{"id":22001,"date":"2013-10-12T08:48:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T13:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=22001"},"modified":"2013-10-12T21:00:07","modified_gmt":"2013-10-13T02:00:07","slug":"where-are-the-younger-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are the younger Catholics??"},"content":{"rendered":"

Folks, this is really important, and really serious. Kaya Oakes writes at <\/a>Commonweal<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

For several years now, I\u2019ve suspected that my entire generation had vanished from Catholicism. On retreats, I was surrounded by seniors, Baby Boomers, and college students. At Mass I was joined by gray-haired people and (fewer) college students. In the women\u2019s group I helped found at my parish, at vigils to support American sisters, in the pages of Catholic magazines, on the internet: more seniors, more Boomers, a sprinkling of college students, and forty-two-year-old me. Apparently, I am the last Gen-X Catholic on earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I suppose some would say that she writes from the Left Coast, what do you expect out there? But it’s not only there. We in the more religious Midwest (or those in the quite religious South) can take little consolation that we’re five minutes behind these trends.<\/p>\n

I suppose it won’t be long before some idiot says the problem is modern catechesis. As if pouring more information into the heads of bored young people would make a dent in massive societal trends. (Has anyone else noticed that as catechetical materials have gotten doctrinally more exacting in the last ten or twenty years, the rate of defection has only increased?)<\/p>\n

Do you ever ponder what institutional Catholicism will look like in 10 or 20 years if this continues?<\/p>\n

All this is depressing and alarming. Someone cheer me up and calm me down.<\/p>\n

awr<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“For several years now, I\u2019ve suspected that my entire generation had vanished from Catholicism.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[357,33],"tags":[36,2625],"class_list":["post-22001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-demographics-and-sociology","category-youth","tag-commonweal","tag-kaya-oakes"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere are the younger Catholics?? - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where are the younger Catholics?? - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""For several years now, I\u2019ve suspected that my entire generation had vanished from Catholicism."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"90\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f253be22c50796444dc3d93f75cb50a\"},\"headline\":\"Where are the younger Catholics??\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":41,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Commonweal\",\"Kaya Oakes\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Demographics and Sociology\",\"Youth\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Where are the younger Catholics?? - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/12\\\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where are the younger Catholics??\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit & Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f253be22c50796444dc3d93f75cb50a\",\"name\":\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Anthony Ruff, OSB\"},\"description\":\"Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, is a monk of St. John's Abbey. He teaches liturgy, liturgical music, and Gregorian chant at St. John's University School of Theology-Seminary. He is widely published and frequently presents across the country on liturgy and music. He is the author of Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations, and of Responsorial Psalms for Weekday Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter. He does priestly ministry at the neighboring community of Benedictine sisters in St. Joseph.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/aruff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where are the younger Catholics?? - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where are the younger Catholics?? - Home","og_description":"\"For several years now, I\u2019ve suspected that my entire generation had vanished from Catholicism.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":411,"height":90,"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anthony Ruff, OSB","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anthony Ruff, OSB","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/"},"author":{"name":"Anthony Ruff, OSB","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1f253be22c50796444dc3d93f75cb50a"},"headline":"Where are the younger Catholics??","datePublished":"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00","dateModified":"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/"},"wordCount":248,"commentCount":41,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Commonweal","Kaya Oakes"],"articleSection":["Demographics and Sociology","Youth"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/","name":"Where are the younger Catholics?? - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-12T13:48:34+00:00","dateModified":"2013-10-13T02:00:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/12\/where-are-the-younger-catholics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where are the younger Catholics??"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit & Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1f253be22c50796444dc3d93f75cb50a","name":"Anthony Ruff, OSB","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Resize-Anthony-Ruff-1-96x96.jpg","caption":"Anthony Ruff, OSB"},"description":"Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, is a monk of St. John's Abbey. He teaches liturgy, liturgical music, and Gregorian chant at St. John's University School of Theology-Seminary. He is widely published and frequently presents across the country on liturgy and music. He is the author of Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations, and of Responsorial Psalms for Weekday Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter. He does priestly ministry at the neighboring community of Benedictine sisters in St. Joseph.","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/aruff\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22001"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22016,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22001\/revisions\/22016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}