Aspectos sociales

International research on Catholic youth has shown that most did not have a strong Catholic identity (for example Rymarz and Graham, 2006, Smith and Denton, 2005). While the majority described themselves as ‘Catholic’, very few could justify their faith or had strong religious convictions and most seemed to find it extremely difficult to express their beliefs. Thus, Catholic youth were not easily distinguished from youth in general by either their articulated beliefs or by their personally chosen practices. A majority also reported that they could practice their faith easily without being picked on or victimised for their association with Catholic belief and practice.

Similar patterns were identified in this study. As reported earlier, all of the participants were proud of their Catholic background and upbringing and enjoyed being a part of the Catholic community and participating in various activities. However, only a few of them had strong convictions about their faith and, like their peers in other countries, only a few could concretely list the core Catholic beliefs. Indeed, most were unsure as to how they would describe their faith to another person. Finally, the majority of the participants in this study did not face any insurmountable challenges in practicing their faith in daily life;

with one exception (i.e. Rebecca, who faced a number of challenges in the non-Catholic school that she attended), most found it relatively easy to do so.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and Moralistic Relativism

The presence of moralistic therapeutic deism was clearly evident in the results of various overseas studies, indicating that many youth had a very slanted view of God and what it meant to be a believer. God to them meant someone who was loving and caring, and on hand to help when needed. At other times, God was conveniently kept out of their everyday affairs. Young people were also found to believe in the laid-back attitude of doing the best they could without imposing their views on others.

Results from this study in Whangarei show that the majority of the participants perceived God as a friend who was loving and caring. However, they differed individually in their views on what God really meant to them. Half the participants had a very close bonding with God and the God they related to took an active role in their lives.In comparison, the views of the remainder conformed to the concept of moralistic therapeutic deism. Participants in this latter group turned to God only when they felt it was necessary to do so. Although they believed in Him, they did not take their belief too seriously and chose to adopt spiritual concepts which they felt comfortable with.

Moralistic relativism was another feature that was reported to be prevalent in the spirituality of young people worldwide, including Catholic youth. The general trend that emerged was that views about one’s morals were relative, so that what may have seemed ‘bad’ in one situation could be viewed as ‘good’ in another.

Half the participants in the present study made moral choices based on their Catholic beliefs while the other half preferred to make their choices solely on personal concepts of good and bad. Also, among the latter, a majority were not convinced that Catholic values ought to be practiced by everyone. While not all the participants in this study appeared to have such strong views on the issue, nuances of moralistic relativism could still be detected in their answers.

Unwillingness to participate actively in faith practices

The decline in active participation in faith practices has been seen to be increasing at a rapid rate. Results from almost all overseas research on Catholic youth, show a growing disinterest in attending Mass, participating in the sacrament of Confession, leading an active prayer life and being a part of church youth activities.

Results from the present study revealed similar patterns. Only half of the young Catholic participants in Whangarei attended weekly Mass while the other half attended monthly. However, all of them attended Mass on festive days and other important occasions, and the majority attended the sacrament of Confession a few times during the year. With regard to participation in faith-based groups or activities, only half of the participants were actively involved while the rest did not attend at all. Finally, to strengthen their spiritual life and/or develop their personal faith, only half of them were involved in activities like personal prayer, reading the Bible, etc.

Deteriorating commitment to the faith

Another common trend throughout the overseas research literature was the deteriorating affinity towards religion and religiousness. Many young Catholics expressed the view that in the future their level of church commitment and involvement would be less. Some saw this as an outcome of their decreasing interaction with family members (especially parents), a decrease that meant that they would be somewhat freer of parental expectations and influence.

This trend of deteriorating commitment was evident among the participants in the present study, but not to the same extent. While one-third thought that their level of commitment would be less, the remaining two-thirds expected that their commitment levels to the Catholic faith would be similar or higher in future years.

Inability to find similar peer group support

Another point emerging from international research on Catholic youth was that most were not involved in any school or church youth group. Some felt that they had grown out of such groups and their activities, while others were following the example of older siblings. As a result, they found it difficult to find peers with the same faith and values.

Once again a similar pattern was identified among participants in the present study. Half of them admitted to experiencing difficulty in finding similar peer group support. For those who did not find it difficult, the Catholic school was cited as the main source of like-minded peers, apart from the church and the youth group. Indeed, the church youth group appealed to all of the participants whether they were actively involved in it or not. This could be an impact of the recruitment method of this study which recruited participants from various youth groups operating within the Catholic church in Whangarei and the Catholic High School.

Overall, it may be concluded that many of the attitudes and views voiced by the participants in this study are similar to those of their peers world-wide. This point should be acknowledged by those working with and/or seeking to understand the position, attitudes and behaviour of Catholic youth in Whangarei.