Catholic Church struggles to keep young people from leaving the faith [View all]

[SecularMotion]

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — As the Catholic Church prepares to elect a new pope to guide it into the future, church leaders are struggling to keep young people from leaving the faith.

Four out of five Catholics who have left the church - and have not joined another - did so before the age of 24, according to The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Some young Catholics have drifted away as they moved from home and failed to connect to a new parish, while others have left because their personal political views made them feel isolated. Some have blamed the church's conservative stance on gay marriage and abortion for their departure.

The Catholic hierarchy is not doing enough to address the problem, said Robert J. McCarty, director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/05/2726244/catholic-church-struggles-to-keep.html#storylink=cpy