“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10)
Every Catholic who has his eyes even half-open has recognized the ever-declining faith in our country and around the world. Although there are some places where the Church still seems to be growing, such as Africa, here in the West we see only forecasts of doom on the horizon. Churches around the United States are closing down or being converted into museums; just look at the closed or combined parishes here in Boston. What, then, is driving the Church into the ground and towards irrelevancy? Apathy.
The largest denomination of non-believers that I have encountered have not been rabid atheists or skeptics, but simply the disinterested. Even in my childhood when I was rather sheltered and attended a private Christian school, I noticed that most of my peers didn’t hate the faith, but merely didn’t care.
When I first attended a public school for high school, I realized how many people simply never gave a serious thought to religion one way or the other. I met students who could go in a single breath from talking about their confirmation classes to listing their sins with glee. For most of them, it wasn’t an act of rebellion or an attempt to break free from the chains of religion. They simply saw no contradiction between mocking a peer for being a different religion and turning around and describing how they broke the commandments of their own.
Religious association is not declining among youth because the faith is not relevant enough, it’s because they wouldn’t even care if it was. There is no amount of pop-culture homilies, liturgical ad-libbing, or after-mass snacks that will bring these people in. They won’t come to the Church because they don’t see how it’s any different from a social club. They can get more relevant commentary from trendy TikToks, better entertainment at a movie theatre, and better food at a restaurant. If they come, they will because they realize they need meaning in life.
The now venerable (and hopefully soon blessed) Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to run the television show, “Life is Worth Living.” It was the most viewed religious show ever aired and garnered a viewership in the tens of millions (I highly recommend watching at least an episode from the show, which is available free online). Although he was a great orator, it wasn’t his firebrand rhetorical skill that won people over. Even though he spoke about current events, he didn’t do so in a way that made the faith seem infantile. The reason why millions of people took the time to sit down and think about religion is because he showed them why it mattered.People do not decide to become religious or convert because it is easy, but, to steal a line from Kennedy, precisely because it is hard (or in this case meaningful). I certainly didn’t sit in RCIA classes for a year, get my reception into the Church delayed by Covid, bear through months of online masses, drive through confessions, and most notably get castigated by friends and family for my decision, for a matter of indifference. I did it, and I imagine everyone else does too, because I was convinced that living a life of true meaning was impossible outside of Christ and His Church. Convincing men of this fact is the only way to repopulate our churches and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
James Pritchett is a Sophomore studying History and Classics with a deep affinity for his native land, the Golden State. Despite being the most recent lover of Catholicism on the Torch staff, he is the C101 editor and his main interests consist of reading Dostoyevsky, playing devil’s advocate, and correcting people on niche theological heresies.
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