A new study of Catholic youth in the U.S. has found that a majority admit to having stopped attending Mass, but very few are willing to completely abandon their Catholic roots.

The Barna Group has conducted a new study entitled, “The Faith Journey of Young Catholics” which surveyed the views and religious practice of Catholic youth ages 18-29.

Surprisingly, the drop-out rate for young Catholics is actually less than that of Protesant youth (56% vs. 61%). More than half of young Catholics (51%) report being frustrated with their faith and 41 percent say they’ve gone through a period of significant doubt about the faith. These rates are also similar to those of young Protesant Christians.

“While many young Catholics may have left the church or questioned their faith at some level, very few have outright abandoned their Catholic roots,” Barna reports. “Only one in three (35%) admit to having gone through a period when they felt like rejecting their parent’s faith . . . ”

Youth reporting a desire to remain part of a historic religious institution is quite high, with 41 percent saying they’d rather have “a traditional faith than be part of a hip version of Christianity.”

When it comes to specific issues, such as Church teaching on sexuality and birth control, a majority of Catholic youth think the Church’s positions are “out of date” (60%).

“Among young Catholics who are still religiously active, only one-third (37%) raises some level of concern about the church’s teachings on birth control and sexuality and just 12% say it’s ‘completely true’ for them that the church’s teachings on these matters feel out of date.”

For those who have dropped out of the Church, 69 percent are concerned about these teachings with 23 percent saying it is a major concern.

However, as Barna cautions, the type of survey conducted does not imply causation, meaning it is not known if or how these views about sexuality may have affected the journey of the individual, only that a connection exists.

David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group and author of You Lost Me, points out that these data have tobe interpreted in light of the millions of young people who are represented across the spectrum of viewpoints.

“Even when we look at a fairly defined demographic segment like young adult Catholics, we find a great deal of differences. While many young Catholics are at odds with Catholic teaching on matters of birth control, only about one-quarter are very discontent and many do not at all share these perceptions.”

Click here to read more about the study.

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