Different, Not Worse: Millennials’ Engagement with the Church was an address given by Melissa A. Cidade who is the director of Pastoral Assistance Surveys and Services Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.  The presentation was given during the 2009 Phillip J. Murnion Lecture: How American Catholics Think About the Church sponsored by the Catholic Common Ground Initiative of the National Pastoral Life Center and hosted by Catholic University of America in June 26, 2009. Here’s some snips:

I would argue that the issue here is not that young adults are “bad Catholics.” Rather, researchers and church leaders are using “bad measures;” that is, definitions of what it means to be Catholic that are less salient to this generation. Consider, from the same research, the following:

> Millennials do not look all that different from previous generations with regard to receiving the sacraments.
> As for parish life, Millennials who are engaged with a parish are actively supporting parish life.
> The “cultural” components of Catholicism are engrained in Millennials as well. Millennials report the highest participation of any generation in certain Lenten practices, including abstaining from meat, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, giving up something other than meat, and making extra positive efforts during Lent, such as giving money to charity.

So, What’s Going on Here?

It is interesting to note that, on some issues, Millennials are more similar to the Pre-Vatican II generation than the two generations directly preceding. Is this the product of increasing contact between generations? Life spans are lengthening, increasing the likelihood of Millennials to have repeated contact with their grandparents, members of the Pre-Vatican II generation. Or, is this return to the spiritual the result of the “dust settling” in the wake of Vatican II and other major societal shifts?

(h/t to the NFCYM Connections e-newsletter)