“Why Do Present-Day Youths Not Go to Church?”

✔ Exploring this question, the Athens, Greece, daily morning newspaper To Vima of January 13, 1965, said: “We found out at the end of a search made among the students of four colleges in Athens.” The replies from more than 200 students are no doubt typical of young persons in many countries. The newspaper classified the replies into four categories. One group (15 percent) said that they did not go to church for personal reasons, such as “I am too young yet to seek to save my life” and “I don’t agree to worship God in temples with luxurious chandeliers and carpets, which are commercial houses for me.” Another group (20 percent) said they did not go to church because of the bad example set by adults. For instance: “I was attending church mass just because it was imposed on me as an indispensable requisite for letting me go to movies in the evening.”

A larger number (30 percent) gave as their reason for not going to church answers that were classified under “prevailing conditions of living”: “My friends are modern-minded and will mock at me if they see me go to church. I can no longer listen to preachings from people not practicing themselves what they say. The church has become a place of worldly movement. We read and see many things which have shaken our faith.”

The largest number (35 percent) gave replies classified as “ecclesiastical reasons,” such as, “I do not understand the language of the church; I lose my time listening to unintelligible things.” “I dislike preaching; it is done in a way as though insulting us.” “I acquire much more instruction through the movies.” “On getting out of the church I feel a larger gap within me. I resent many clergymen’s scandalous living.”

In its conclusion, the newspaper said of the survey: “This is the answer to the question. It is a miniature of a big matter. No comments are necessary.”