Old faith finding new life: In Catholicism, older forms appealing to younger believers

DELPHOS — When it comes to Jack Bockey, a sophomore at St. John’s High School in Delphos, his Christian faith is a large part of his life.

“I serve Mass and I’m learning how to set up for Mass,” he said. “I’m also involved with our Students for Life club. I also do a history article for our parish bulletin. I think my faith has always been pretty important for me.”

While he continues to celebrate the same services observed by Roman Catholics throughout the nation and around the world, Bockey has also developed an affinity for some of the more ancient practices of his faith, a trend that is showing signs of growth among young people in the faith community, especially in churches with more traditional practices, such as the Roman Catholic Church.

“I really like the traditional Latin Mass,” he said. “I really like history, and it’s very ancient, but it’s also very beautiful. Just the reverence is really great.”

Emma Hunley, a senior at Lima Central Catholic High School, became Catholic when she was in seventh grade, attending a church more traditional in its style of worship that appealed to her.

“As I got to explore my faith more, I got into religious sisters,” she said, speaking of religious orders for women. “I learned about veiling and I learned about kneeling and taking the Eucharist. I thought this was the most incredible thing ever because, personally, I like the older religion. I don’t know why. I just like going back to that.”

The Mass, the celebration of the Last Supper in which congregants partake of sanctified bread and wine, was said in Latin for much of church history, going back to about the second century. It remained largely unchanged until the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, when permission was given to celebrate the Mass in the vernacular of the people. While this has helped congregations better comprehend what the priest is saying during the liturgy, a growing number of younger Catholics have become more enamored with the Latin Mass, along with other historical forms and expressions of worship, such as kneeling at the altar to receive communion, women wearing veils in church during worship or engaging in Eucharistic Adoration, where Catholics spend time in prayer while bread consecrated for the Mass, also called the host, is displayed.

“I definitely think we’ve seen a rise in people wanting more tradition,” Kathleen Wreede, the director of religious education at St. John the Evangelist Parish and School in Delphos, said. “I think it’s because — and this is my opinion — I think in the world right now, we have a lot of relativism. Nobody agrees on one truth or one morality anymore. Human beings are not meant to live that way. We want truth. We desire to know.”

Christianity shrinking among today’s youth

This lack of religious cohesion can be seen in surveys like one conducted in 2019 by the Pew Research Center that showed that while 63 percent of American teens between 13 and 17 identified as Christian, 32 percent said they were religiously unaffiliated, either atheist, agnostic or not giving a particular answer. This was a shift away from Christian identification compared to parents in the survey, 72 percent of whom said they were Christian and only 24 percent being unaffiliated. A 2021 survey by the Barna Group found that only 22 percent of teens surveyed were committed Christians, while 30 percent were nominal Christians and 48 percent did not go into either category.

According to LCC principal Stephanie Williams, this does not mean that this generation is rejecting spirituality altogether.

“I think there’s a spiritual component that appeals to the students, but that is different than being faith-filled,” she said. “I think we’re seeing more families and students want to have that essence of spirituality. ‘I know I need to be a good person.’ ‘I know I should care about other people.’ But to really dive into the belief of the Catholic Church, that’s where we see that trend where it’s less of a priority.”

Why tradition?

For those who still adhere to Christianity as expressed in Catholicism, part of that appeal could possibly stem from living in a culture that has grown more disconnected from each other, according to Fr. David Ross of St. Rose and St. John the Evangelist Catholic Churches in Lima.

“We do live in a culture that stresses individualism and it’s just not expressed in religion,” he said. “I believe that there are some people who have been affected by this and say that it’s not fulfilling anymore. ‘I do need to be with other people, and I do need other people who are like-minded.’”

For Wreede, going back to older expressions of worship could help re-establish that lost sense of community, and having something with an established history can create a sense of stability amid unstable times and circumstances.

“People desire that kind of security,” she said. “They want something that’s not going to change because so much is changing. So much is uncertain. They want something solid to hold onto.”

As more young people seek that solid foundation amidst uncertainty, be it in a more traditional or a more contemporary expression, Wreede is more optimistic about the future of the church and the faith.

“I feel a lot more positive about the generation that I am teaching than my generation I grew up with,” she said. “I think the church is kind of undergoing a trial by fire right now. we’re going to come out better, and I hope that our students here at St. John’s are going to be a part of that fire that helps reignite things.”

While Hunley said her enthusiasm for some of the traditional worship practices has waned a bit, she still observes the tradition of kneeling to receive the Eucharist when it is celebrated at school.

“I was actually looking into becoming a religious sister, but God had other plans for me at the moment, but I may look into it when I’m older,” she said.

Bockey is continuing to help at his church and learn more about the history of his faith, and he expressed hope that more people will come in and discover the beauty that is present in worship.

“[Jesus Christ] is the center of my life,” he said. “He’s God, and we need to have reverence for him.”