Church in
Crisis Commentary Young Catholics question, but faith unshaken by crisis
By RENÉE LaREAU
As the punditry, protests and court
proceedings continue, young adult Catholics respond in their own way to the sex
abuse scandals that have shaken the church. Though Mass attendance and
confidence in their pastors havent wavered, they are interested in
reexamining issues related to celibacy and the ordination of women and married
men.
If an admittedly unscientific sampling is any indication,
twentysomethings, while angered and frustrated by the secrecy of the Catholic
hierarchy, look to the future of the church with great hope and optimism.
Despite a recent New York Post article that reported a dip
in Mass attendance among younger Catholics, conversations with practicing young
adult Catholics indicates otherwise. Its business as usual around
here, said Marty Rhein, director of Youth Ministry, Young Adults and
Singles at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Ann Arbor, Mich. On Easter
Sunday we had more people than weve ever had here on Easter. People are
still believing, still coming. And our young adult group continues to be one of
the most active in the area.
Rhein said his biggest file of new parishioners is young adults.
The file is just bulging, he said. Young adults are adult
enough to know that while the church isnt perfect, the Eucharist is an
incredible gift. The church doesnt end with this.
Catholics in other cities seem to react similarly. No, it is
not harder to attend Mass after hearing such news, said Joanna Fava, a
22-year-old living in New York City. I do not believe that the majority
of priests are involved in this. I believe that the Catholic church is involved
in so much good work and charity around the world, and I focus my attention and
energy on that.
I have great faith in the pastors at my parish, said
Jennifer Kowieski, a 26-year-old elementary school teacher in Chicago.
Dean Hoge, professor of sociology at The Catholic University of
America, and one of the authors of the book Young Adult Catholics,
points out that the scandals damage the credibility of the hierarchy more
than the local priests. The higher-ups are at fault more than the parish
priests, especially the local parish priests people know and love. Thus
young adults confidence in their spiritual leaders seems not to have
wavered, and their confidence in the churchs mission hasnt wavered
either.
The whole scandal has really pointed out to me how much I
believe in the church, rather than the shortcomings of the people who run the
church. People run the church. People make mistakes. But when it comes right
down to it, its all about celebrating the Eucharist. Peoples
trangressions dont change transubstantiation, said Michael Hickey,
a 28-year-old Los Angeles attorney.
Shelly Dillenburger, a 27-year-old Cincinnati high school teacher,
quotes a friend: We have to remember that the church has educated, helped
and given much more than it has hurt. Our most important mission is to continue
to spread the gospel in our faith and actions.
Young adults describe feeling angry and disappointed when hearing
of sex abuse scandals. Yet, as they look to the future of a church that will
eventually be led by their generation, twentysomethings look forward with hope,
but only if certain changes are to be made and new leadership developments
considered. I do not see the church making it through this period
unchanged, said Gabriel Bosslet, a third-year medical student at Ohio
State University. I think that women or married priests will be the
change that takes place.
For Fava, the recent news gives rise to such questions:
Should the church begin to accept the fact that sexuality and desire are
a natural part of human nature and that priests are not exempt from this
natural tendency? Should the church begin to allow the marriage of priests and
the acceptance of women as priests?
Sheila Provencher, an employee of the University of Notre Dame,
stresses the importance of future collaboration between clergy and laity.
The worst thing that can happen is if, in our eagerness to separate
ourselves from the hierarchy and their mishandling of the situation, we forget
that we are church, she said. We are all part of the same
community, and so we all share in the responsibility to work for
healing.
Provencher is concerned that the current scandals will provide an
opportunity to place the blame on homosexual priests. I
have personally encountered countless numbers of gay priests and seminarians
who are both faithful to their vows and committed to living the gospel. They
are in fact often particularly gifted in their ministry. Because they have
experienced suffering through their orientation that bears such stigma in our
church, they often posses a special degree of pastoral sensitivity.
Provenchers concern for homosexual clergy mirrors that of
many in her generation, a generation that supports expanded roles for those who
are often given secondary roles by the church. Many young Catholics love
gays and lesbians more than official church teaching does, and most young
Catholics are in favor of expanded roles for women in the church, said
Tom Beaudoin, adjunct professor of theology at Boston College and author of the
book Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X.
This prevailing openness to change and optimism in the face of
scandal may be due to the fact that twentysomethings never personally lived
through the Father knows best era of the church, primarily the
1950s, when clergy were automatically granted an enormous amount of status and
respect simply by virtue of their profession. This is not a generation
that has overly high expectations for the institutional church that suddenly
have been crashingly shattered, said Beaudoin. Many young adults
are sickened and saddened by this scandal, but they already knew that the
spiritual family they love so dearly is dysfunctional.
Hoge of The Catholic University of America pointed out that many
young adults do not identify strongly with the institutional arm of the church.
[They] have a tendency to see some church rules and, by inference, some
church institutional structures, as optional and not God-given. So the scandals
would damage the credibility of the institutional church more than the
faith.
As far as the institutional church is concerned, young adults have
been described as granting respect and authority not universally, but on a
case-by-case basis. Such an approach might explain why they
havent been leaving their faith communities. Theyve shopped around
for parishes, and have found places of worship that are led by people they deem
to be authentic and faith-filled. As a result, though they may be angered by
the national headlines, their day-to-day participation in the churchs
life has not changed. Eric Styles, a recent University of Cincinnati graduate
who became Catholic two years ago, commented, I joined this spiritual
community very aware of its great gifts to the human experience and its
pathological limitations.
The recent sex abuse scandals mark the first major controversy in
the church experienced by Generation X Catholics. As a result, some may
continue to reevaluate their opinions and reactions. Beaudoin said,
Generationally, this is our first major church tumult, which means that
we are writing the script of our response as we go along.
Renée M. LaReau is a pastoral associate at St. Charles
Borromeo Parish in Kettering, Ohio.
National Catholic Reporter, May 24,
2002
|