catholic, yes or no
By aprilmmm
@aprilmmm (77)
France
March 15, 2010 1:29pm CST
I have been in Paris for six months. I notice that a lot of young people in Europe are not catholics. Is this true that most of the young today are not catholics? If their parents are catholics, then why they are not been influenced? In fact I know little about the religion,but very curious about the topic.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@tigerlily1972 (502)
• Germany
15 Mar 10
Religion is a very sensitiv topic to get into. I will try my best to answer.
I grew up in a Catholic dominated country. Almost everyone around me was Catholic.
As years passed, i noticed many switch to Christian. The Christian group are done in small groupings. I believe people are attracted and feel more closeness in the small group. Many young people are becoming born again Christians as a result. The Catholic still exist with members both young & old.
With the influence from parents, some are no longer going after the footsteps of their parents. Modern society is becoming modern(as the name imlies) and more open-minded. Most young people are free to choose which religion they want to belong - as long as they believe in one & same God.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Mar 10
Hope you don't mind my chiming in here. I just had to make a comment of what you said here
Most young people are free to choose which religion they want to belong - as long as they believe in one & same God.
Can I give you a background on me. Okay here goes...my mother's family were staunch Catholics, my father's Methodist....I was baptized Catholic. When my parents got divorced my mother became somewhat disillusioned with Catholicism and we all started going to a Protestant church..therefore I was confirmed Protestant ...due to my great grandmother who was open minded she also got into things like Unity, Science of Mind, etc so we followed that too -----during my teen years I studied Buddhism, Hinduism (just for my own knowledge) and even studied the Mystery Schools like Rosicrucians (following this--LOL..kind of confusing even to me)---my one blessing was that religion was never crammed down my throat...I wasn't told I HAD to follow any particular religion.....then some 9 years ago I became interested in the Pagan and Wiccan paths of life...they believe in a God AND Goddess, masculine and feminine aspects of the Divine Creator, not just one God and masculine
My point being, people whether young or old if they choose to follow a religion why does it necessarily mean one and same God? God is even viewed differently ...a Christian for instance will have a different perspective of God than that of a Muslim, so in effect not the same God
As far as "Christian"--there are many such groups, Born Again Christian, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentacostal, etc--did you know there are over 38000 Christian denominations???
I'm almost surprised that your country is considered predominantly Catholic...for some reason thought it was Lutherian
@tigerlily1972 (502)
• Germany
17 Mar 10
You hit a very good point at that aprilmmm. Where one is & where he came from, plays a great factor. And as my intro states, religion is a very sensitive topic. It takes a broad mind to embrace the difference while holding to your belief.
@aprilmmm (77)
• France
16 Mar 10
So the religion is nothing to do with the age, people are totally free to choose what they believe.Your experience is quite intersting!
The situation really depends on where you are.There are Catholic dominated countries,and also like my country,where most of the people are atheists.I know that a lot of western people can't understand us,but I think we should open our mind and try to tolerate the difference~
1 person likes this
@phoenix8606 (4942)
•
15 Mar 10
hi! i am not that introduced with the religions in Europe, but i don't think that most of the youngsters in Europe are non-catholics, just because if their parents are catholic they must be also catholic, because they can't actually change their religion if they don't have 18. so that's why i think they are, but maybe they are not that religious and don't go to church that often!
1 person likes this
@phoenix8606 (4942)
•
16 Mar 10
yep, something like that. i actually think they can change their religion but when they are 18 years old or older :) but not too sure
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
11 Apr 10
Hi aprilmmm, I grew up in a Catholic country, catholic family and was lapse for several years. I studied about other religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. But I turned back to my original faith. Why youngsters leave Catholicism? I think it is a normal trend that youngsters tend to rebel against their parents, society and even religion. In European countries there is freedom of religion. State and Religion are different from each other. A thing which is not found in most Muslim countries, where you are afraid to abandon your religion because of state/religion police. There are many movements within the Catholic Church that work with youngsters and manage to draw lots of youngsters in these movements such as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Neo Cathecumenals. youngsters want a sense of belonging, sometimes they lack to find it in the Catholic church but thanks to these type of groups, they find again their faith thanks to these small groups.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Mar 10
I don't think it's a question of the younger generation not being influenced by their parent's religion, it just that many people might feel that particular religion doesn't "work" for them, so they find some other religion more suited for them.
A lot of Catholics can be turned off by some of the dogma, the rules and regulations you might say of the religion which is why they turn to something else. Some think that Catholicism is behind the times and hasn't "modernized" itself for the way society is now.
My mother who grew up Catholic, and went to Catholic school became very disappointed with Catholicism after her divorce and switched to Protestantism--I was baptized Catholic, but then confirmed Protestant (Episcopalian)...I was also into Science of Mind and Unity which was something my great-grandmother was into. Only some nine years ago though I decided to follow the pagan/wiccan path of beliefs...thank goodness with all her faults, and my mother had many, she was very open minded when I choose this path of life, in fact she didn't protest at all about my new choice.
@lowloy (316)
• United States
15 Mar 10
does it matter if catholic or not as long as you with The Lord with witnesses to help you keep the faith? We cannot do it alone, and if the young are in other churches than that is good!! The main thing is we need to pray that all are saved and follow God; what ever you want to call Him, but remember there is only one God.
I do not want to be Catholic, but I do believe in Our Mother Mary, and the traditions.
