Why Do Catholic Young Adults Stay? Results Part 3: Events, People, & Resources

Please see my Explanation about the survey as well as Part 1 & Part 2 of the Results. For these results, we had a total of 301 people who answered some or all of these questions. A big thanks to every single individual, majority of whom came from the Catholic Geeks Facebook page, who participated!

I have provided a quick summary of the conclusive Part 3. Following that is a more detailed breakdown of the results under each category.

The TL;DR Version

Part 3 is all about the influences in the lives of the responders. Though a variety of life experiences influenced people, the most common or most influential events mentioned in the responses included a retreat/ pilgrimage of some sort and marriage/ dating. Following those, most other events related to interactions with family, moments of suffering, and the Sacraments. As you might guess, the most influential people in participants' faith lives were family members, though they also made mention of the clergy/religious peoples and groups of friends that have influenced them as well. A variety of literature, internet, audio, and multimedia resources influenced participants. The most influential resources include Catholic Answers, Word on Fire/ Bishop Robert Barron, EWTN, Scott Hahn, Father Mike Schmitz, C.S. Lewis, and Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen.

What Events Have Been Influential in Your Faith Journey?

34 people responded about some retreat/conference/pilgrimage/travel that impacted them, including these specific events

• World Youth Day (4 times)
• Steubenville Conferences (3 times)
• Catholic summer camp
• Cursillo weekend retreat
• Eucharistic Congress
• March for Life
• Meeting the Pope (I assume this involved travel of some sort).
• Mission trips
• National Catholic Youth Conference/NCYC
• Northeast Ohio Boys Chrysalis Flight (The United Methodist version of Cursillo)
• Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
• Retreat for women
• SEEK conference
• Shrine visit to St. Catherine Drexel's
• Silent weekend retreat at a monastery
• Sursum Corda Young Adults Retreat with The Institute of Christ The King
• Travel to Rome/Pilgrimage to Rome the first year I returned to the Church
• Traveling the world and seeing different people and real poverty
• Visiting the Vatican
• Visit to a Convent

Marriage or dating was influential for 23 participants. This included dating a "Protestant who questioned everything", an "ex-girlfriend and her Catholic family who were examples of living Catholic values", 1 "Dating Catholic dudes", the conversion of a couple husbands, and a few responses about how dating future spouses involved growth in faith or conversion in some cases.

15 participants shared the influence that children had on their faiths. Majority of the responses were mainly focused on the birth of the children, while a close runner-up specification was the Baptism of said children. 10 other responses were in connection to adult family members, most of which shared the experience of the passing away of a beloved family member as influential in their faith, though a couple of testimonies and serious discussions also played a role.

13 people brought us back to college, placing the importance of experiences in college as an influence on their faith journey This included finding the campus Newman Center/campus ministry community, meeting strong prolifers at the University of British Columbia, campus evangelization movements, FOCUS (Fellowship Of Catholic University Students), and Bible study. Even just attending Catholic institutions (Augustine College and Franciscan University got shoutouts here) played a role.

12 people mentioned a Sacrament in some fashion, including 5 shoutouts for Confirmation, 3 calls to Baptism, and the remaining 4 mentioning Adoration (connected to the Sacrament of the Eucharist), with 1 person sharing an experience of "Adoration on the steps of the Canadian Parliament"

On a serious and vulnerable note,12 participants shared a personal experience with suffering they had which helped them on their faith journey. These are the kind of sufferings the people shared:

• Miscarriage
• Depression
• Chronic Pain
• Epilepsy
• Cancer in Family Members
• "My hitting rock bottom that led to my conversion".
• "Being homeless for a few months"
• "Our house fire is what brought me back to God"
• "Attempted suicide, which led to trying to learn about all religions to find Truth and purpose".
• "I was diagnosed with a disabling illness 4 years ago, and when I was at my sickest, I was lying in a hospital bed praying, reading the Bible, clutching my Rosary, not because I was afraid, but because I was grateful for the headspace and time to dedicate to Christ"

8 responders pointed to returning to church or attending a Mass as an important event, with 1 person replied about "attending Mass the first time with [his] wife" and 1 other person specifically stating "Christmas midnight mass".

7 people made mention of the seminary being important in their faith journeys, including 4 people talking about their brothers going to seminary.

5 people credit discovering some media as an important event for them, from Catholic podcasts/radio, to G.K. Chesterton, Fulton Sheen, and C.S. Lewis, or watching the Jeff Cavins Bible Timeline DVDs. Though hard to pin down as an event or an experience, 4 responses revolved around knowledge and an intellectual encounter as an influence on their faith journey. This included someone who bought "a copy of the Catechism and read it cover to cover (yes, really)", learning about Theology of the Body, and reading more on the Eucharist and the saints.

There were 3 mentions of a volunteer or service project, with 1 particular response of "working on a project for a Capuchin Monastery". 3 people shared other experiences with religious communities, with 1 shoutout to the Sacred Heart Sisters and another to a group of Franciscan Friars. Joining or finding a Catholic peer group helped 3 participants, with 1 mention of a Catholic Women’s Group and 1 other joining/helping to found a young adult group at their Cathedral. 3 responders had a miraculous event happen in their lives, whether it was healing for them or a healing event for someone else in their lives. Discovering the Traditional Latin Mass was a momentous occasion for 3 responders.

2 people noted the importance of their conversion experience. 2 responses were about experiences with the two previous pontiffs, with 1 on Pope Benedict XVI and the other saying "the death and canonization of Pope John Paul II".

Some individuals had such unique responses that it was hard to try to categorize them. So, here is what some of these individuals had to say:

• The first day I watched Michael Vorris, the first day I went to a regular confessor, and the first day I started praying the Rosary.
• Being ostracized by Roman Catholics in college (even the university priest refused to hear my confession) made me want to know more about my Rite (Byzantine) and now I’ve studied the entire Church fairly thoroughly.
• The most influential would be my time of doubt, as it has left me with a type of mindset I would not have held otherwise.
• Getting involved in RCIA.
• Watching my son's violent reaction to his exorcism during his baptism in the Old Rite at 2 weeks old.
• I prayed every day, asking for a sign...One night, Blessed Margaret of Castello came to me... and I just knew from then on that I was supposed to be a mother.
•  33 Days to Morning Glory
• Contemporary Christian music festivals. Becoming a youth minister.

What People/ Groups Have Been Influential In Your Faith Journey?

Parents/Siblings/Family were some of the most commonly mentioned people in these responses. Specifically, the following was mentioned:

• The word Parents (11 times)
• The word Family (9 times)
• A Grandparent (8 times)
• The word Mom (8 times)
• A Sibling (7 times)
• The word Dad (6 times)
• 2 Godparents
• 2 Children/Godchildren
• 1 Aunt Betsy

People also used terms surrounding Spouse/Marriage/ Dating multiple times:

• Husband (19 times. Nice job, lads!)
• Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Fiance: 6 variations
• Wife (twice)
• The In-Law Family Members (mother in law; my very traditional brother in law and his wife)

8 people credited teachers or instructors in some way:

• High school theology teachers
• Professors from college/ My mentor at university
• Religious education teachers.
• Camp counselors
• High school youth minister and the Core Team
• My youth minister and friend Nate.

26 mentions of priests in some fashion, including The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) 3 times, Marist priests, good confessors, spiritual advisers, the Institute of Christ The King, a sibling priest, a Dominican Spiritual Director, priests from college, Fr. Terry Fulton (RIP), and young holy priests.

Religious Communities, both for third order lay people and...well, religious, got at least 19 mentions, with specific groups including: 

• Franciscan household/Franciscan sisters/a group of Franciscan Friars in Indiana/ Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word 
• Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus aka Sacred Heart Sisters (2 times)
• The Norbertines (2 times)
• Discalced Carmelite Community
• Dominican Sisters
• Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic
• Oblates of the Virgin Mary
• Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth, KS
• The Carmelites
• The Emmanuel Community
• The Legion of Mary
• The Passionists

For 14 people, interaction with a ministry or other organization was important, specifically:

• Prolife organizations (3 times)
• FOCUS (2 times)
• NET Ministries (2 times)
• Knights of Columbus (2 times) 
• LifeTeen (2 times)
• Catholic Christian Outreach Canada
• "The CCD and youth ministry teams 1 responder worked with".
• "Teaching kids in Totus Tuus"

Varieties of Friends/ Peers were named in this section, specifically:

• Friends (11 times)
• Newman Center (7 times)
• Catholic Campus Ministry (4 times. I know it's the same thing as Newman Center, but these specific words were used 4 times)
• Catholic college group or friends (3 times)
• Best Friend (2 times)
• Bible Study (2 times)
• Catholic 20-somethings.
• Confirmation group
• "My good friend Rebecca who is more faithful of a Catholic than I am"
• "Other practicing Catholic moms, both young and old"
• Peers

Other groups that participants gave credit to included:

• 8 Young Adult Groups, with 1 shoutout to the Denver young adult community
• Facebook groups (6 times) (Soldiers of the Church Militant, in 1 particular mention)
• RCIA group (3 times)
• Youth group (3 times)
• Catholic Women of the Chapel (2 times)
• CRHP Group
• Current Small Group
• Local women's group
• My Pregnancy Group

For 12 people, the persons responsible for certain media resources have been a major influence. These 12 talked about the following resources:

• EWTN (4 times)
• Blessed Is She
• Catholic Blog Circles
• Church Militant
• Catholic Stuff You Should Know Podcast
• Lanky Guys Podcast
• Catholic Answers
• Lighthouse Catholic Media
• Radio

I was surprised to see so many mentions of people I would categorize as known personalities/public figures in the Catholic Church. These are authors, priests, speakers, and other persons who are known by a multitude of Catholics, almost household names in some cases. These names, listed by 34 participants, included:

• Scott Hahn (5 times)
• Bishop Barron (3 times)
• Fulton Sheen (3 times)
• Trent Horn (2 times)
• Mother Angelica (2 times)
• Jimmy Akin (2 times)
• Peter Kreeft (2 times)
• Christopher West
• C.S. Lewis
• Father Colman O'Neill 
• Father James Martin
• Father Larry Richards
• Father Matt Barnum
• Father Roderick Vonhogen
• G.K. Chesterton
• Karl Keating
• Michael Vorris
• Patrick Coffin
• Pope Benedict XVI
• Pope Saint John Paul II 
• Sister Vassa
• Stephanie Gray

5 participants credit the saints with being influential in some fashion. 4 participants talked about how people they meet in their parish assisted them, including 1 particular shoutout to a Marriage Prep couple. 2 people talked about how their interaction with peoples of other religions or no faith background at all was influential for them.

And then there were the unique replies that stand out on their own:

• Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI) friends and priests/ professors.
• "My Spiritual Companion, Duc in Altum"
• The Institute of Catholic Culture
• Various Christian musicians (Newsboys, Switchfoot, For King and Country, Matt Maher) 
• Worldwide Marriage Encounter

What Resources (Books, Websites, Podcasts, etc.) Have Been Influential In Your Faith Journey?

This is probably my favorite section of the survey because the responses have such a variety of media, groups, and people that I personally enjoy. Not to mention, I also learned about new resources for my own growth in my relationship with God from these answers. I broke down these responses into different sections based on the resources. However, some resource recommendations are multimedia, meaning that one group or name could cover the internet, radio, and reading materials all at the same time (which makes it hard to categorize some of these responses). So it's probably worth mentioning most of those first, especially since they were some of the most popular answers to the survey.

The #1 most popular response to this question was Catholic Answers. 24 participants talked about Catholic Answers in some way, whether it was Catholic.com and their forums there or if it was the Catholic Answers Live radio program.

After that, 18 responders recommended Word On Fire/ Bishop Robert Barron (I combined them since Bishop Barron founded and heads Word On Fire). Specifically, Word on Fire was mentioned 9 times and Bishop Robert Barron was mentioned 10 times. No, my math isn't bad, someone just put down both in their single response. It appears that Bishop Barron's videos on Youtube and all the resources found on Word On Fire's website have caught people's attention.

EWTN came up 14 times in various ways, with mentions of EWTN television, radio and its website.

Father Mike Schmitz, with his stupid handsome face and the casual ease with which he examines theology, got 12 shoutouts whether for his videos or his homilies.

One of the pleasant surprises was seeing Bishop Fulton Sheen mentioned 9 times. His work is still relevant, and the people talked about the influence of his book Life of Christ & Life is Worth Living, along with mentioning the videos you can find of him on Youtube. Out of these 9, 1 particular responder just exclaimed "ALL THE FULTON SHEEN"!

Books:

Let's start with the most popular literature influences. Of course, where would we be with The Bible, Sacred Scripture? I didn't really foresee this answer coming, but obviously it makes too much sense not to include. 9 people replied with The Bible, including 1 particular emphasis on a good Catholic study Bible. In addition, 2 people mentioned The Great Adventure Bible Study Timeline as resource that helped them.

If there's one other text that most Catholics own after The Bible, it's the Catechism, that guidebook to all the teachings and reasonings of Holy Mother Church. There were 11 mentions of a Catechism in some fashion, 3 of which were about the Youcat (a translation of the Catechism for the youthz!) and 1 mention of the Baltimore Catechism.

Now, based on responses to previous questions, can you guess who the #1 most popular author was in this section? That's right, it's the return of SCOTT. HAHN. Oh, how the people loved Scott Hahn. He was brought up 20 times, with these specific books named: Rome Sweet Home (3 times) Hail, Holy Queen, The Lamb's Supper, Joy to the World, The Fourth Cup, and there was even 1 shout out to his wife Kimberly.

There were 9 mentions of the influence of Matthew Kelly and his Dynamic Catholic stuff, most especially 4 mentions of his book Rediscover Catholicism.

St. Therese of Lisieux and her autobiography Story of a Soul were mentioned 8 times.

Peter Kreeft influenced 7 participants, particularly his Prayer for Beginners (3 times), but also including his Snakebite Letters and How to Win the Culture War.

G.K. Chesterton also made a return in this section. 8 people mentioned the influence of his writings, including the books Orthodoxy (3 times) and The Man who was Thursday. 5 people responded about J.R.R Tolkien., with 1 of them specifically mentioning The Lord of the Rings.

In a somewhat surprising twist of fate, the non-Catholic C.S. Lewis appears to have more of an influence than either of his two Catholic contemporaries Chesterton and Tolkien. 12 people, some of whom also brought up Chesterton and/or Tolkien, recommended Lewis, including 2 mentions of The Chronicles of Narnia, 2 mentions of his Space Trilogy, and 3 mentions of Mere Christianity.

There was a lot of talk about "books about the lives of the saints" in these answers as well. The people placed a lot of emphasis on "reading the lives of the saints and their own writings" as major influences. Here's the specifics:

• St. Augustine: mentioned 4 times, specifically his Confessions listed 3 times.
• 3 people talked about books or writings about The Early Church Fathers, Church Fathers, and Sayings of the Desert Fathers
• St. Faustina's Diary influenced 3 people.
• St.Thomas Aquinas was mentioned by 2 people, with 1 having read "some of the Summa Theologica"
• St Francis de Sales also got 2 mentions, with 1 shoutout to his Introduction to the Devout Life
• Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi
• St. Teresa of Avila
• St Josemaria Escriva
• Perfect Contrition by St. Alphonsus Ligouri
• True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
• The Life of St Francis by St. Bonaventure
• St. John of the Cross' "The Romances" (poem)
• Blessed Jacopone da Todi's "Lament of the Virgin"(poem)
• books about Blessed Margaret of Castello
• A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa M. Hendey
• Bob and Penny Lord Saint Biographies
• The Quiet Light by Louis De Wohl (fictionalized account of the life of St. Thomas Aquinas)

Then there were also plenty of mentions of lay and religious persons, living and dead, not yet recognized as saints but who happened to author various pieces of literature.

• 3 shout outs to The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis
• Christopher West (3): Good News about Sex and Marriage, Theology of the Body for Beginners
• Fr. Larry Richards books (2) 
• Devin Rose (2), including 1 mention of If Protestantism is True

• Jeff Cavins
• Jason Evert (2 mentions) & Crystalina Evert
• Thomas Merton
• Flannery O'Connor
• Father Robert Spitzer
• Steve Ray
• George Weigel

• 7 Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn 
• Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith by Bishop Robert Barron (11th mention?)
• Chastity is For Lovers by Arleen Spencley
• Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Micheal Gaitley
• George MacDonald's Faery Tales
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Wendell
• He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek
• Holy Sex by Gregory Popcack
• Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Petre
• Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
• Pierced by a Sword by Bud McFarlane
• Total Consecration Through the Mysteries of the Rosary by Fr. Ed Broom, O.M.V.
• The Hermit by David Torkington
• Traditions of Men: Understanding the Thinking That Separates Catholic Christianity from Its Protestants by Patrick Vanderpool
• Why We're Catholic by Trent Horn

Websites/Virtual Resources

• Facebook groups (7 times): specific mentions of Catholic Geeks and Catholic Working Moms
• Laudate App (5 times)
• Blessed is She (4 times)
• Church Militant (3 times)
• FORMED (3 times)
• Catholic-Link (2 times)
• LifeTeen website (2 times)
• Alteia
• A Nun's Life
• CatholicMatch
• Churchpop
• Father Isaac Mary Relyea videos
• Father Roderick Vonhogen on Youtube
• fisheaters.com
• New Advent 
• New Catholic Generation
• New Liturgical Movement 
• The Coming Home Network
• The Frank Friar
• The /r/Catholicism community on Reddit
• Vatican website
• Vericast

 Blogs

• Father Z (formerly entitled What Does The Prayer Really Say) (3 times)
• Carrots for Michaelmas by Haley Stewart
• Like Mother Like Daughter by Leila Lawler 
• In Light of the Law by Ed Peters 
• Simcha Fisher

TV & Movies:

The Catholicism Series from Bishop Barron was mentioned by 3 people (so 14 mentions of His Excellency all together?). Specific TV programs on EWTN that were discussed included the recordings of Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN, Father Corapi's show, and The Journey Home, a program interviewing converts to the Catholic faith.

The following movies were given in answer to this question: Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, Godspell, Song of Bernadette, A Man for All Seasons, The Reluctant Saint, Mary's Land, and The Passion of the Christ.

Radio & CDs:

A hodge podge of answers, but where else am I going to put these. Starting with radio, in general 8 people recommended their local Catholic radio station, while 2 additional people brought up The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM radio. Specific radio programs mentioned included:

• Patrick Madrid (thrice)
• The Catholic Guy Show (twice)
• Father Matthew Spencer
• Phil Sandoval
• Father John Riccardo - Christ is the Answer 
• Busted Halo with Father Dave Dwyer
• Father Chad Ripperger audio
• Father Simon Says

Outside of radio, 5 people talked about the influence that CDs, especially those from Lighthouse Catholic Media, had on their faith lives.

Podcasts:

A different form of learning and fun through audio. Though not as popular of an answer as anticipated, I learned about some podcasts I'd not heard of before and really recommend the few I was already aware of, particularly the top 3 answers.

• Pints with Aquinas (4 shoutouts)
• Catholic Stuff you Should Know Podcast (3 nods)
• Catching Foxes (2 mentions)
• The Liturgy Guys (2 times)
• The Catholic Feminist
• Coffee & Pearls
• Lanky Guys Podcast
• Messy Parenting
• Rosary Army 

Miscellaneous:

Not to be left out, individuals had also mentioned the following resources as influences in their faith journey:

• Laudate Si
• My Divine Friend (an old Byzantine missal)
• St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
• The Institute of Catholic Culture
• The Rule of St Benedict
• The Symbolon curriculum.
• Theology of the Body sessions.

Why Do Catholic Young Adults Stay? Results Part 2: Life & Struggles

Please see my Explanation about the survey as well as Part 1 of the Results. For these results, we had a total of 301 people who answered some or all of these questions. A big thanks to every single individual, majority of whom came from the Catholic Geeks Facebook page, who participated!

I have provided a quick summary of Part 2. Following that is a more detailed breakdown of the results under each category.

The TL;DR Version

At least 77 participants attended Catholic school at some point in their lives while at least 13 participants were homeschooled.  While all homeschoolers had positive reactions to how their education influenced their faith, Catholic school attendees gave mixed responses to the influence of the educational experience on their faith. The most common struggles that people have had/ currently have in their faith lives revolved around being lukewarm, hard times finding answers, or difficulties practicing their faith on a regular basis. As far as struggles with Church teachings go, most of those struggles revolved around sexuality as well as the Sacramental or prayerful aspects of Catholicism. Majority of the resolutions to those conflicts came from relationships with friends or family, growing in the faith intellectually, and building their relationship with God. When it came to daily activities to practice the faith, the most common responses included prayer, the Rosary, and reading, both scripture-based and other spiritual works. Participants were often quick to point out that a lot of the practices mentioned did not always happen on a regular basis or were new habits they were trying to take on.

Did You Attend Catholic School at Any Point? What Grades? Did Your Catholic School Education Influence Your Faith?

13 participants to this question came from a Homeschool background. Anyone who commented about their homeschool experience had nothing but positive things to say about how homeschool influenced their faith lives. They mentioned things like "extensive theology study", "Catechism [was] taught every day", and that homeschool "allowed me to practice my faith on a deeper level". Beautiful stuff!

Now, of course, when I posed this question, I was referring mainly to traditional Catholic schools, with kids in uniforms, majority connected to parishes, fancy private high schools, that kind of stuff. That's not to say I don't appreciate the input of the homeschoolers. Mainly just pointing out that this is an instance where my question was a little too broad, too open, compared to what I was intending to ask. Now, back to business!

32 participants stated that they attended Catholic school their whole K-12 educational career. Another 10 responded that they attended Catholic grade school just from kindergarten to 8th grade. Following that, 7 other participants claimed only going to a Catholic high school. And finally, 28 people collectively claimed going to Catholic school off and on, or just a portion of their education. So,  altogether 77 participants claimed a Catholic school education.

As far as the influence that Catholic schools had on responders, this was quite the mixed response. Firstly, 6 people just stated that Catholic school had an influence on them, without verifying good or bad (which again is my fault because of the way I phrased the question). Meanwhile, 17 participants mentioned some positive that came from Catholic school. Here's some quotes on the positive impact:

• "It helped to enforce what I was taught at home"
• "If not for the caring teachers in the high school environment I wouldn't be where I am today"
• "It gave me occasion to learn how to defend my faith against bad instruction, helped keep God a constant thought, and occasionally meant I had a few good examples of the faith outside of my family"
• "Had a class on Catholic social teaching with hard lines and answers taught by our priest. Best class to date"
• "My high school was especially crucial to my faith formation, as I learned how to properly defend the faith"
• "Being exposed to regular Catholic sacramental and devotional life, as well as meaningful discussions on theology and church history from teachers who cared about it intensely, influenced my investigation and ultimate decision to convert"
• "Senior year of high school I took a class called 'Why Am I Catholic?' That was an apologetics course that really influenced me"

Now, there were about 13 others who commented with mixed experiences at Catholic school. Whether it was differences between grade levels or just a negative counteracted by a positive in the same year, these 13 had both pleasant as well as critical things to say.

And then there's the straight up negative influence that Catholic schools had on at least 17 other people. Perhaps influence is not the correct word in this case, but these 17 had at least critical things to say about Catholic school. Here's some reasons why:

• "It made me not want to be involved with the church due to the people involved"
• "It actually almost sent me away from the Church"
• "Nothing was ever really explained, that's just the way it was"
• "I left high school not remembering anything about my faith. I learned to pass a test, not for the knowledge or truth".
• "The schools were AWFUL for Catholic teaching and living"
• "The schools were completely unaware of kids talking about porn and sex, flashing each other, harassing others, and several kids were engaged in drugs and sex. It was horrible to be around that and have the schools going through the motions of Mass and spirituality. No one tried to fix the problem and engage the students. Some kids were really poor and had terrible home lives and no one engaged".
• "It influenced it negatively as the nuns wouldn’t explain things to us and the priest was more interested in knowing if we had 'bad thoughts' when we were teens"

1 person even straight up called out the Catholic schools in Ontario (apparently y'all need some massive reform up there according to this individual). 

And then, not to be left out of the conversation, there was mention of Catholic colleges and universities in the responses. I didn't expect this (again, broad questions here), but they're certainly a worthy inclusion. 

24 participants mentioned that they had gone to a Catholic college or university, majority of whom had been in a Catholic school at some point beforehand. It was kind of surprising to me that if these people talked about the influence these years had on their faith, most of them said college/ university had a negative influence on them. Although, at least 1 person talked about Mass in the dorm at Notre Dame and 1 other person talked about the positive influence of FUS aka Franciscan University of Steubenville. The surprise comes from the mention of the positive influence that other people talk about receiving during college/ university in responses to other questions.

Were There Moments You Struggled/ Were Not Practicing? If So, What Brought You Back?

At least 5 people shared an experience of struggling with lukewarm-ness, that feeling of not really being invested in the faith even if one is not totally fallen away. The reason for being lukewarm, that some participants shared on the survey, included the family not really being religious and marrying a non-Catholic.

A similar yet different kind of lukewarm experience came from the college environment. 6 people referred to their college years as a time that they were struggling spiritually. Perhaps the most relateable example of this struggle came from 1 participant's testimony: "I was faced with the difficulty of accepting church doctrine or social standards.  I wasn't participating due to the knowledge of mortal sin, but [refused] to change my life". 

On a slightly more serious note,  suicide and depression played a part in at least 3 responders' struggles. These feelings, according to the responders, came from "the social environment at the church", having "a very difficult time in college...[a] dark night of the soul", and a time where the participant "couldn't bear the pain and sorrow of [their] life".

3 different participants struggled with going to Mass at some point. 1 said that at one point they found Mass "difficult and boring", another said they had difficulty making time for Mass, and the third one said "I did not go to Mass because of my lifestyle choices". 2 participants discussed priests in their lives being a source of struggle. 1 talked about "baggage and hurt from priests [they] had known" while the other mentioned trials that came from switching parishes due to poor pastoral leadership

Then of course there's Sex! Don't worry, that's going to come up in more detail in other questions, but in response to this question, the struggles of 3 participants were sexuality related. Whether it was "confusion and hurt over sexuality", pornography, or just straight up being "knowingly deep in sexual sin".

4 participants responded by saying they had a hard time finding people who could answer their questions or fully catechize and explain things to them. 1 separate individual said that since they did not fully understand Catholicism, they left the Church as a teen and had became a Wiccan.

There were a couple mentions about belief in God being a struggle. For 1 person, struggling with belief was due to problems within their life and for the other it was...well, in their own words "I lost my belief in God, but He ended up being the only One there for me in the hardest point in my life". 1 individual mentioned their struggle with the Church's more conservative teachings such as pro-life and no contraceptives. And finally for 1 particular individual, it seemed to be a combination of things based on their place and time in life. As they said "I attended a Catholic high school with a lukewarm Catholic culture in my small town (500). Alcohol abuse, lust, drugs, they weren't uncommon to see from students out side of school. I fell victim as well".

Some struggles were a little unique, because they related to participants who seem to be, by all other signs, practicing Catholics trying to grow in their faith.

• Today I'm just struggling to find community with other Charismatics in my diocese and to find anyone in the world who is also liturgically Traditionalist and spiritually Charismatic.
• Haven't been to Mass in a year because of my allergies and a lack of enriching community. I know those aren't good reasons, but when you have a panic attack walking into a church because someone smells like onions... It makes it hard to go. 
• The services I'm going to seem too modern. People talking before, clapping after Mass, hymns that I'm not familiar with. Also, the young adult groups that I've tried to join are too forced. The person organizing the get together was also the youth leader, and she seemed to treat us like high school students. I'm 30, I don't need a chaperone.

So, what brought people back or what helped them overcome these struggles? Even if people felt like they never really fell away from their faith or just never really explained their struggles in this survey, a ton of people were able to explain what either brought them back to Catholicism or what renewed that fire for God in their lives.

Let's start with talking about the influence of people. For 11 participants, interaction with Catholic friends, peers, or groups helped them come back. Of these 11, there was mention of friends in youth groups, Newman Centers at college, doing choir with a college roommate, a Catholic Woman's Pregnancy Due Date Group, and a best friend convert. I smiled when I saw responses like "free food and friends" as well as "the compassion I see in others who are Catholic" because that just goes to show that simple joy, humor, and fun can be found in the Catholic Church through other people.

College itself was actually a positive influence according to 5 responses to this question. Being in college allowed 1 individual to further study teachings and apologetics [arguments for and defense of faith and doctrine], another individual mentioned courses on Catholicism in college being a help, and 1 other person shared some personal experiences with a community of Catholics in college: "We would go to bars for theology on tap, go frisbee golfing, but just as easily hold spontaneous rosary sessions. I think having a group of like-minded people is key without it feeling forced. We were also pretty close with the priest then, too and talk to him about anything, and he would tell us truth in a comforting way". 2 other responders said priests have played a role in combating struggles. For another person it was accountability and encouragement of their youth minister "to not give up just because it got hard".

This is how powerful a single person can be in helping someone else struggling in their faith. That person from small town (500) who fell victim to alcohol, lust, and drugs amongst lukewarm Catholics? They added  "I came 'back' through seeing 1 devoted Catholic. Now that I'm in college, I've started attending the TLM [Traditional Latin Mass], and my faith has never been better". If we learn anything from just this particular section, we learn that whether it's a whole community or just a lone person, our connection to other humans plays a vital role in our faith life, especially when it comes to overcoming struggles.

Also in this survey response, the importance of relationships with family played a major part. 13 responders referenced family members as some component in their return. 6 of these people talked about their spouse being an influence, whether it was their spouse's conversion, their own conversion through their spouse, or even a change of life spurred on by a spouse's negative comment towards the Church. Children were mentioned in 4 of these responses and 1 participant commented that their grandparent's passing was the cause. 1 participant specifically credited the example of their parents. Then there was the testimony of 1 other individual: "Yes, I truly believe that my mother's prayers brought me back. I just woke up one day and went to Mass. I saw the priest the next day and after a powerful and moving confession, I felt whole again and at peace".

For 1 participant, it was being involved in Lifeteen during their preparation for Confirmation. 4 people answered that a retreat or conference of some sort helped them, whether it was a youth conference or a Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat. Volunteer service was part of 2 peoples' responses, 1 mentioned volunteering for youth ministry while the other talked about volunteering with Religious Sisters and seeing the joy of the Sisters.

Then, 13 participants talked about something involving the intellect, whether it was learning the reasons why we believe what we believe, looking for and finding satisfactory answers, asking and searching for every question and studying multiple points of view, apologetics, or even reading things from the early church. For 1 of these 13, "knowing the miracles performed by God and the Saints" makes it too hard to stay away. And another person said "Reading the entire Bible brought me back - turns out it's Catholic". 1 separate individual had a mixture of relationships and intellect by saying "Meaningful connections, practical application of the Catholic Social vision and the intellectual foundations of truth brought me back".

Sometimes all you need is a little faith, which is what 3 participants verified when they said faith in God is what brought them back. 1 in particular phrased it this way: "Faith in God, love of Jesus. Faith in His Church". At least 5 people talked about building a relationship with God and love of Him helped bring them back. A couple felt called by God to return, another couple talked about their love for God, and 1 said "just the fact that God is always blessing me".

8 participants stated that the Eucharist helped either bring them back or keep them faithful during hard times. Some said it was devotion to the Eucharist, 1 person stated that "there is a peace that I get from just sitting in Adoration". These 8 reinforced that there is a power that is found in the Eucharist.

4 people had an experience with Confession that helped bring them back. 1 of these 4 testified that "A small encounter I had after confession helped set me on the path away from doubt- hearing the right thing at the right time, so to speak". 3 people referred to Beauty from the Church as an inspiration for them, including 1 who found beauty in the Church during a chronic illness and another who complimented the beauty of the Cathedral in Saint Paul, MN.

The Holy Rosary became a powerful influence according to 4 people, including 1 person stating "The Holy Rosary changed my life" and 1 other person saying "The Rosary is my strength". 2 responders claimed growing up and reaching young adulthood helped their faith.1 participant simply stated "I could not find anything as good as Catholic liturgy and teaching".

Media played a role in the lives of 2 responders. 1 person gave credit to The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM radio, which led them to Catholic Answers, and the other person said that listening to EWTN helped them. For 1 responder, a parish mission helped. For another, it comes from regular Mass attendance and involvement in their parish. 1 person said they were brought back because of "the grace coming from living in a house with a Tabernacle Chapel".  And 1 person simply said "Mercy".

I wanted to end this section on a slightly more serious note, but with some hope added in as well. To lead this off, 1 person said "I came back because I felt like I was floating aimlessly". Another honest person admitted "I was knowingly deep in sexual sin. What brought me back was knowing I had no one left to turn to but God".

There's the testimony of this person: "The mess I had made of my life left me suicidal, I couldn't bear the pain and sorrow of my life anymore, and so I asked Him to take it. And He did, He brought me back, I think when there was so little left of me, so little hope in me, that I was able to be humble and ask Him for help".

And finally, bringing us back to the participant who said "Yes, I lost my belief in God, but He ended up being the only One there for me in the hardest point in my life". They continued that statement by saying "When I was depressed and had no friends in high school. He saved my life. There was no turning away from Him after that".

What Teachings of the Church Have You Struggled With in the Past? In the Present? How Have You Overcome That Struggle?

Here we go! The hot button topics! Everyone loves those...right? I think the beauty of seeing responses to this question is that, through honesty, it probably helps people connect with their fellow Catholics, creating a better sense of community. Like, "Hey, I've struggled with these issues too. Wait, you too? You mean I'm not the only one!?". The other nice thing about the responses is they offer some pretty good advice and life experiences for anyone who may be struggling with understanding a particular teaching. Please note that while various struggles are mentioned, it's never clarified whether this is a past or current struggle for each participant unless specifically stated in the latter part of this section.

11 people talked struggling with teachings about the Blessed Virgin Mary, mentioning things like the Rosary, perpetual virginity, and her Ascension [I'm assuming they're talking about the Assumption]. 3 other times there was mention about the Saints, especially concerning veneration or intercessions.

Abortion was brought up 7 times.

Some variation of the term Same Sex Marriage was used 11 times. There was some variation concerning the teaching of Homosexuality used about 11 times. 1 person had stated that the church teaching on marriage was something they struggled with, which was hard to tell if that meant same sex marriage specifically or something else, so I just left it by itself. 1 other person specifically referred to the teaching against a same sex couple adopting children as a struggle.

And that's not the only sex related responses. Man, a lot of people were focused on the sexy stuff here, or as 1 person put it "my teenage self wasn't a fan of the church teachings on sexual things" (that quote makes me laugh for some reason). The basic idea of struggling with the Church's sexual teachings was brought up from all angles by 10 people, including "sex is primarily for procreation", premarital sex, live-in boyfriends/girlfriends, what sexual practices are permissible within marriage, and abstinence.

3 mentions of chastity in some way. The words birth control popped up 10 times, while phrases about the teaching on contraception got mentioned 7 times, including contraception in marriage. The acronym NFP was used 6 times. NFP meaning Natural Family Planning (as a bachelor virgin, I have no practical knowledge to explain NFP further). 

The words masturbation and pornography were each used 3 times. 1 person talked about struggles with masturbation and pornography, while 2 others, very honest people, talked about addiction and masturbation. Infertility Treatments to help people unable to conceive children was brought up 2 times. 1 person wrote in "Condoms in the context of HIV in developing countries". 

Confession and the Sacrament of Penance got 6 mentions. Transubstantiation and the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist was brought up 3 times. Teachings revolving around divorce or remarried peoples was mentioned 3 times, including 1 insistence pertaining to Communion. Papal Infallibility was named 3 times, suffering 2 times, and the existence of God also got a few mentions.

Finally, there was at least 1 mention of struggling with the following 

• Needing to attend Mass every Sunday
• Socialist tendencies of Liberation Theology
• No salvation outside the Church.
• Mercy and forgiveness
• Angels as represented in the Summa Theologica
• The belief of Purgatory
• Existence of Hell
• Immigration
• That priests can’t marry
• The idea of free will and how God can simultaneously have a plan for the world, the mystery of the Trinity...and also charity for the enemy/just war

So now, let's examine how people overcame any struggles they had in the direct words of the participants. These responses are hard to summarize and categorize, or maybe the quotes are just better than anything I could put my own interpretation on. Education and Intellect were major themes when discussing how people overcome their struggles, being mentioned in a variety of ways: 

• I learned more about full church teachings and philosophy.
• I remind myself that I had no problems with the teaching when I was able to logically analyze it in an unbiased state.
• Realizing that the Church's wisdom is far greater than my own.
• I learned the context for why the Church holds these positions.
• After studying and understanding WHY the church teaches those things, it was easier.
• I have questioned everything, but I have always found in-depth, logical answers. In fact, every time I think I have come up with a new idea, thirty people--all holier than I--from various centuries have already written about the same idea.
• I finally both understood that people really believe it, knowingly, and so that maybe I could believe it too.
• Educating myself on Church teaching and the abortion process, it wasn't difficult to come in line with Church teaching.
• Overcame by learning where those beliefs came from plus deciding to trust the Church.
• I think knowledge of WHY the teachings are the way they are is very important.
• I overcame it by rational discussion and openness to the Holy Spirit.
• Through other Catholics leading me to Church documents I was able to better understand.
• What helps me is continued prayer and reading and seeking of understanding and mercy.
• Through patience and reading on the topics.
• [I did] my own reading and research.
• I researched why the church teaches its stances...and I came to agree.

That's not to say faith doesn't play a part either. We are people of BOTH Faith AND Reason. Again, in their own words:

• Through having faith in God was I able to overcome them. 
• I still struggle and it's faith that keeps me going.
• I trust that God has His reasons, so I will follow His will.
• There is simply too much that isn't explainable without Him.

4 people discussed how both time and prayer helped them overcome obstacles, including: 

• It took being away from the church. Living a faithless life in that lifestyle to realize that God wasn’t there. After returning, a lot of prayer and time spent with God.
• I figured if the Church was right about everything else they must be right about these issues. I put my faith and trust in God and prayed that he would help me see and understand more clearly. He always did!!
• I just follow teaching and pray for help.

The idea of time and prayer also came into effect with those overcoming struggles with Marian teachings:

• I overcame it by being less ignorant of it all. 
• Continuing to pursue a relationship with the Blessed Mother. 
• [Ascension/Assumption] Prayer for understanding.

When it came to accepting teachings revolving around homosexuality, the following were mentioned: 

• Studying Theology of the Body
• Aided by time, good teachers who explained the truth, and the documentary "Third Way".
• I took the class Christian Marriage at university. 
• I was open about how the teaching confused me. I asked questions to priests to get a fuller understanding of the teaching and how it related to present day life.
• I had the teaching explained to me by a friend, I was able to understand the nature of the human person and why it is wrong to act on same sex attraction.

Then there's the general collection of sex-related responses:

• The person who said "chastity (in thoughts) was difficult before I was married" then explained "now the mystery is gone and it's not as difficult for me" (which makes me laugh).
• 1 person who struggled with contraception presented this life experience: 
• Reading "Good News about Sex and Marriage" 
• Doing marriage prep
• Learning/practicing NFP with my husband.
• For someone who struggled with both contraception and sex before marriage: "Having a Theology of the Body background of engaging, honest, simple, not overly-preachy truth was a huge help".
• For 1 individual struggling with Sexuality, an act of faith by "trusting that Christ speaks through His Church".
• "I struggled with masturbation because I was addicted to it. After a while, I couldn't deny what my addiction was doing to my life. I now completely agree with and submit to the Church's teaching:.
• 1 person testified to struggles with teachings on masturbation, pornography, and sex: "I researched every doubt and couldn't argue. I can honestly say I was addicted. From there, what helped me overcome it was reading intellectual arguments from the Church, praying only the Sorrowful mysteries [of the Rosary], saying the Anima Cristi, a few litanies, and the chaplet on the wounds of Jesus. I strictly prayed these prayers for a few weeks, until I saw more progress and eased up slowly...I've been successfully chaste for almost 6 months, starting on St. Maria Goretti's feast!".
• Infertility treatments: "we choose our faith over in vitro/ in utero".
• Condoms in the context of HIV in developing countries: "Understanding that the health of the soul is more important than the health of the body helps".
• I understand the detriment that birth control causes.
• "I did a lot of reading and research and came to understand" the beauty of the teaching on birth control.
• "It wasn't until I was married that I realized the importance of this teaching [on birth control]. Apologetics on the subject helped as well".

For those who struggled with Confession:

• Looking at the CCC [Catechism of the Catholic Church] and the Scriptures that are cited in support of the Sacrament changed my mind.
• Found a parish where the priests make Confession readily available so that I am positively peer pressured into going.
• It wasn't until I attended Confession in the Byzantine tradition that I was healed of my fear of confession.

Suffering:

• I primarily deal with this by attempting to draw upon a logical mindset.
• Learning the value of redemptive suffering through daily trials and more prayer.

Concerning struggles with the Eucharist, 1 person said: "It wasn't until I had read 'Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist' by Brant Petre that I came to understand and fully believe".

Other miscellaneous responses about overcoming obstacles included: reading Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Dr. Ken Miller, debating with a group of devout and learned friends, and reliance on the examples and intercessions of the Saints.

Currently, What Are the Daily Things You Do to Practice Your Faith?

A great majority of these answers involved practices or actions that are inconsistent, or at least are more weekly or monthly in practice. Majority of the people responded that they try to do X,Y,Z every day, but added that it doesn't necessarily happen every day. So, there'll still be a lot of key words and phrases here to answer the question, just with the background understanding that the practices are not necessarily a true "daily" practice in the strictest sense. I can't fault anybody if they're at least making an effort to do some of the following on a regular basis to know God and glorify Him more.

Of course, the most common, almost knee-gut reaction, was saying "Praying" or "Prayer" or "Pray" in some variation. There were 65 types of these general prayer responses, including 3 specific mentions of mental prayer, 1 person saying "prayer with spouse", 1 person saying "my holy hour [an hour devoted to prayer] is the most important", and 1 person saying "Pray and keep God's law". Specific prayers or styles of prayer included the Anima Christi, Angelus, saying "Thank you" to God regularly, contemplation/meditation, "prayers from my 1962 Roman Missal", and 3 people making mention of praying a novena.

The most popular type of prayer specified in these responses was the Holy Rosary. 45 responders used Rosary in their response. Some other prayers, in connection to the Rosary or of similar style, that were mentioned included the Divine Mercy Chaplet (4 times), Chaplet of St. Michael, Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, and seasonal Marian hymns.

Then there were the specific mentions of what I would call bedside prayer, or perhaps a better way to phrase it is "Prayer in the Morning & Night". These are the prayers that are said first thing in the morning as well as at the end of the day, perhaps while kneeling beside a bed (hence bedside prayer?). 17 people talked about praying at morning and/ or at night. Types of prayers mentioned included Morning Offering, nightly examination of conscience, "a few Haily Mary's before bed", nighttime prayer with family, and "Charismatic praise & worship in the morning (alone)".

At least 12 participants mentioned some variation of what I'll term as sporadic/intentional prayer. These are the kind of prayers that are not pre-planned, but just happen throughout the day as need be. For some, that meant just talking to God. For others, it's praying for the repose of the soul of anyone that passed away that day or making the sign of the cross at various moments throughout the day. This kind of prayer is often casual and small in length, but it occurs throughout the entirety of the day and it helps emphasis that communication factor of our relationships with God.

11 mentions specifically revolving around The Divine Office/ Liturgy of the Hours, whether it was just the Compline late in the day, Vespers, Lauds, or just plain old Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. Some variation of a mealtime prayer was mentioned around 7 times. 6 participants mentioned praying specific devotionals or for the intercession of specific saints.There were 4 mentions of the Chotki/Jesus Prayer as part of the daily faith experience.

18 responders discussed reading the Bible as a daily practice they do or are starting. These kind of responses included reading the Gospel and the other readings for Daily Mass, Bible Study participation, and at least 2 people mentioned reading both the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

30 people in this survey talked about making an effort to attend  Daily Mass. At least 7 people talked about spending time in Adoration. 5 people referred to Confession as an important practice in their faith lives.

11 other people mentioned some form of spiritual reading, reading texts focused on the faith or written by fellow Catholics. These responses involved reading about saints, reading the actual writings of Doctors and Saints of the Church, reading other Catholic non fiction, or just simply learning and studying.

For 11 people, interacting with children is something influential for them. This included instructing their own kids or teaching kids through religious education programs.4 people emphasized discussion about the faith with family and friends as part of their daily faith journey.

4 people emphasized liturgical living as part of their daily faith practices. This meant that they celebrate saints' feasts days, fast on appropriate days, and adjust their lives according to the liturgical season we're in (Lent, Advent, etc.).

8 people responding to this question talked about media resources as part of their daily practice. These included Christian music, Catholic radio, movies, Catholic podcasts, Lighthouse Media CD, and faith related videos.

4 people use journaling to practice their faith daily. At least 6 people talked about wearing a scapular, a miraculous medal, or another sacred medal. 6 people answered by naming groups they are part of (3 Facebook-related, 2 Catholic women's groups and 1 young adult group). 3 responders talked about starting Nineveh 90, a program combining spiritual practices and physical fitness, this year.

Finally, sacred images at the home was mentioned by 4 participants. They talked about their religious art, crucifixes, and Icons. There was 1 specific quote that made me chuckle by imagining the reactions of anti-Catholic people who see it: "I pray and venerate the crucifix in my home".

Stay tuned for the conclusion of the Results in the next blog post Part 3!

Why Do Catholic Young Adults Stay? Results Part 1: Demographics

Please see my Explanation about the survey. For these results, we had a total of 301 people who answered some or all of these questions. A big thanks to every single individual, majority of whom came from the Catholic Geeks Facebook page, who participated!

I have provided a quick summary of Part 1. Following that is a more detailed breakdown of the results under each category.

The TL;DR Version

Ages represented in the survey: 21 – 26 years old (33%), 27 – 32 (30%), and 33 – 39 (30%). The remaining 7% came from responses outside of the given age range. Women accounted for 72% of the responders, leaving 28% of responses from men. Cradle Catholics represented 73% of the total participants, while Converts represented 27%. The two most popular answers given for why people converted were the Church's history and personal relationships. Participants who received the Sacrament of Confirmation before high school accounted for 33% of responders, 43% came from those who were confirmed during high school, and 24% after high school. Finally, 84% of participants normally attend the Ordinary Form/ Novus Ordo Mass, 10% normally attend the Extraordinary Form/ Traditional Latin Mass, 3% said they normally attend two or more valid rites equally, and 3% normally attend an Eastern rite.

Age 

(297 responses)

Reference: (Age: Number of Responses)

When posting this survey online, both on the actual Google Form itself and also on my post about the survey to Catholic Geeks Facebook page, I had requested an age range of 21-39 year old participants. While there was quite a lot of representation from all ages within this range, here's how the Top 4 shaped up:

26: 24 (Way to represent, my fellow 26 year olds!)
27: 19 (Way to represent, my soon-to-be fellow 27 year olds!)
28: 19
34: 19 (The only representation of 30-somethings at the top, but how appropriate that this is the                       middle of the 30-somethings).
21: 18
25: 18
24: 17

Majority of the remaining age groups were in the double digits.

22: 15
30: 15
39: 15
36: 14
29: 14
32: 11
37: 11
38: 11
31: 10
33: 10
35: 10

The only one that was in the single digits in this range was:

23: 6

Now, by the grace of God's free will and the ability to do whatever we want on the internet, some people outside the range responded to the survey. Sure, I expected a couple of 20 year olds, just on the brink of becoming 21, to respond, but not as many that did.

20: 13

Then we even had some teens who had the audacity to complete this survey as well (punk kids...gotta love 'em!)

19: 3
17: 1
14: 1

My biggest shock was finding people beyond the 39 year old limit who wanted to submit responses to the survey (punks...I guess we're all young at heart though.)

40: 2
42: 1

Sex 

Not much to say on this category other than: Way to go, ladies! Men, let's step it up next time and really represent!

So, as you might've been able to guess before even seeing the results, more women answered the survey call than men did. There were nearly 3 women to every 1 man in this survey.

(300 responses)

Female:  217 participants or 72.3%

Male:  83 participants or 27.7%

Cradle or Convert? 

Again, not much to say here since results kinda speak for themselves and the results aren't necessarily shocking. It was another near 3:1 split, where the Cradle Catholics, those born and raised in the Church, dominated the number of Convert Catholics.

(299 responses)

Cradle:  218 participants or 72.9%

Convert: 81 participants or 27.1%

If Convert, What Inspired Your Conversion?

Before diving into the reasons for people's conversions, it's worth noting that 7 people replied to this question explaining that they were a Revert, a cradle Catholic who had basically fallen away from their faith and over time chose to return to it, as if converted, with greater love for God and the Catholic Church. I know that I definitely feel the same way about my own faith journey, even calling my own return to faith a conversion experience for awhile before hearing the term "revert".

There were two big reasons for why participants on this survey converted to Catholicism. The first one is the history and tradition of the Catholic Church, the authority and truth that upholds Catholicism. At least 20 people responded explaining that some variation of history, universality, and tradition of the Church was an inspiration, with 3 people specifically mentioning truth, 2 shout outs to the Church Fathers, and a couple mentions of authority or theology each. I loved this one response when they said they "recognized the roots of [their] faith were here, untainted".

The second biggest reason for participants' conversions to Catholicism was through personal relationships. At least 19 people talked about some person in their life being a huge influence. This is a moment where men began to shine, since 6 times a husband/boyfriend was mentioned as the main inspiration. After that, 5 other participants gave shout outs to women in their lives, from wives to girlfriends to moms and even a grandmother. Also, there were 5 mentions of raising a family or the family unit being inspirations for conversion. Finally, there were 3 participants who talked about the influence of ministers and chaplains in their faith lives.

2 people gave all the credit to God bringing them to the Catholic Church. 1 individual specifically stated the Holy Spirit was their conversion inspiration.

4 participants specifically used the word Sacrament and the inspiration the Sacraments had on them, including 1 specific mention of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Yet, perhaps the most influential Sacrament has been, of course, the Eucharist. 10 people discussed, in some form, the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, as a major inspiration for them. Within those 10 responses, 3 of them mentioned Eucharistic Adoration, praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, with 1 participant saying "getting face-to-face with the Blessed Sacrament was the catalyst". Another individual specifically referenced John 6, the chapter of the Gospel of John where Our Lord Jesus Christ talks multiple times about receiving eternal life through consuming His body and blood.

And where do you mainly find the Sacrament of the Eucharist? Why in the Mass, of course! 4 responders mentioned the Mass as part of their conversion, including 1 Latin Mass and 1 Easter Vigil Mass.

7 people talked about some sort of media being an influence in their conversion. Things like EWTN and Mother Angelica, local Catholic radio and Sirius XM's Catholic Channel, author/speaker Scott Hahn, and St. Augustine's Confessions book were referenced. 1 person went so far as to say that they had "a spiritual experience seeing Gibson's Passion" [The Passion of the Christ movie directed by Mel Gibson].

There were about 6 people that, while sharing a variety of different experiences, talked about what I would call an intellectual pursuit of Catholicism. These 6 people were the kind that did a bunch of research on the Catholic faith, reading about the saints or examining different denominations of Christianity until they settled upon Catholicism. Whether the Catholic Church was something that was forbidden to them earlier in life  or they just chose to seek it out through free will, these people talked about using logic and intellectualism as part of their faith journey.

3 participants give credit to spiritual experiences that they had. They had stories where they talked about a "miraculous encounter", a "supernatural moment",  and an "intercession from the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints". 3 people mentioned a spiritual retreat or conference experience, including a Catholic charismatic conference. 3 other people emphasized the importance of Scripture in their faith journey, including 1 individual saying "I'm Jewish, so Isaiah 53 [a chapter the Catholic Church believes to be prophesying Christ's Passion and Crucifixion] inspired me". 1 other person simply said "Long story short: St. Paul".

Travel played a part in 2 people's conversions, 1 while in Rome, the other 1 spending a semester in France. 2 other people actually credited Catholic school as a positive influence in their faith journey here. 1 person chimed in with the Rosary.

There were other individual responses that just really stood out on their own. 1 person talked about infertility and the Catholic stance on ethical treatments being an influence. Another person referred to the Church's social teaching. A very honest person straight up said "Fear of Hell". Another person simply exclaimed "Holy Thursday!", which I didn't know whether that referred to the Mass, a spiritual experience, or something different entirely, so I just let it be its own solo, enthusiastic thing.

Finally, there are two remaining responses that are really awesome quotes and bring a smile to my face. I'll just share them separately, like inspirational soundbits:

• Pope Francis telling me to "get off my spiritual couch".

• It was my teenage rebellion

Confirmed Before, During, or After High School?

Kind of a basic random question. However, I think it helps the participant especially to look back on their faith journey, comparing life before and after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. It's just interesting because I would think the results reveal two big things: The age you receive Confirmation often depends on which diocese you live in (different diocese have different ages confirmandi, the people receiving the Sacrament, receive it). Also, the after high school number largely reflects the number of converts in this survey, coming to the Church after the teenage craziness of high school.

(298 responses)

During: 128 participants or 42.9%

Before: 98 participants or 32.9% (My people! I received the Sacrament in 8th grade).

After: 72 participants or 24.2%

What Mass Rite (Novus Ordo, TLM, Byzantine, etc.) Do You Normally Attend? 

I was not very surprised and simultaneously a little surprised by the responses to this question. Perhaps the best way to look at the results is through an understanding of which Rites of the Mass are, currently, most readily available for Catholics, especially here in the United States.

I wasn't surprised by how an overwhelming number of the responders normally attend the Novus Ordo/the Ordinary Form of the Mass (the rite most people, even non-Catholics, are familiar with today), and I wasn't too surprised when some people were confused by what I meant by saying Novus Ordo (which is Latin for New Order).

I was somewhat surprised by how few responders said they normally attend the Traditional Latin/ Extraordinary Form of the Mass, which is seeing a resurgence now due in part to interest from young adults. Though maybe the number was smaller than expected because of the people in the Blend category. These are people who may go to a Latin Mass as well as a Novus Ordo Mass, participating in two or more different valid rites almost equally, depending on circumstances.

I anticipated/ hoped I would get some responders representing the Byzantine Rite, though I was genuinely surprised to see 1 person say East Syrian and then 1 other person say Syro-Malabar, both different yet valid rites representing the Eastern side of Catholicism. Again, I think these results speak to the availability of the different rites and forms of Mass. At this point in time, almost every single parish does the Ordinary Form, a decent number also offer Extraordinary Form, and then a very small percentage celebrate the Eastern rites.

(289 responses)

• Novus Ordo/ Regular Mass/ Ordinary Form: 242 participants or 83.7%

• Traditional Latin Mass/ Extraordinary Form: 30 participants or 10.4%

• Blend: 10 participants or 3.4%

• Byzantine: 5 participants or 1.7%

• East Syrian: 1 participant or 0.34%

• Syro-Malabar: 1 participant or 0.34%

Check out Part 2 of the Results in the next blog post!

Why Do Catholic Young Adults Stay? An Explanation

This post is meant to act as a prologue to any and all result postings of my survey related to why Catholic Young Adults stay in the Church. This post will answer: "What inspired the survey?", "What is the point of the survey?" and finally "What to expect from the result postings".

Over the past couple of years, I feel like I've seen multiple news headlines or online commentaries worrying about the population of the Catholic Church. Seeing different headlines saying things like "Why Are Millennials Leaving the Church?" or "Young Adults Aren't Going to Church Anymore" or "More People Stop Believing in God Before College Than Ever Before" can get pretty disheartening and irritating after awhile. Especially for a young adult Catholic man like myself.

A part of me is also sitting here, selfishly, being like "What am I, chopped liver?". Like, we're paying so much attention to why people in my generation are leaving and trying to figure out what exactly is keeping them away that we're not paying attention to those of us who aren't even leaving. Hello, guys! I'm here! I'm trying real hard to practice my faith and grow in my relationship with God!

I started to think that I'm probably not the only one who's had reactions to these news articles or has felt ignored despite being as faithful as can be or even growing as a Catholic disciple of  Jesus Christ. There's got to be other people around my age who have different yet similar experiences to my own, right? My point is that there's often so much worry and dread and concern that seems to come from the news articles that we see regularly now or the kind of talk that we might hear when figuring out how parishes can draw in younger people.

Whether it was people coming into the Church later in life or if they've been here the whole time, I know I've seen plenty of other young adults in the Catholic Church, yet the headlines would make you think there's just a handful of us left. I decided that if I was getting all huffy about these cynical type of articles that 1) I needed to do something about it and 2) I need to present a positive, hopeful message rather than a negative, worrisome one.

Why focus on the negative when instead we can focus on the positive? Perhaps by shifting our focus, we can transform the conversation.So, how do we shift this focus? My answer: create a survey that allows fellow Catholic young adults to give their voice and experiences to help  figure out why we choose to remain faithful to God and to Holy Mother Church. So, let's find out why Catholic young adults stay in the Church!

Sure, there's books out there with more in-depth knowledge and examination on this subject. Just by announcing this survey on a Facebook group page, I had people talk about The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly (a great read, by the way) and Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell (on my reading list for this year). Yet, that's a ton of reading with all sorts of data, statistics, and long paragraphs of examination.

For every great book like these worth reading, there's a large stack of news articles that are shorter in length and easier to read. So, I wanted to combat those news articles with something of similar length and intensity. Therefore, my solution is writing blog posts. Still going to throw a lot of information and statistics your way, just hopefully on a smaller, more casual scale that's easy and maybe even fun to read.

I learned so many things while assembling this survey and the results. Number one being, choose an easy online option instead of a Word document to collect interest and data. People had to point me in the direction of Google Forms before this thing took off. The next thing I learned was that maybe putting a bunch of questions that allowed long form sentence answers was not the best way to go. Only by examining the results did I see "Oh, I totally could've made this thing a multiple choice question and made this a whole lot easier for everybody!". Along with that, I realize that some questions could've been phrased differently. There are many open questions which provided answers from all sorts of angles. Lots of living and learning on this thing.

When creating the survey, I set an age limit I was looking for, asking for participants aged 21-39 years old. This way, I felt like it gave enough time for hindsight and separation from other phases of life. Those at the younger end of the spectrum could look at their teenage and youth years without still being directly connected to it, really taking on that change into young adulthood. Those at the older end of the spectrum could reflect on the past couple decades of their faith life and see just how they've grown as a Catholic young adult before transitioning into regular ol' adulthood with bigger responsibilities.

I readily admit I'm not a scientifically minded statistics guy nor am I a full blown Catholic scholastic know-it-all. I try my best to explain everything in a way that everyone can understand without either dumbing the information down too much or overexplaining something I don't fully understand. There's some survey responses that I was confused by, information or resources I had not known about before receiving these responses, and so on. I even had to look stuff up and figure out what certain acronyms stood for.

You'll also notice that when analyzing or discussing the collected data, I will be doing so in my own style, in my own voice. Just be aware that I get goofy sometimes or maybe I just phrase things weirdly. But hey, it's not all my voice in this survey. There'll be quotes from the survey takers thrown in, and of course none of the information could be presented without those participants sharing their own personal experiences. There's tons of honest, vulnerable life-sharing going on in this survey, and that was beautiful to see as I was editing.

My hope is that the responses to this survey will provide solid information to why young adults stay Catholic by sharing their life experiences. Moreover, I want these results to bring hope to all the people in and out of the Catholic Church, particularly fellow young adults. Perhaps there is a Catholic young adult who has fallen away or is struggling with something in their faith, these survey results could provide some assistance in their lives. Perhaps you know a young adult who has a certain struggle or doubt and you can use the information provided by the participants to guide that person towards answers. Maybe you're just a practicing Catholic young adult, just trying to do your best, and when you see this survey you can use the wisdom and resources shared by the participants to help you further pursue that relationship with God.

There are many young adults in the Catholic Church and we should not take that for granted. We are here for a multitude of reasons and because of the experiences we have had in life. On top of that, there's always something we can do as a next step to be a better Catholic and grow in our relationships with God. I hope these survey results can show you that. Thanks to all who participated in this survey and thank you for checking it out.