Three thousand 16- to 29-year-olds have replied to a questionnaire sent out by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in preparation for the Synod of Bishops on youth next year.
An “executive summary” which has now been published shows the popular appeal of large-scale events such as World Youth Day and the Flame youth event that attracts up to 10,000 young people to Wembley Arena in London. But there is “a gap of quantum proportions between these experiences and the pastoral practice, or lack of it, experienced in many parishes”, according to Teresa Carvalho, the bishops’ conference co-ordinator.
She told The Tablet that if youth work is regarded as a lay apostolate, “there’s a long way to go”. Many of the young people who replied indicated they didn’t even have the knowledge of the Church that was required to respond to the 40-plus questions put to them, according to Ms Carvalho. “Except for a few keen people, they would not know why we were asking the questions.” More optimistically, she added that the young people were keen to bring a greater outward focus to the Church and were concerned for the plight of the marginalised. The responses will form part of a report for the Vatican ahead of October’s Synod.
The summary states that the responses reveal two distinct groups: “a small but vocal group who want to draw the Church back into an era that they have been told was far better than it is today and a much larger, though less evident group, who adhere to the predominant narratives within society, wanting the Church to follow suit. The first group asks for clarity, the second for authenticity.” Young people, concludes the summary, are asking the Church in England and Wales for a “monumental change of attitude, orientation and practice”.
Respondents, said Ms Carvalho, are looking for “a wider variety of high-quality and focused events that help them to see their lives in the light of faith”. Conceding that the most popular events for young people don’t take place in parishes, Ms Carvalho said there was a need now to help priests reach out to young people; for example, ahead of National Youth Sunday this weekend, a video has been produced specifically to help priests make a greater effort in this area of ministry.
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