The statistics are sobering. Fifty percent of Catholics 30 years old and younger have left the Church.
“Half the kids that we baptized and confirmed in the last 30 years are now ex-Catholics or unaffiliated,” said Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron of Los Angeles, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, who is known for his website, “Word on Fire.” “One out of six millennials in the U.S. is now a former Catholic.”
But all hope is not lost. Church leaders around the state nominated young adults in the Diocese of Little Rock who are an inspiration to those in the pews. We interviewed millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (born 1997 and later) to let them share their stories of faith and following God’s call. They work in our schools, parishes and ministries full time, part time or even as volunteers. Most are single, but some are married or have children.
For these profiles, we focused on Catholics 18 to 30 years old (born 1989 to 2001).
Aprille Hanson, Dwain Hebda, Alesia Schaefer, James Keary and Maryanne Meyerriecks contributed profiles in this section.
