Anyone who’s concerned about the survival of the Catholic Church should witness a Mass at one of the SEEK conferences.
This past weekend in Columbus, more than 16,000 college students, young adults and families attended SEEK26 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
The conference was sponsored by FOCUS, formerly known as the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. The organization has expanded its footprint to go beyond ministering at college campuses around the world to offering a missionary discipleship track to help lead the new evangelization in parishes.
Most of them came to the Mass celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus on Jan. 1, the opening night of the conference, and also to morning Masses led by other bishops and archbishops from around the country during the five-day event.
It was an impressive sight to see a massive convention center hall filled to capacity on a chilly Saturday morning with faith-filled young people participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and praying the Holy Rosary that preceded the liturgy.
And they just didn’t show up. They were engaged. They were reverent. They were holy. They were on fire for the faith.
Many young women could be seen wearing veils at Mass. Young men and women received Holy Communion with great devotion while kneeling on the hard concrete floor. The prayerful silence was noticeable.
Later that evening after the featured presentations, 5,300 souls lined up to receive the sacrament of reconciliation in a queue that stretched hundreds of yards through the convention center. And you thought a few people ahead of you in the confession line at your parish was a long wait!
Priests and religious were everywhere throughout the five days, engaging in conversations with the young people and setting an example that might encourage some of them to entertain the possibility of consecrated life. The number of seminarians in attendance was impressive, up 43% from the previous year.
A constant stream of visitors flowed in and out of the Adoration chapel throughout the conference to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. More than 17,000 took part in Adoration on Saturday night in the huge main hall of the convention center.
A number of the talks during the five days were so well attended that large meeting rooms were filled to capacity with the multitudes who wanted to hear the popular speakers, illustrating their desire to learn more about the Catholic faith and develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Juxtaposing those images with a secular view that organized religion is dying leads to a much different conclusion. Young people are seeking the Lord. They want truth. They want tradition. They want a purpose in life.
Older generations lived through years of watered-down Catholicism before Pope St. John Paul II began to steer the Church back on course, starting in the last two decades of the 20th century. Many of their children strayed from the faith due to the lack of proper religious instruction.
John Paul II remains a popular figure even among young people, some of whom at the conference were not yet alive when he passed into eternal life in 2005. The mere mention of his name during presentations usually elicited cheers from the crowd.
This year’s SEEK conference was dedicated to St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, the holy young Italian (1901-25) who was canonized by Pope Leo XIV in September along with young St. Carlo Acutis.
It has been a long and difficult road to right the Church’s ship, but young priests and religious and devoted lay people are leading a renaissance.
So, anyone who thinks Catholicism is for old people and that there’s no hope for the future of the Church, think again.
Attend a Mass at Buckeye Catholic at the St. Thomas More Newman Center near Ohio State University’s campus. You’ll see masses of students coming to Mass and Bible studies or receiving instruction to become Catholic.
Local groups such as Young Catholic Professionals and the Frassati Society are doing well.
At some parish churches, there’s a noticeable uptick in young couples with children attending daily and Sunday Masses.
Catholic schools are experiencing record enrollment in the diocese. Homeschoolers are raising a new generation of Catholics who are well versed in their faith.
Hopefully, it’s a sign that parents are taking religion more seriously today.
In the Diocese of Columbus, parents are now required to become more actively involved in religious instruction, particularly when a child is receiving a sacrament. Without question, faith has to become a family affair if the Church is to thrive.
All of these signs offer great hope for the Church in the 21st century.
If SEEK is any indication and the momentum from the conference continues to build, the Church is positioned, it seems, to experience a renaissance of faith.
More work needs to be done, though. The zeal for Catholicism at SEEK needs to cascade down to parishes, schools and homes throughout the world.
But for all those Catholics in the older generation who have loved the Church their entire lives and fear for its survival, you can rest a little easier knowing that a new generation stands at the precipice of a revival.
