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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  A few things to think about and perhaps do something about

by Sr. Janet Schaeffler, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published May 9, 2008

• The amount of money spent per year worldwide on bottled water: $100 billion. The amount per year needed to meet the United Nations goal of giving everyone access to drinkable water by 2025: $11.3 billion. (United Nations, Economic and Social Development)
   
• Although 57 percent of preteens look forward to spending free time with family, only 35 percent said it's easy to talk to their parents about everything in their life. (The Barna Group: www.barna.org)
   
• There have been various studies recently on those who are involved in Church and those who are not. David Olson, director of the American Church Research Project, has studied 200,000 American churches. The findings? The population is growing faster than the Church, and average church attendance has fallen to only 17.5 percent of the population.

In the "Unchurched Study," by Life-Way Research – interviews with people not currently involved in Church, 86 percent said, "I believe I can have a good relationship with God without being involved in Church." A total of 78 percent said, "I think Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people." To the question: "Which of the following sources would you consult if you were seeking inspirational guidance?" 32 percent said "talk or listen to an inspirational person;" 17 percent said "read an inspirational book;" 17 percent said "go to church;" 4 percent "watch an inspirational movie;" 4 percent said "search the internet'" and 17 percent were uncertain.

• Suicides among U.S. veterans are far outpacing combat causalities. A recent CBS news study found that more than 6,256 veterans committee suicide in 2005 alone, compared to an estimate 846 soldiers killed in combat that same year. The study also found that veterans aged 20-24 are four times more likely to commit suicide than their non-military peers. In a separate study, the Homeless Research Institute found that veterans make up more than a quarter of the nation's homeless population. (2008)
   
• In a survey of 8 to 12-year olds by the Barna Research Group, 38 percent of young people said churches have made a positive difference in their life. 34 percent said that prayer is very important to them. "While most kids in this age range are involved in a church, relatively few of them consider Church experiences to be valuable," says George Barna. (Sept. 30, 2006) In another survey, Barna found that 61 percent of young adults who were "churched" as teens have disengaged from involvement with religion, and 20 percent of "twentysomethings" maintain their Church involvement. (Sept. 11, 2006)
   
• In Michigan there were 450,000 fewer people covered by private health insurance plans in 2005-2006 than in 2000-2001 – the third largest loss in the country. From 2006 to 2007 there has been a 78.6 percent increase in housing foreclosures in Michigan. ("The Changing Face of Poverty," Michigan League for Human Services, December, 2007)
   
• Paper comprises about 38 percent of our garbage, more than double other types of waste. Europeans recycle about 50 percent of their waste paper a year; Japan almost 60 percent; the United States about 44 percent. (www.Greennature.com)
   
• The number of jobs created by spending $1 billion on defense: 8,555. The number of jobs created by spending $1 billion on health care: 10,799. The number of jobs created by spending $1 billion on education: 17,687. The number of jobs created by spending $1 billion on mass transit: 19,795 (Dept. of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute, University of Maryland, Amherst, "The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities," October 2007)
   
• "Tragically, every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation. This is unconscionable. … The fact is, if food aid were funded at the $2 billion required for the usual contribution to global needs, instead of the $1.2 billion, that has been requested in recent budgets, there would be no controversy. There would be enough money to maintain these vital food aid programs and to respond to unanticipated emergencies." (Ken Hackett, Catholic Relief Services president, March 11, 2008 press release, http://crs.org)
   
• "Current research of the adult life cycle and human growth and development is now shedding light on the growth potential of spiritually maturing adults. … Incredibly, research indicates that maturing adults may require more change, more growth, and more personal development in their senior years than they did at any other time in their lives. We need a new vision of faith formation for maturing adults, a vastly expanded vision that includes body, mind, and spirit." (Dr. Richard P. Johnson in "Parish Ministry for Maturing Adults")
   
• Many Catholics today actively seek a community of faith to which to belong in greater numbers than they did in previous generations, and their experience of Sunday Mass is a striking barometer of the life, faith, and commitment of parish life as communities of believers. The 2007 CARA Catholic Poll includes these insights: one in four respondents report that they regularly participate in Mass at a parish not closest to home; one in five visited another parish before joining their current parish. (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University)
   
• Eliminating much of the world's worst poverty within a decade would become a principle of U.S. foreign policy for the first time under a Catholic-led legislative push gathering force with a growing interfaith alliance. This alliance is organized to ensure that the Senate pass the Global Poverty Act of 2007 this summer (2008); the House passed the bill Sept. 25, 2007. If signed into law, the bill would require the president to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to promote the elimination of global poverty as a foreign policy goal. Backers say it would combine the nation's 15 piecemeal, and sometimes contradictory, international poverty relief programs into one program built on the ethic of relieving the worst human suffering caused by lack of access to proper nutrition, clean water, health care and adequate income. (Bread for the World: www.bread.org)

Sr. Janet Schaeffler, OP, is the archdiocesan associate director for adult faith formation for the Office for Faith Formation/Catechetics.