Columnist notes orthodoxy of young practicing Catholics
August 16, 2011
Anna Williams, a USA Today editorial intern, notes that practicing Catholics under the age of 30 “are spearheading a resurgence of traditional Catholic liturgy and disciplines that their parents and grandparents had largely abandoned.”
“Many millennials reject the assumptions of 1960s liberationists in favor of something more substantial: the creeds, practices and moral codes that defined religious life for centuries,” she adds. “More intellectually coherent than relativism, orthodoxy is also more demanding. It makes us place others above ourselves, the truth above what we'd like to be true, the fight for virtue above the pursuit of pleasure. In a word, it preaches sacrifice.”
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Posted by: New Sister -
Aug. 17, 2011 3:29 AM ET USA
Aside from finding some youcat content objectionable [even relativistic], my point, germane to this article, is that youcat's supposedly "trendy" spin is anything but that. As Ms. Williams aptly observes: the "trend" of Catholic youth today is to "reject the assumptions of 1960s liberationists in favor of something more substantial: the creeds, practices and moral codes that defined religious life for centuries."
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Posted by: Gil125 -
Aug. 16, 2011 3:23 PM ET USA
See? God IS still in charge, after all.
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Posted by: New Sister -
Aug. 16, 2011 2:25 PM ET USA
Correction: there is a petition to recall the youcat. I signed it. http://www.youcatrecall.com/index.php/the-recall
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Posted by: skladach -
Aug. 16, 2011 1:01 PM ET USA
@New SIster: YOUCAT is "mealy-mouthed" only if you expect it to be the last word on the Catholic faith. It is designed, rather, as a "gateway" or a runway leading from the current youth culture into the truth of Catholicism. So yes, it has some vague statements and trendy vocabulary. But it is designed to stimulate interest and conversation about the truth of the Catholic faith and even to inspire young people to consult the CCC.
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Posted by: jdieterich616502 -
Aug. 16, 2011 12:25 PM ET USA
As a millenial, who is now a youth minister I can speak to the excitingrise of orthodoxy and traditional practice in liturgy and devotions. I want to speak though to the previous comment and defend the YouCat. This is not a watered-down version of anything, but a Vatican approved text to try and convey the Truths of the Faith to young people. It is a direct reflection of the intention of Blessed JP2's issuing the CCC to then be used to create local catechisms that meet the needs of the people.
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Posted by: New Sister -
Aug. 16, 2011 11:45 AM ET USA
I've noticed this, too. It should give us great hope! I wonder then why this "youcat" book is circulating around as something for the youth. I ask because even Our Holy Father promotes it to Catholic youth, but it seems [the youcat] rather mealy-mouthed - even confusing. My experience, working with Catholic teens and university students, has been what Ms. Williams notes: they are zealously & unapologetically embracing Traditional Catholicism in all its splendor- Deo gratias!
