Some people think that it’s OK for their children to go through “a wild period” when they are young adults, usually because they did it themselves when they were younger and they came back to the Church or, you know, “everybody does it.” It’s very casually accepted by some parents, who don’t seem too worried about it.

But parents should be worried because the vast majority of kids who leave the Catholic Church don’t come back: some go to Protestant churches; most apostatize.

While it is true that giving your kids a good foundation will give them “something to come back to” if they gain maturity later, the odds are very much against them doing so, and you should treat your opportunity to raise them right as your only one—because it probably is.

Besides, how wrecked will their life be after their “wild period”? And what if they die during that time? And—short of spectacularly bad decisions on the child’s part—if we are really giving them a good foundation, why are they leaving in the first place?

Yes, God can turn any prodigal into a saint. And yes, parents should pray for any children who leave the Church. But it is deeply flawed thinking to plan failure and then hope it somehow turns to success later. We can do better.