BRINGING INACTIVE CATHOLICS BACK TO THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON

(okay, so I never claimed to be a master at timing)

Last week, I wrote:

“How do ordinary, everyday Catholics bring back our 1 million+ inactive, alienated, "recovering," "former," or whatever-they-want-to-call-themselves Catholics back?

“I don’t have a clue, frankly. But I don’t intend to remain clueless for long.”

Well, I’ve got some good news and some less-than-good-news. The good news:

It isn’t as hard as you might think.

Father William McKee, CssR, a Redemptorist priest in Liguori, Missouri, has been looking for "lost sheep" for more than twenty years. Describing the beginning of his ministry, he writes:

"One night I was at a social function in St. Louis. A man came up to me with a drink in his hand and said quite loudly: ‘Hey, Padre, I used to be a Catholic.’ I said: ‘How long has it been?’ He said: ‘Twenty years.’ I said: ‘Did you ever think about coming back?’ He said: ‘Often.’ I said: ‘Why didn't you come back?’ He said: ‘Because no one ever asked me.’"

Father McKee asked him.

"He set down his drink and we talked. We talked for several days after that. He and his family came back."

"Because no one ever asked me."

Duh! It seems so obvious when I read this now, but I never really considered "asking" before. I confess that my approach toward inactive Catholics — either close friends or family members — has been more in the line of the "telling" approach. You know what I mean. "Go to Mass! Go to Mass! Go to Mass!" Or, for variety, "C’mon! Go to Mass!" Needless to say, my approach has been far less successful than Father McKee’s.

A good thing to know: if you’d like to bring an inactive Catholic back, you might consider asking.

Why do Catholics leave the Church?

When Father McKee embarked on his mission, he found that there was a lot more involved that just asking. As he puts it:

"There are almost as many reasons for leaving the Church as there are inactive Catholics.

"I found out a lot about the inactives. In face to face, sometimes nose to nose, sessions which I had with them, they were inclined to tell it like it is. I learned more about the faults and failings of priests and nuns than I cared to hear.

"But I also learned some other very important facts. Most of the inactives are very fine people, law-abiding, tax-paying, child-loving people. They have about the same faults, failings, and sins as any cross section of practicing Catholics. They have not lost the faith, even though many say they have. One in a thousand has lost it, if that many.

"It is about as easy to lose the faith as it is to lose one's skin."

Closer to home at Saint Anthony’s Shrine...

Father Donan McGovern, O.F.M., co-director of the "Come Home Ministry" at Saint Anthony’s, says of the people who have accepted that ministry’s invitation to "Take Another Look," says:

"Each has his or her own story, but all have on thing in common — they are a hurting people. All especially miss the Eucharist... Most pray daily, many continue personal devotions, especially to Our Blessed Mother or to one of their favorite Saints. They all look for reconciliation."

Reaching out through cyberspace

OnceCatholic.Org, a ministry of the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, Cincinnati, Ohio, runs a web-site for inactive Catholics. It’s mission is to put inactive Catholics in touch with a face-to-face (well, virtually, anyway) community of Catholics. The people — both clergy and lay — work with the thousands of people who visit the site, helping them sort out their issues with the Church. The site is very well designed, extremely intuitive, and has the added advantage of offering visitors the often desired comfort of anonymity. Updated daily, the site features, among other things, a "Reading Room," with extensive answers to frequently asked questions by inactive Catholics. On a more direct level, visitors can engage in the site’s "Conversation Corner," which is monitored by the Friars and trained lay people.

The less-than-good-news: it isn’t easy

Bringing — or maybe "guiding" is a better word — inactive Catholics back home requires work, work, and even more work. What’s more, the results of that work aren’t always apparent. Father McKee estimates that, using his program, about fifty-percent of the people asked to come back actually did. That’s only an estimate: it could be a lot more. Father McGovern occasionally receives letters such as the following:

"Dear Father Donan, Thanks for the Ad in the newspaper. I was so encouraged by it that I went to my own parish priest. I was wonderfully received back. I'm home. Thank you."

Nice — very nice — but if one is in it strictly for warm fuzzies, getting involved in a "Come Home" program probably won’t fill the bill.

Still, the rewards make the effort well worth it! As Father McKee writes: "Jesus is a very grateful rewarder of those who seek out His strayed sheep." Grateful? Check out James 5:19!

What can you and I do?

Involving ourselves in reaching out to inactive Catholics can take many different forms. The most important thing we can do? You guessed it:

Father McKee: "Most of all get your prayer group to start praying right now for the success of your outreach. Prayer is the great means of salvation."

Father Donan: "All members of our Faith community, both in-Shrine and in the cyber-community, and visitors to St. Anthony Shrine, are invited to participate in our work of evangelization with these members of our family by joining with us as a Pray-er member of the Come Home Ministry."

In response to my e-mailed question, Father McKee sent me an amazing manual entitled: "How to Reach Out to Inactive Catholics: A Practical Parish Program." He promises that it is a "sure-fire success," and he ought to know: he and other priests have led this program for 10,000+ inactive Catholics throughout the United States. If you are a priest or lay person interested in this program, please hit me at KClark@mindspring.com.

Other resources:

Come Home Ministry at Saint Anthony Shrine

100 Arch Street, Downtown Crossing, Boston, MA 02110

617-542-6440

Father Donan McGovern, O.F.M.

Jackie Stewart, M.Div., D.Min (e-mail: jackies@stanthonyshrine.org)

St. Anthony Messenger Press

1615 Republic St.

Cincinnati, OH 45210

www.oncecatholic.org