by TAC
If you added up the ages of all the children I have raised, that number would be over 75. 
I understand the fundamentals of raising Catholic children in the modern age and have had success in doing so.
Although every child has free will and ultimately chooses God for himself, no child of mine has rejected God or fallen away from Christianity. My adult children are well-adjusted and about as happy as you can get in our fallen world. Things change, of course, but God has blessed my children’s decisions so far.
Unfortunately, I can tell that most Catholics are clueless about raising kids. When I see the things they do with their children, I can guarantee that their young ones will fall away from the Faith by the time they leave college, and probably by middle school. A recent report said that 85% of Catholic kids do just that.
I believe that it is harder to raise decent children now than any time in the past, but I also believe that we are the most inadequate parents in history:
Never before did young people shoot up their school or cut off body parts trying to be a different gender. Never before have so many kids been so suicide-prone, so promiscuous, and so perverted. Never have there been so many teenage drug addicts and alcoholics.
Why is this happening to our young? Because we do not do what it takes to raise them better and, most of the time, we don’t even try. Instead, we let people and institutions—many with ulterior motives—groom our children to turn their backs on us, believe outrageous things, and behave in crazy ways that only produce suffering.
If you want your children to turn out different than what is common today, you will have to make the effort to raise them differently. You are probably a good parent and know this already, but now it’s time to think of yourself as a Catholic evangelist whose ministry is guiding your children to Heaven. You should think this because that is what you will have to become to “keep your children Catholic.”
What can you expect if you raise your children right?
In short, you can expect a profoundly better child than what your neighbor gets.
All children are going to have some problems, of course. But Catholic kids who are raised badly end up jaded slaves to whatever destructive fashion is currently popular in their crowd. They often have serious problems, with the resulting serious consequences, by the time they are adults.
But, although corrupt, they believe that they are “enlightened” and “good,” and that “religious people” are ignorant and bad. Even if they don’t apostasize altogether, these children are unhappy, doubt their faith, and never really approach God seriously. Their goals in life are money and pleasure.
On the other hand, well-raised Catholic kids are (most of the time, anyway) better-adjusted, more productive, more likeable, and, for lack of a better term, more “real.”
These kids behave much better, have relatively minor problems, don’t reject God, think for themselves, are rarely disrespectful towards their parents, and are not constantly dealing with the side effects of their immoral choices. They get along better in decent society and sometimes even have humility. Virtue is often found in this group and practically nonexistent in the other. Most importantly, these children are on the road to Heaven and are happier as a result. As a huge side benefit, your life is better too.
If this sounds like something worth making a sacrifice for, keep reading. If you are OK with a jaded druggie who aborts her child or thinks he is a girl, you can stop now.
I wrote this article because most other Catholics writing parenting tips just give you platitudes and wimpy, politically-correct advice that doesn’t really work. Although the authors seem like good people, they just don’t “get it.”
So let’s start. To keep your kids Catholic, you must understand some key principles:
If you are an atheist…
Very good and helpful article
A well written article which brings perspective to what is happening to our youth catholic or non catholic…
Highly agree 👍
I suggest parents stay with children on Sundays to teach them about their Faith, ’cause Sunday being NOT a working day. Gn. 2:3, Dt.5:12-14, and Ex.20:8-11. Proper child rearing is very important.
An excellent article. I basically did all that, only as a single mother ( my marriage was annulled). Of seven precious children: one is a practising Catholic, one is a Xmas and Easter Catholic, one is a non-practising “believer “. The other four are not Christian but all seven are lovely people and productive citizens. I have five grandchildren and a sixth on the way. Yes, they are married. Perhaps an aside re the difficult work of being a single working parent can be touched on. Peace.