Catholicism As An Ethnicity

Growing up as a Catholic teenager in today's society, I have noticed a somewhat disturbing trend among my peers. It takes "cafeteria Catholicism" to a whole new level and can be even more damaging to how the Church is represented: the identification of their Catholic faith as part of their ethnicity.

I heard it throughout my homeschooled high school years, and even more so during my time here at college. If they mention their faith at all, they make a reference to their ethnic background right alongside it, such as saying, "I'm Irish-Catholic," or "Well, I'm Polish-Catholic," or Italian, French, Hispanic, or whatever ethnic background they come from.

It wouldn't bother me so much if their expression of their faith was authentic, and they showed it by going to Mass, praying before meals, and generally living out their faith on the daily. The problem is, they don't seem to take their faith seriously at all. Their Catholic faith seems to be more of an extension of their ethnic heritage, which poses a few different problems among my generation.

The first problem is, when we reduce the Catholic Church to an ethnicity, it does the Church a massive injustice. Belonging to the Catholic Church is certainly something to be proud of, just as you should be proud of your heritage. But they are not equal in status. Identifying with your ethnic background is simply a statement, that may have some traditions attached to it, but doesn't require anything more. Identifying as a Catholic, on the other hand, is a much bigger deal, because Catholicism is not a passive identity. It's a lifestyle that we are called to live out every second that we are breathing.

The second problem is, if someone identifies as a Catholic, but it is not an aspect of their life which they live out or take seriously, that gives other Catholic individuals a bad image, and even the Catholic Church as a whole, because we all get blanketed as unfaithful Christians. This is damaging for obvious reasons. Christians of other denominations, and unbelievers, are quick to point out when we as Catholics are being hypocritical, and question if we are truly a part of the "Christian" community. We really don't need to give them another reason to do so.

The third problem is perhaps the most troubling. If a young person believes they are a Catholic, but treats it passively as part of their heritage or ethnicity, instead of living it out in every day life, they are putting their salvation in serious jeopardy. In most cases, they don't even realize it. While some just have a blatant disregard for their faith, a surprising amount seem to believe that being Catholic will give them salvation because they were baptized and they go to Mass once in a while.

I do not know how we can address this phenomenon, except to make sure those of us who are truly striving to live out our faith, make it extremely apparent to those around us in an authentic way. We need to make sure that the young generation, the future of the Church, are informed about their Catholic faith from a young age, so that they grow up strong in their faith. This also eliminates confusion about what it means to live as a Catholic specifically, but also as a Christian in general.

Perhaps if you know a young person who is living their Catholic faith in a passive to almost non-existent way, you can encourage them to explore their faith in an active and participatory way. These actions, along with their prayers and ours, and the grace of God, will hopefully prevent the future of our Church from being reduced to nothing more than an ethnic distinction. As Catholics, we are so much more than that.