion of warriors including keyboard warriors. Fear not be brave Sir John M. Grondelski, for in the land of Our Lady of Fatima, there wont be any controversy, problem, or symptom of any sort.
If you feel that “keyboard warriors” merit a gratuitous criticism, I wonder if you think likewise about warriors before there were keyboards (at least electronic ones): St. Maximilian Kolbe didn’t hesitate to found the “Knights of the Immaculata,” dedicated to a clear and unadulterated affirmation of Catholic truths. Considering that spiritual discipline enabled the man to starve to death for another man, I’ll opt for that model over the ambiguities Bishop Aguiar seems to promote.
That’s a good point about keyboard warriors. Thank you Dr. Grondelski. I wonder what Maximilian Kolbe & Catherine of Siena would have done with the internet had it been available to them? Or St. Paul?
Ecumenism is a great cover story for taking potshots at Catholic teachings by dissident clergy. King Solomon was very ecumenical towards his foreign wives. If we bring up Jesus we will then need to discuss the Great Commission which appears to be out of favor with the dissident clergy.
I was in my early 20’s when I went to the 2002 World Youth Day in Toronto. While there were some genuinely good moments, and it was great to see JP2 in person, I also felt a real emptiness during the whole thing. It seemed contrived and, to be honest, came close to idolatry with the constant Pope worship. People screaming “JP2 we love you” during Mass and acting hysterical when the Pope arrived. I distinctly remembered thinking that Jesus seemed like a footnote to the whole thing. I think the hyper-papalism and youth worship that’s arisen in the Church is something that needs to be questioned.
Mrs. Whitlock above – I wish we could count on the extended family to reinforce the faith but today that is often not the case, especially after Grandpa and Grandma are gone.
Paul tells Timothy God would save all of Mankind that the truth be known, similar to the thematic world brotherhood vision of Francis. Paul’s understanding of God’s desire is distant from a Church that eventually became insular, defensive, a ghetto in a hostile world. Which exists to this day. Mention von Balthasar and his modest desire that all men be saved and the ghetto mentality erupts, a Church still on the defensive since the Reformation. Vat II was a pastoral response to finally extend Christ’s revelation to the modern world, seemingly in contradistinction to Pius X. But not quite so as the young periti Ratzinger thought, and later in tandem with John Paul. Whereas there is similarly there is difference. And markedly so. Lost in the melee is recognition of this.
Francis may be said to promote the vision of his predecessors fulfilling as he says the mission of Vat II. A world mission for Pope Francis is inclusiveness, acceptance as you are absent of restriction. Rules. A comforting approach for many who wish eternal happiness, or if only worldly bliss. Christ, unlike the pontiff’s vision, came into our lives to be crucified. There’s the stark contrast. Accommodation does not require the ferocious hatred, blood letting inflicted on Jesus Christ. There isn’t a more stark demonstration that we are under indemnity to repent and convert to the truth.
“Because I would rather convert them than lose them.”
There is another way: Inspire them.
Here is a suggestion: Catholic schools and colleges are now too expensive for the poor. Let’s practice what we preach by opening them up to the poor or closing them down and using the resources for something else which can be kept open to the poor.
The most astute comment of the lot that is incisive is Father Peter Morello’s view of what the worldly think of the reason for the crucified Christ. Read the scene in Dostoevsky, The Idiot, where he ponders the painting of the dead Christ. What does Pope Francis make of that Image, that TRUTH!
Anything targeted at YOUTH, I am nearly 20, gives me cause for being «alert». I immediately think of fascists, nazis, communists…get them young etc.
Youth is supposedly wasted on the young but the «feed» from the older generation is responsible for much of that «wastage».
I suppose St Catherine would be forced to learn to read and write first.
Sister Wackadoodle…sounds like the Ursiline Sister with a close-cropped hair and pantsuit that ran our Campus Ministry in the early 2000s…she insisted we call her “Murph…”
I’m really happy to see my local college is really doing well do evangelize to our young Catholics. You go into their chapel and you see the reverence and seriousness they take their faith. And why is that. They have priest on campus, not just one flying in for 7pm Sunday Mass and Pizza.