Archbishop Richard Henning noted the number of baptisms, confirmations and young people actively participating at Mass was “way up” in Boston. He said there wasn't one single reason for this since it seemed to be happening independently in so many places across the country. Archbishop Henning did speculate, “So I think this generation just seems open to the call of the Lord in a way that we've not seen in a while.”
Those words stung a bit because as a young person, I too was just as open to the call of the Lord but as the years passed, I felt more and more distant from my faith since there just wasn't a sense of community to be found in any of the parishes I belonged to. For me, being young and single meant feeling alone. Now that I'm older, I no longer matter in the eyes of the Church because they're too busy trying to court this new generation of worshippers.
Shortly after this WBZ report, the news program 60 Minutes aired a segment called Inside the Catholic Church's Quiet Revival. Again, it was stated the faith was seeing an increase in converts and packed churches with mostly Millennials and Gen Z leading the charge. Three prominent cardinals were interviewed for this story but none of them were sure why this sudden shift in attendance was happening. One cardinal speculated the Church's moral leaders might be inspiring young people and then he suggested Pope Leo was the right man for these times. Another cardinal felt young people had a deep hunger and they were turning to the Church for help with the meaning of life. He also thought there was a sense of "woundedness" with this generation and they were seeking healing. Whatever the reason might be, these cardinals said they were going to conduct surveys to better understand this trend.
60 Minutes reported that fewer and fewer adults were joining the Church in the early 2000s and the faith even saw decreases in weddings, baptisms and funerals. This downward spiral started to reverse itself around 2022 as more and more people joined the Church in record numbers. While the priest sex scandal certainly drove many people away, one of the cardinals interviewed said a number of other factors contributed to the Church's decline like increased secularization. He explained all religions saw a dip in attendance because there are so many more options on Sundays.
As someone who spent a great deal of time and effort trying to call attention to the plight of young adult Catholics without much success, I thought it was typical that these cardinals were pretty clueless about the root causes of this sudden surge in attendance. For decades, the leaders of the Catholic faith did very little to help young people find their way but now we're letting the Church off the hook because the problem seems to be fixing itself.
Before the hierarchy pats itself on the back, I think we need to see how this surge in church attendance will play out over the long haul. That WBZ story showed footage from two popular Boston churches: the relatively new Our Lady of the Good Voyage located in the trendy Seaport District and of course, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, which attracts many faithful parishioners anyway. I can tell you with complete certainty, my parish has not seen an uptick in Mass attendance and there are no new young people in the pews either. If there's one church Archbishop Henning needs to visit it's mine so he can see for himself that not all parishes have benefited from this resurgence. WBZ also recorded their footage during Easter which is a time when even sparsely attended churches see large crowds.
The 60 Minutes report said according to the Pew Research Center, converts to the Catholic faith represent only about 8% of all Catholics so I'm not quite sure just how significant this revival will be in the grand scheme of things. As someone who was once a young adult Catholic, I've heard all the theories before. “The pendulum will swing back and young people will return to the Church.” “Teens are looking for morals in a secular world.” “Young people know something's not right with society and they're seeking moral clarity.” None of these comments ever panned out during my young adulthood. I also think we need to refrain from speaking for Gen Z because society often gets it wrong. In the 1990s, members of Generation X were labeled slackers. Now we're supposedly one of the most self-reliant age groups of all.
Unfortunately, the reason for this upward trend in church attendance is largely anecdotal and there's no shortage of opinions on the subject. Some say the internet is playing a big part with digital influencers convincing young people to give Mass a try. Other speculate Covid caused young adults to reevaluate what's important in their lives. Others still believe young people are fed up with dating apps and want to meet people at church. A few online comments even cite an exodus from the Evangelical faith for its support of Zionism. More than a few people say loneliness, particularly the loneliness of men is a factor. Some feel the Church's more conservative beliefs are behind this trend with a few people claiming, “If the Latin Mass returned, attendance would really take off.”
I'd urge caution when trying to make sense of all these theories because we know very little right now and if the Church moves forward in the wrong direction, it might alienate many of those young adults who have recently returned to Mass.
