Pope Benedict's Arrival and the Unity of Catholic Americans

With Pope Benedict’s near arrival, every news agency is doing its equivalent of the “state of the Catholic Church in America” coverage. Though most of what is said should be taken with a few grains of salt, their sociological research was extremely interesting. According to the Center for Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, of the 64 million Catholics in the U.S., roughly 1/3 of them never attend Mass and ¼ only a few times a year. This article in particular noticed a generational gap amongst Catholic Americans – the older being more inclined to attend and the younger to not associate as fervently. For Catholics born before 1960, about half say they attend weekly, and only 10% of those born from the 1980s on.

However, in conjunction with this, the survey research also noticed a prevalent trend of change in the demography of the church. As the traditional Irish, polish and Italian heritage Catholics are dwindling in numbers, there is an incredible surge amongst Latino, Vietnamese and Africans. The article even notes that many Dioceses, due to the shortage in priests, are even going across seas to recruit priests for parish work. As a young university student, I see this demography change as not only welcome, but as an incredible opportunity to witness to the love of Christ. We live in the midst of a globalizing world that is searching for a common unity, for a common respect of the equality of all men and women in the world. We can see this clearly in international human rights law and the incredible surge in international governmental organizations. The world desperately wants to unite, but, at every attempt seems to be met with the insurmountable barriers of relativism.

Yet, there is hope; our hope is the body of Christ to witness to the unifying love of our Lord. If there is anything that can unite people across superfluous and superficial social barriers, it is truly the love of Christ. In this “American Experiment”, truly, the church can witness to its truly universal nature. By uniting the rich and the poor, those of differing ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, and those of diverse cultures, the Church can truly show the world that universality does not have to come at the expense of the richness of each of these cultures – globalization does not necessarily have to mean homogenization. As the Benedict preaches to Catholic Americans, it is my hope that he reveals to us the true unity of the church in America, a unity that is grounded in the unending and unconditional love of Christ - agape. The American church is in desperate need to be reminded that faith is life, not merely a part of it, and that truly, the love of Christ is what unites us all, whatever our position in this world. We will only be one if our faith and the sum of our lives are one – any compartmentalization will ultimately retain the distinctions amongst us, causing division in the Body of Christ.