Young Catholics wrestle with truth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In one of the defining works of his historic papacy, Pope John Paul II argued that if people -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- want true freedom and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young Catholics wrestle with truth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In one of the defining works of his historic papacy, Pope John Paul II argued that if people -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- want true freedom and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-01T09:42:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/\",\"name\":\"Young Catholics wrestle with truth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-01T09:42:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-03-01T09:42:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"In one of the defining works of his historic papacy, Pope John Paul II argued that if people -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- want true freedom and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Young Catholics wrestle with truth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. 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{"id":1818,"date":"2010-03-01T05:42:25","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T09:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=1818"},"modified":"2010-03-01T05:42:25","modified_gmt":"2010-03-01T09:42:25","slug":"young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/young-catholics-wrestle-with-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Catholics wrestle with truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cWhen it is a matter of the moral norms prohibiting intrinsic evil, there are no privileges or exceptions. \u2026 Before the demands of morality we are all absolutely equal,\u201d wrote the pope, in his 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor<\/a> (\u201cThe Splendor of Truth\u201d). <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, only a morality which acknowledges certain norms as valid always and for everyone, with no exception, can guarantee the ethical foundation of social coexistence, both on the national and international levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be stating the matter mildly to say that young Catholic adults in America disagree with John Paul II on this issue, according to a new survey commissioned<\/a> by the Knights of Columbus.<\/p>\n

An overwhelming 82 percent of Catholic Millennials \u2014 the generation between 18-29 years of age \u2014 agreed with this statement: \u201cMorals are relative; there is no definite right and wrong for everybody.\u201d In comparison, 64 percent of other Millennials affirmed that statement, when questioned by researchers with the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.<\/p>\n

Older \u201cAmerican Catholics\u201d were also more willing to embrace moral relativism than were other Americans, at the rate of 63 percent compared with 56 percent. However, a slim majority of \u201cPracticing Catholics\u201d in the survey \u2014 54 percent \u2014 were willing to affirm the statement, \u201cMorals are fixed and based on unchanging standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPracticing Catholics\u201d were defined as \u201cthose who attend religious services at least once a month,\u201d explained Barbara L. Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll. This group included \u201cCatholics who attend services more than once a week, once a week, or once or twice a month excluding weddings and funerals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As stark as those numbers are, it\u2019s important to understand that these broad Catholic categories include different kinds of believers who have different beliefs and lifestyles, said Andrew Walter, vice president for media research and development for the Knights of Columbus. For church leaders, the \u201cPracticing Catholics\u201d category will offer more insights into what is happening in pews.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to ask, \u2018Who is truly connected to their faith? Who is doing something with it?\u2019 When you talk about these \u2018Practicing Catholics,\u2019 you are not talking about the Christmas and Easter crowd,\u201d he said. \u201cThese people have an ongoing link to a Catholic parish and they are doing something with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the poll contains evidence that what Pope Benedict XVI has called a \u201cdictatorship of relativism\u201d may be growing stronger, the numbers also show that young Catholic adults share a yearning for some kind of moral order \u2014 even if they reject the existence of moral absolutes. It\u2019s possible to \u201cdrill down\u201d into the research, said Walter, and see that when young Catholics are forced to wrestle with individual issues \u201cthey are willing to make judgment calls and say that some things are right and some things are wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, 91 percent of Catholic Millennials affirmed that adultery is morally wrong, 66 percent said abortion is immoral and 63 percent rejected assisted suicide. When asked to identify virtues that are \u201cnot valued enough in American society,\u201d 82 percent selected \u201ccommitment to marriage,\u201d making that the top choice.<\/p>\n

But there was a flip side to this moral coin. Only 20 percent of these young Catholic adults agreed with their church\u2019s teachings that premarital sex is morally wrong and, thus, sinful. Only 35 percent affirmed doctrines that forbid sexual relationships between homosexuals. <\/p>\n

While Catholic Millennials are interested in spiritual growth, only 43 percent said that American society doesn\u2019t place enough value on \u201creligious observance,\u201d putting that choice in last place. In another answer sure to raise clergy eyebrows, 61 percent affirmed that it\u2019s \u201cokay for someone of your religion to also practice other religions\u201d at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to say they are relativists, but it\u2019s also clear that they are not relativists on all issues,\u201d stressed Walter. \u201cThey have a strong spiritual sense that they say is important in their lives. What they don\u2019t have is a place for institutional religion in their lives. \u2026 The problem is that you have some people who have a church and others who really have no church at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"