The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies thanks Mr. and Mrs. John C. Walton, The Dean of Fordham College, Rose Hill and the John P. and Costance A. Curran Foundation for their generous support; the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association (NCYAMA) and the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA) for their collaboration.

From Campus to Parish: Where Did The Young People Go?

The American Catholic community is facing a crisis of major proportions in its seeming failure to pass on the faith to its young people. The statistics for young adults raised as Catholics mirror the disturbing numbers for young American adults generally: while 5-10% of young Americans a generation ago claimed no religious affiliation, recent research suggests that between 30-40% of young people today are "nones" (people claiming no religious affiliation).

The groundbreaking conference sponsored by Fordham University’s Curran Center for American Catholic Studies will address this looming crisis. In June, 2011, sociologists, campus ministers, and professionals in young adult ministry will present and discuss recent research exploring this problem, alongside “best-practice” (as well as worst-practice) techniques. Experts in these fields will conduct professional development workshops devoted to a variety of issues young adults face during this transition from college to adult life and will address the challenges that pastors, catechists, campus ministers, and ministers concerned with young adult belief face in that transition.

Please join us at Fordham University for this lively and important conference.

The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies in Fordham University is an interdisciplinary center balancing lively public events, scholarly research, and academic programs for students focused on the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 2001, the Center sponsors public lectures at Fordham's Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses; faculty seminars focused on scholarly issues of religion and faith; an undergraduate honors concentration for talented students of every faith; an online certificate program for catechists and religious educators; and national conferences focused on important issues of belief and practice in the U.S. Catholic Church. The Curran Center seeks to continue Fordham’s revered Jesuit tradition of serious engagement with religious ideas, and its commitment to educating men and women for others.