Where Are the Catholic Artists?

In a time when the Catholic Church greatly needs to see and hear their faith spoken loudly and proudly in the world, Catholic music has been relagated mostly for liturgical use rather than being published for the masses. With the exception of Audrey Asaad and Matt Maher who have found their niche among the Evangelical dominated industry, there seems to be a lack of real authentic radio friendly Catholic Music written and performed by Catholic artists for the Catholic audience.

Though there may be many more artists than the two I have mentioned, it seems to me that most CCM radio stations play less music by Catholic musicians and more music by their Evangelical/Protestant contemporaries. Last year, I started listening to faith music more than today's popular music and found that most of it did not connect with my Catholic faith. Although I find Christian Contemporary artists to be wonderful and their songs beautiful, I still wanted to hear more music written by Catholic musicians that had the same vibe as Jars of Clay or Casting Crowns.

When listening to Catholic Stations like JMJ or The Station of The Cross, I have found that any music they use is often Liturgical or music that has been heard since the 1960's folk era. This type of music rarely moves me emotionally when heard outside of the context of the Mass. I think it's because this music it is not written for the everyda and also because I have heard most of these songs since my elementary school days. Now I am not saying that these songs are bad, it's just that I have been singing "City of God" and "Servant Song" since I was twelve.

Also, I find it strange to hear Dana Scallon's "We Are One Body" while cleaning my room, cooking dinner or, even taking a shower. Inspiration for most Catholic music comes from the context in which they were written for; the Mass. When you hear a song by Maher or Asaad the inspiration feels like it comes from somewhere else. The context has less to do with the Mass and more for the people outside the church walls. There is a strong need for more artists to follow in their footsteps to make known our faith beyond the Liturgy and that need is seemingly underrepresented.

The work of The New Evangelization of the Church, which the Bishops wrote about in 2012, needs render our Catholic faith "more visible and operative" (Instrumentum Laboris, Ch. 3, Par. 118). Music is the strongest and most powerful medium ever devised that can do this. It can reach out to more people at any given time. Contemporary Catholic Music must reflect the Church's teachings, the work of Church and, the faith of the people. All the while our music must be presented by utilizing the musical tastes of the current era which most Catholic Artists have failed to do. It is also the reason why for most of late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries Christian Artists have been greatly Protestant. Evangelicals have a greater understanding of what it means to meet people where they are. It is not to say that as American Catholics, we are less caring for the Other in our midst. But as Catholics, we are far less evanglized and catechised than the previous two generations. We know far less about our faith in order to defend it and to work in the endeavor of evangelizing others. Part of this is having lost the tradition of utilizing music to bring in people to the fullness of faith. Contemporary Catholic Musicians have a greater opportunity to create discussion about the world and the Church, and, like Christ, have the inexorable ability to unite and teach far greater than any single human can.

I hope in the near future, more Catholic Artists will come to the forefront. Artists that shout to the world the beauty of the Catholic Christian Faith and use their talents to breathe new life into a genre that has been quiet for many, many years. I hope and pray that Christian Radio opens wide the doors to feature them equally as their Evangelical counterparts. The time has come that we need to hear our faith just as much as we live our faith in a world dominated by musicians and artists that unknowingly work to turn us away from it. We need our voice heard too.