Professors find key behaviors for successfully passing on Catholic faith to kids

A new article from two university professors presents data-based advice about what parents can do to help their kids stay Catholic after they reach adulthood.

“We are losing nine out of ten cradle Catholics,” Michael Rota and Stephen Bullivant write in the Aug. 12 article. For every one convert who enters the Church, nine to 10 of those raised Catholic leave Her.

“Simply put, no realistic amount of evangelizing new people, or bringing back those “prodigals” who have left — mission-critical as both those apostolates are — can make up for these kinds of losses,” the authors say.

Michael Rota, a professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, and Stephen Bullivant, a professor of theology and sociology of religion at St Mary's University in the United Kingdom and a professorial research fellow in theology and sociology at the University of Notre Dame in Australia, wanted to learn how to make that happen.

“Faith is a gift from God — ultimately the Holy Spirit is in the driver’s seat, not us,” they wrote.

However, they continue, God works through the faithful, so people’s actions matter. By studying sociological data about religious participation and affiliation, the researchers have flagged several causes for the mass exodus from Catholicism and have proposed actions parents and parishes can take to encourage faith in future generations.  

The biggest predictors of “successful religious transmission” all have to do with how parents relate to their faith, according to Rota and Bullivant. Married parents who both attend Mass regularly are the most likely to have children who continue to practice into adulthood.

Children who experience faith as part of a community — having relationships with both peers and adults who practice the faith — are also more likely to remain Catholic. The wider culture has a strong impact on the practice of faith, they wrote. In previous generations, even secular media tended to present religious practice in a positive light, but today, the faith is often degraded in film, television, and on social media.

“Both children and parents need to avoid getting enmeshed in secular culture,” Rota and Bullivant write. “Today that especially means handling smartphones and social media well.”

While there are many factors that influence young people’s faith, the authors identify one simple thing every Catholic can do to help: Participate wholeheartedly in communal Catholic life, especially through one’s parish.

For most Catholics, parishes are the center of faith practice, and Rota and Bullivant discuss ways that they can support parents and children in growing their faith and supporting one another. They argue that one of the best ways that parishes can make this happen is by holding a regular gathering outside of Mass where families can bond with other Catholics 

That gathering should involve the following elements:

- Kids receive formation and enjoy time with other children

- Parents get to talk with other adults (with childcare covered) about topics related to the faith 

- Community members pray together

- Parents learn methods of practicing the faith as a family

Gatherings like this, the authors say, help children make Catholic friends, develop relationships with adults who are supportive of their faith, and see their own parents trying to grow in holiness as well.

“That Catholics do not do community well is disheartening, but it is also very useful information — there is low-hanging fruit here,” Rota and Bullivant say. “We (the authors) come to this issue as academics and as Catholic fathers, but ministry leaders working in the field are way ahead of us. Across the country, many parishes are already bringing new attention to the goal of building community.”