Young adults do not go to church because they are no longer as committed to the church as they once were, according to a new book.

In "American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church," released earlier this month, almost 900 Catholics over 18 were questioned on their commitment to the Catholic Church.,”

Young adults do not go to church because they are no longer as committed as they once were, according to a new book.

In "American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church," released earlier this month, almost 900 Catholics over 18 were questioned on their commitment to the Catholic Church.

The survey found that the biggest problem young people have with the Church is they believe it lacks credibility, said study co-author Dean Hoge, fellow of the Life Cycles Institute at the Catholic University of America. The sexual abuse scandals in the past decade have damaged people's opinions of the clergy, he said.

"The second problem is a shortage of priests to minister to people," Hoge added.

Hoge said young adults do not stop identifying themselves as Catholics, but many of them stop going to church and are not committed to the Church.

According to study co-author James Davidson, professor of sociology at Purdue University, the book divides people into four categories or generations – people born in or before 1940, people born from 1941 to 1960, people born from 1961 to 1978 and people born from 1979 to 1987.

"From the pre-Vatican to the millennial generation (1979 to 1987) there is a decline in identity but also a bigger decline in attendance," he said. "Pre-Vatican people could never separate their Catholic identity from the Church."

Davidson said after Vatican II, people began to take more responsibility for their faith in God.

Davidson said a cultural change is also a factor in low levels of commitment to the Church.

"In the '30s and '40s, people placed a great deal of importance on institutions and people felt the need to support those institutions," he said. "In the '60s we went through a cultural revolution and people became skeptical of institutions, including the Church."

The survey found that younger Catholics are not as likely to accept the Church teachings on sex and marriage.

According to Davidson, the survey asked people what parts of Catholic catechism they identify with most.

"A core issue of the Church teaching is that Mary is the mother of God," he said. "We recommended that the Church focus more on the core issues in order to get people re-committed to the Church."

The book recommends the Church focus on teaching people about important figures in Catholicism and have a discussion about the catechism.

"There needs to be a dialogue about the Church's teachings instead of telling people what they have to obey," Davidson said. "It has to be persuasion and not coercion."

There are still students who go to church regularly and are intensely spiritual, Davidson said.

Gretchen Baumgardt, assistant director of University Ministry, said she sees quite a number of active students on campus.

"We have about 500 people attend Gesu, 150 at the 8 p.m. Mass and 250 at the 10 p.m. Mass," she said.

Baumgardt said while she was unfamiliar with the survey, she is impressed that students take seriously the Ignatian Spirituality.

"They really take to heart the saying, 'men and women for others,' " she said.

Baumgardt said the saying is reinforced with Marquette's neighborhood.

"Marquette is not insulated from the neighborhood and a number of students choose to volunteer," she said.

Stephanie Vaske, a Manresa Project intern, said young people are examining what they believe and what their spirituality means to them.

"It is both good and bad for the Church," she said. "It could drive people away, but the people who come back will be more fully Catholic."

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