Reaching Across Generations

The millennial generation of young Catholics that Benedict will be trying to connect with is a peculiar bunch, one that, while seemingly less active churchgoers, appears to be more receptive to some of the church's core practices and yearning for spiritual guidance. According to a recent study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, while only 13 percent of Catholics between the age of 18 and 30 say they attend mass every week compared to 20 percent of all Catholics in the United States, young Catholics say they're more likely than their older counterparts to look to church teachings and statements made by the pope to form their moral conscience. "The new religious longing among millennials is that they're looking for security and something of a singular truth," says Mike Hayes, author of "Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s." Hayes contends that because millennials have been deeply affected by events like 9/11, the Iraq War and Columbine shootings, all of which happened during a transformative period in their lives, they're not as interested in the community aspect of Catholicism as they are in the internal spiritual security it offers. "We've become such an individualistic culture that the relationship between me and God is what's important to them, not the longing for community that Generation X has clung to," says Hayes. "Millennials are looking for that peace in a noisy world as the central element of their faith." If that's the case, the soft-spoken Benedict stands a better chance of connecting with young people than he's given credit for.

© 2008