Youth in Formation

Four Scholars at Fordham Confront the Catholic Teen Dilemma

by Matthew G. Alderman

But, why did Jesus get whacked?” quoted the pert, red-jacketed woman on the stage. Laughter rang out in the long, low hall as veteran youth minister Margaret McCarty recalled a question from a baffled teen she’d once heard in catechism class. Young people want to know the faith, she explained, and need an environment where an adult won’t grin at theological terminology that is more The Sopranos than the Nicene Creed.

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Matthew G. Alderman is a freelance writer, liturgical artist, and contributor to several blogs, including www.thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com and www.holywhapping.blogspot.com. He was recently named an assistant editor for Dappled Things, an online literary magazine for young Catholic writers. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he lives in Manhattan, where he works in the field of architecture and attends the Catholic Church of Our Saviour.

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