Teenagers disenchanted with Church, warns priest
Thursday January 10 2002
John Callanan SJ says any type of formal religious education presentation that focused in on truths of the Catholic faith would be roundly greeted with a chorus of boos.
"I know from experience that well prepared sessions - which were faith filled and seemed interesting to me - were likely to go down like a lead balloon.
"In contrast, anything on video, provided it was well chosen and snappy, was likely to keep the crowd transfixed.
"As soon as the video faded, however, and one tried to reflect aloud and together on what moral or faith situation we had viewed, the glazed look returned to young faces."
Writing in the quarterly publication 'Studies', Fr Callanan says that young people are, and feel, virtual strangers in church. There are sound reasons why they are alienated and confused.
He says they sense that the Church of yesterday is fading. Church dominated, it was hard for people to feel they had a voice. This is not acceptable to today's youth.
Fr Callanan argues, however, that therein, there may be cause for hope. Regular religious education classes are likely to be met by a wave of indifference. If on the other hand, faith in action begins to make an appearance, the interest level begins to soar.
"With our students, as soon as we get down to some project for those in the Third World, or we propose holding a 24 hour fast, they become galvanised. If we mention that we will be attending a children's workshop hospital to sick youths, volunteers appear out of the woodwork.
"The senior students who come to Lourdes with us each year act as volunteers in the hospital. They have to pay for the privilege.
"It is funny to hear the howls of protest from some class members when this fact is revealed. What kind of maniac, they wonder, would give up their holiday time and work hard 12 hours each day without payment.
"Still, year after year, a large proportion of those selected re-apply to repeat that experience."
"When faith is meshed with action it clearly finds its mark. The students know what has meaning for them."
He argues that the students seem to be delivering a clear message - whether that message is reaching the higher echelons of the institutional church is less certain.
Fr Callanan comments that there is a saying in commercial circles 'it's a poor shopkeeper who blames the customer because they aren't buying the products he has laid out for them'. And "we in the Church might have something to learn from it", he adds.
- John Walshe
