Have you wondered what young men and women are wondering about regarding Church and Faith? Read on…….

Over the past year, I have had the priviledge of journeying with young men and women from across Canada at four different events entitled “Make Your Voice Heard: Let the Church Speak!”. It was an opportunity for young men and women to come together to bring forth their questions in an atmosphere of openness, compassion, and charity. Our gatherings were in the context of Theology on Tap in Saskatoon, Campion College Student Campus Ministry event in Regina, Redeemer House in Toronto, and SERVE 2010 in Toronto.

We all have questions, and we want our questions answered! However, when it comes to our faith, there sometimes seems to be no clear answers. It may not always be helpful to ask our questions and expect a clear defined answer, but perhaps it might be more helpful and more realistic to view our questions as opportunities to dive into mystery. Being a young person today is all about questions, and rightfully so! We allow our young people, the church to speak and to speak up! Diving into mystery is a way that we bring our questions into the realm and mystery of God, knowing that God’s answers may not be as simple as ours, nor are our answers to questions as simple as perhaps God’s answers. We trust that God, our source of love and compassion deals with us and our brothers and sisters in ways that may amaze us and confuse us. But God is a God of love and mystery. Therefore, we ask our questions trusting in the presence of God among us, working thorough us in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect for each ones journey.

Below is a list of the questions that were anonymously written on paper at these gatherings and were explored in an atomosphere of faith, compassion and hope. I share them with you, as these questions may also be your questions, and an opportunity for you to dive into mystery at what these questions for you may mean.

We invite you to also add your question or a comment below.

Fr. Santo Arrigo C.Ss.R.
Coordinator of Redemptorist Youth and Young Adult Ministry

• Why does the Church seem preoccupied with “what I do in bed and with whom”? (an obsession with sexual matters)
• Why is the Church such a hostile climate for homosexuals?
• What is the deal with Papal Infallibility?
• Why the rigidity in liturgical structure/practice?
• Regarding theology, how can we ‘study’ something on which we can make no empirical observations? How can we make a study of the divine with which we have no regular contact?
• Can someone (a Catholic) who gets divorced get remarried again in a Catholic Church?
• Can a priest deny communion to someone who they know is in mortal sin?
• Why do priests add a flake size amount of bread into the wine?
• Why can’t priests or nuns get married? (in other religions the pastor can be married)
• How much time does the priest need to prepare his homily
• Who makes up the Magesterium? And how authoritative is their teachings?
• Why is the liturgy changing?
• Regarding homosexual relationships, what exactly is the Church’s view on this (relationships, not marriage)
• I am afraid that the Church risks falling “backwards” (after hearing about things like, for example, the proposed mass changes). How does “forward” change happen and how can we influence it? If we are the church, how can we affect what decisions are made?
• How do we bring someone back to the Church after they left without being all “preachy”?
• What do you think the impact of JP II’s theology of the body will have on the Church in the next few years?
• What could be done to make the Church more prominent in our increasingly secular world with special reference to the priesthood and how to bring back the honour/reverence?
• Why have we been so blessed in being given the gift of faith? Why does it seem so much harder for others to see God’s glory?
• How do I sincerely express my love for the Church when people around me are hurt by it?
• How do I feel “Holy” when I don’t say or do the things ‘hardcore’ Catholics do? (they make me feel uncomfortable)
• Why can’t the Church (authority) do a better job expressing the Gospel of Love, especially to the gay community?
• How do you deal with issues that are seen by some as black and white but are definitely more complicated than that?
• How often have men been ordained as priests who probably shouldn’t have been? Are the seminaries changing and making it truly about vocation and not numbers, and how are we as parishioners supposed to respect and support these priests who have been ‘passed through’?
• If vocation is something we find union with God in and are given free will, how can those that are gay truly find their vocation when they aren’t truly at peace and are given limited options? Can we blame them for not feeling a part of the church?
• Death and Dying is a painful, ugly part of life. Why did God have to create life to end this way?
• Why is it necessary to believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, especially after she had Jesus? Before is understandable, but why after? Could Jesus not have had little brothers or sisters?
• What does “dying to self” really mean? How do we discern between healthy self-gift and destructive self-denial?
• What is with the fighting and in-fighting between various religions who all profess to want the same thing (i.e. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, “Love thy neighbour”)? That each religion’s “Creation Story” is the “right” one, especially as compared to evolution?
• What do you think about Darwinian evolution?
• My friend is a lesbian and doesn’t think the Church has any relevance for her or that they condemn her. What would you say to her?
• I was raised as a Catholic, but I am confused by the Catholic Church and how to deal with sexual abuse issues in Church, our Pope that seems out of touch in some ways (e.g. angering other religious faiths), and the perceived sexism. I have real concerns about how to raise my kids in the Catholic faith given these issues. How do I raise my kids in this context?
• Regarding the Ordination of women, where does this sit in relation to Jesus and his teaching? Why is it not allowed?
• In today’s world, it seems like there isn’t a strong youth presence in the Catholic Church. What do you think are some of the reasons for this, and do you have any ideas for solutions?
• How do we deal with/respond to Benedict XVI’s new movement toward (pre-Vatican II) liturgical tradition? What do we do with tensions about what liturgy is and how people can/should celebrate and pray?
• Please talk about our call to obedience following (to Church, civil authorities, etc.) and our consciences.