Let's say on Saturday night, I would party super hard, and Sunday morning I
was always in church. I'm 27 years old and this upcoming August, God willing,
I'll enter the novitiate, which is the next step in religious life. It terrified
me, excited me, perplexed me. Are there ever moments of doubts? When I
take my eyes off of Christ, then things get confusing.
Since around 2000, the number of millennials joining religious life,
becoming priests, brothers, sisters, nuns, has been increasing. Slightly. Last year,
524 young men and women formally entered a religious community, and half
of them were under 25. The numbers are still really small, but they surprised me,
because they trend against what we so often hear, that Millennials have strayed
from the religious fold. I think God called me when I was sitting in a church
pew, when I was in eighth grade at San Augustine's grade school in central Kentucky.
The priest, "Bla bla bla bla bla bla." I don't remember
most of what he said, but then all of a sudden I remember it clear as a bell.
The call. It arrives, on average, at age 19. Some ignore the feelings but others
interpret them literally. God is trying to reach them. And I quickly did what any,
what 14-year-old boy would do, and I shoved that down as far, repressed it,
suppressed it, whatever, as far as I could. Partying on Saturday night would be
alcohol involved, dancing out with people late, you know. There were girlfriends in
the picture. Later on, in college, as I was studying for a degree in mechanical
engineering — I wanted to work for NASA — it came back up. Richard joined the
Franciscans. I first started thinking about religious
life when I was in seventh grade, but then when I was in high school, the
thought came back. What if God were actually calling me to religious life?
And I felt this real attraction to it. Some organizations have started tracking
data on the people who received these calls and answer them. We know that women
slightly outnumber men, 70 percent have college degrees, and 17 percent were homeschooled. Almost
10 percent were not born Catholic, but converted later in life. And while American
brothers and sisters used to be almost exclusively white, around a third now
identify as something else. What we've undertaken is a whole rebranding process
for the whole social media outlook of the vocation office of the order.
I wanted something professional,
something catchy, so I hired a millennial design firm. I was looking up hashtags
and seeing what's out there, and I landed on #BecomeAFriar had nothing.
Who recruits is God, and then I help facilitate the process, though I do
commonly refer to myself as the recruiter because it does communicate
effectively that which I do. But as I've dug into this, I've learned that the
American Catholic Church is working hard to help God along. One group will pay off
college loans, another runs a website that functions kind of like a dating app,
pairing people with convents, the monasteries that they might have
spiritual chemistry with. People often ask me, "What do you wear under that?"
And to me it's like, I would never ask someone that question. On our visit to
Cincinnati, Father Richard was interviewing potential applicants to the
friary. I think the modern media blows the genital stuff way out of proportion,
as if everybody's acting like this all day long, and it's not necessarily the
case. And so, chastity is the proper ordering of it all. I'd say there were
some points. probably during my second year of college or so, where I was
feeling it being called. I was kind of pushing it away, I had a girlfriend at
the time, it wasn't something I wanted to think about.
It's good to have a healthy sexuality. We need not confuse that with genital
actions, which is often very confused. After college, I was in a serious
relationship, and I tried pushing away this thought of a religious life. The guy
I was with was a really, really great guy, and I didn't want to give him up.
People in religious life are in a true relationship. At final vows, you get a
wedding ring, and that's just like in a marriage. It's exciting. We're finding a
marriage with Christ, and Christ is real.
I'm not one to own a lot of things, so giving up what I have would not be
very hard. My dad was always supportive. He just wanted me to find out how I
would be happy. Who agrees with that sentence? I do, too. It was more difficult
for my mom and my sister. Did my mom immediately come on board and say, "This
is the greatest thing ever, we're gonna have a priest!" No. That's another thing
that sets this generation apart: their parents aren't into it, like they might
once have been. Yeah, in the 1950s is, "My boy the priest!" You know, privilege,
step-up, status, step-up, and then so, later on, is that pedophilia stuff, anger was
everywhere. It causes your support group to think, are you joining this because
you have the problems? You aren't that way, are you? You're, you know, you're
not a, you're not trying to hide from something, are you? No.
It's pretty clean around here. Yeah, that was one thing, entering the convent, you don't
clean because things are dirty, you clean to keep them clean. A sister's day is
regimented. Mass, breakfast, class, then back to the chapel for an examination of
conscience. Lunch, scriptures, there are scheduled times for cleaning and working out.
We are allowed to have Facebook as postulants, but it's kept to more of a
minimum. In the evening, the sisters watched
international news, so they know who in the world to pray for. After World War II,
there was this huge rush of men and women into religious communities, but in
the 1960s, the Vatican launched a reform program, and a lot of people left — some
because the church had gone too far, some because it hadn't gone far enough. When
people walked, there was no one to take their place. Last year, 70 percent of
religious Institutes reported no new entrance. We had to confront hard issues,
and they want to know where we stand. The hot-button issues of the church: same-sex
attraction, the pro-life movement. I know that for the last decade or so, there's
been a big conversation within the church about
whether homosexuals could be admitted. What has your community decided to do on
that question? Our community is founded on chastity. How are you living that
chaste, celibate life? If someone is gay, but commits to a chaste and celibate
life, could he become a brother here? It would color how they are to join, and
this is much bigger than me, as vocation director. I'm a screener, I'm
not a decision maker. The church has also been pressed on its treatment of women
and its reaction to modern feminism. Define feminism. Well, I mean, already
that's kind of, it's not a confident "yes," right? I don't believe in self-assertion
of feminism. I believe in the selflessness of women, that's the kind of
woman that I hope to be as a religious. Even among young men and women who
heed the call, not everyone will stick around. Half of these young people will
leave before they even start. But here's something else to consider. Yes, American
millennials are far less religious than their parents or grandparents, but
they're still really religious compared to other industrialized
countries. Half of younger millennials say they're absolutely certain that God
exists. It's every boy's dream to be a superhero, and I think this is, this is
the best way to do that.
For another film about how religious communities are trying to negotiate with
modern technology and the internet, watch our film about Amish life. And, of course,
if you don't already, subscribe to NBC Left Field.