In recent years there has been an increase in exodus of many catholic youth from the catholic faith. Some people believe that the structures our Church uses to minister to young people are not meeting their basic needs, and because of this, our young people are failing to become disciples. However, as the landscape of youth culture changes due to modernization, some people feel the Church has a long way to go in adapting to these changes. Today, some catholic parishes are facing a youth crisis — there seem to be a big disconnect between their parish and young people. On the other hand some parishes have been able to harness the potential of their youths by engaging them using carefully planned programmes.

It is worthy of note that the Church cannot retain or reinvigorate her young members so long as her young people are uninspired. The best summary of youth ministry in our Church today comes from Pope Francis in his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. He says:

“Youth ministry, as traditionally organized, has also suffered the impact of social changes. Young people often fail to find responses to their concerns, needs, problems, and hurts in the usual structures. As adults, we find it hard to listen patiently to them, to appreciate their concerns, demands, and to speak to them in a language they can understand. For the same reason, our efforts in the field of education do not produce the results expected.”