6
and thrive. The most difficult problem stems f rom
what Pope Benedict XVI called a "crisis of faith" in
which even Christians "live as if God does not exist."
Catechesis is currently failing to impart the faith in
a way that takes roots in the hearts of young Chris-
tians. This problem has only become worse amid
scandal within the Church. A recent Pew survey
detailed that only 31% of self-identified Catholics
believe in the Real Presence.
2
Another Pew survey
revealed that former Catholics now make up an
astounding 13% of the entire adult U.S. population.
3
These facts should cause us to reexamine the ways
we hand on the faith in a post-Christian cultural
milieu and to ask how this fundamental Christian
task could be re-imagined.
Christ's ministry stands at the heart of this re-imag-
ining: his own model was one of discipleship. Chris-
tianity is not essentially an intellectual proposition.
Rather, it is a lived proposition: how does one live
Christ? In St. Paul's day, the complexity of reconcil-
ing the practice of the Christian faith with Roman
society was so immense that he would urge the
Corinthians to "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ"
(1 Cor 11:1), proposing himself as a mentor so that
the disciple can say "it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). Reconciling Christian
living with a technologically advanced post-Chris-
tian culture similarly requires mentorship. What
does it mean to live Christ in this culture? How does
the Christian follow the narrow path in this time
2 Gregory A. Smith, "Just One Third of US Catholics Agree with
their Church that Eucharist Is Body, Blood of Christ," Pew
Research Center, Aug. 5, 2019, www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2019/08/05/transubstantiation-eucharist-u-s-catholics/.
3 David Masci and Gregory A. Smith, "7 Facts about Amer-
ican Catholics," Pew Research Center, Oct. 10, 2018, www.
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/10/7-facts-about-ameri-
can-catholics/.
