Evangelizing to Families Superintendents’ Conference June 29, 2015 University of Notre Dame

Thinking about pressing questions.. What do we know about parent-child faith transmission? What are the most challenging signs of the times? What can and should be done at the school and diocesan level to engage today’s families in the life of the Church?

September October 4-25, 2015 Vatican

The survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. La encuesta se ha cerrado. Gracias a todos los que participaron Synod on the Family Survey

How has family life been a blessing for you?

Responses  Formation for conflict  Integrity: Giving the correct change  Family rituals & the proverbial Circle of Life

Father-ultimate authority Mother-really in charge of day-to-day operations

Christian Smith

Moral Therapeutic Deism  A god exists who watches over things.  God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other.  The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.  God is not involved in my life except when I need help to resolve a problem.  Good people go to heaven when they die.

Characteristics  Belief but no belonging  Rampant consumer capitalism  Ongoing failures in education  Hyper-individualism  Postmodernist moral relativism

Importance of Family Meal Prayer Frequency of Changing one’s Religion Frequency of inter-religious marriages Civic Participation & Neighborliness Tolerance

35-year study of 357 three- and four- generation families Evangelical Protestant Mainline Protestant Catholic Jewish Mormon None

Percentage of Parents Whose Young Adult Children Have the Same Religion

Findings  Parental behavior, such as role modeling and consistency, is a major factor in religious socialization. “If the parents are not themselves involved in religious activities, if their actions are not consistent with what they preach, children are rarely motivated to follow in their parents’ religious footsteps.” o Disproportionate influence of fathers.

Recommendations  Focus on the family as a unit in all scheduling, programming, hiring, and planning.  Take a long-range view.  Patience. The younger generation does grow up.  Listen. Religious renewal has often been sparked by generational innovation.

Why Leave?  Issues with church doctrine, especially among the more highly educated. Graduate school experience is highly correlated with taking exception to teachings on:  Birth control  Women priests  Divorce & remarriage  Fertility treatments  Homosexuality Joy & Grievance in an American Diocese: Results of Surveys of Active & Inactive Catholics

Why Leave?  Lack of connection to the local Catholic Church reported as not meeting their spiritual needs  Church scandals, cited particularly by those aged 50 and older  A perceived lack of Christian values at the local level, the result of unwelcoming or unfriendly experiences at the parish leaving some feeling judged

Why Stay?  Sense of community at the parish  Access to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist  A majority of the inactive group (70%) do not consider themselves members of another faith community and some (36%) indicate a willingness to return were their concerns addressed.

Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving: Freedom from Want

A Recent Parody

Television’s Modern Family

Familiaris Consortio  1981 apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II  After the synod on the family of 1980  Trajectory of life = Learning to Love

Mark 3:31-35 “Then his mother and his brothers came; standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”

Approaches Deficit-based vs.  Focused on weaknesses Asset-based  Focused on strengths

Resume Virtues & Eulogy Virtues

¶202 – Laudato Si’ “Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone. This basic awareness would enable the development of new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it demands that we set out on the long path of renewal.”