The last of the annual Steubenville youth conferences has wound down. These are huge, popular, teen-oriented Catholic gatherings at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, here in the US. They offer sacraments and adoration, concerts, talks, and various kinds of worship rallies.
A few seconds of one of those was recently shared on Twitter by a priest who was there. It’s a stadium packed with thousands of young people, clapping along with some kind of modern worship song. Spotlights dance across the crowd and there are glowing blue and green sets behind the band, and the audience waves multi-colored glow sticks back and forth in rhythm. The song seems to be something about God performing miracles.
This is not some place I, personally, would want to be. When I was of the age group this show is aimed at, I would have liked it even less. A lot of Twitter felt the same way, and heaped scorn and mockery and even dire warnings on the kind of thing that goes on at events like this. It’s not just that it’s kind of tacky. People spoke about emotional manipulation, about nonsense that will kill the faith of thousands of kids in attendance, and setting kids up for failure.
I understand what the critics mean. …Read the rest of my latest for The Catholic Weekly.
Image is a screenshot from the video on Twitter linked above.
NOTE: The hyperlinks I included in this essay do not appear to have translated into the essay at The Catholic Weekly. I have restored most of them in the excerpt above, but I wanted to draw your attention to one in particular that I had linked to the sentence which appears in the rest of the essay: “there is reason for being on alert about spiritual manipulation particularly at Steubenville.” Jenn Morson has been tirelessly documenting abuse at Steubenville at her Substack Refiner’s Fire. While I believe abuse at the university is a separate issue from the conferences which are being hosted on campus, it’s still worth noting the context. There’s always context.
The first time I attended a Charismatic Mass I was in my very early 20’s, I think, but definitely no older. It scared me and creeped me out. I felt I was witnessing the exuberance that is behind every Jim Jones style cult. Anyway, I’m older now and I’m not so easily freaked out. Today, I think whatever floats your boat. I could even see these big flashy party like gatherings evoking feelings similar to those of the Biblical early Christians. Furthermore, I could see a couple of my kids really enjoying the Steubenville experience.
*Warning* Extremely unpopular opinion ahead: I worry much more about the experience thrust upon the Catholic high school kids (both diocesan and private) of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, in the form of the Kairos retreats. A couple of my kids love them, but all of them know of my hesitancies. At Kairos, a small group of kids and a few of their teachers go on a 4 day retreat. There, the kids are kept tired and are encouraged to spill their guts and innermost feelings and experiences with their peers and these unlicensed de facto therapists/teachers. The participants swear some sort of blood oath that they’ll keep what happens at Kairos back in Kairos, but they are, after all, just kids. That’s a big burden, and lets face it, not always appropriate.
And then the kids have to go back to school on Monday. I know of at least one mandated reporter school employee who took her Kairos oath more seriously than her legal obligation. I wasn’t in this woman’s shoes, but it seems to me Kairos by its nature encourages/creates these sorts of moral dilemmas.
All to say, I’d take Steubenville’s “Praise the Lord! God is good and Jesus loves me!” approach any day of the week over Kairos.
In fairness, a lot of people LOVE the Kairos retreats. My daughter attended an all girls private high school. She is my oldest and the one who first alerted me to the dangers of Kairos. But even she acknowledges that after Kairos, the mean girls are nicer to the geeks, and the misfits feel more like they fit in. Kairos really is very effective at helping teens see past labels and first impressions.
To me the point of these gatherings is not to suggest that our spiritual life will always be like this but for a rejuvenation of faith (similar to spiritual groups or other such gatherings for adults). Of course you are right that to maintain the faith one must be prepared for dry periods. To me that is all the more reason to give these young people opportunities to remember why they are Catholic.
I really appreciate this balanced take. The vibe isn’t for me either, but there are much worse things!