Well, the problems of bad catechesis proliferate. I have been talking with so many young people who either are cradle Catholics or are converts who came through local RCIAs. There seems to be a lack of understanding in three areas which they have brought up to me.
The first is a woeful lack of knowledge of the Creed. The Creed, of course, is the main subject of the CCC, and therefore, some good commentary is available to all people from age 12 up or so. As Catholics, we are a credal people and not to have understood or studied the Creed reveals that the basics have not been taught. Without an understanding of the Creed, one is, sadly, an ignorant Catholic. But, this information is not secret and can be found on line as well as in the printed version of the CCC and the Compendium.
The second area of concern revealed in these conversations is almost no knowledge of what Tradition and Revelation mean. Most Catholics think like Protestants and think that only the information in the Scripture is binding, or infallible. The lacuna of understanding regarding where infallibility lies disturbs me. One meets two extremes in the younger Catholics-one, some think all the Pope states is infallible; two, some do not know what teachings are infallible. Sadly, some priests have given bad teaching on these points. A Catholic must know what the teachings of the Church are in order the think and live like a Catholic.
The third area of confusion has to do with sexual ethics. The younger Catholics have not been given clear and consistent teaching locally on ssm, ssa, NFP, and chastity.
However, the good news is that many of the Millennials want the real deal about Catholic teaching. Many of the seminarians have noted that they are more conservative, that is, more Catholic than their parents. Good thing, too....
To be continued....
