Why are they all leaving?
50% of millennial Catholics no longer practice their faith.
Think about that, in the last 30 years, half the babies baptized are no longer practicing Catholics, half of those who were confirmed no longer attend Mass, and half the young married couples are no longer living and raising their children in the faith.
What’s even more startling, 80% of Catholics who leave the Church do so before age 23! Most report gradual slipping away from ages 10 to 20.
This means that many of them warned us. We could see the signs of less and less participation, we had a chance, but we didn’t help them.
Recent research estimates up to 90% of Catholics will stop practicing in college.
We have a crisis!
John Paul II already tells us how to solve this problem.
Better programs, updated music, social media, great facilities, and even perfect liturgy—as important as these are, they aren’t the real answer.
The one “irreplaceable condition and infallible measure” of our ministry is just one thing: Holiness.
We spend so much money, energy, time, effort, stress, and endless meetings trying to do all the other important things well, that we can easily forget about the one thing necessary.
John Paul ll is totally clear: without greater holiness, they will continue to leave.
We repeat his words again, “saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history.” We need them today.