Among those Catholics who choose to leave the church, 74 percent do so between the ages of 10 and 20. And 87 percent of them say that it is for good.

Cardinal Farrell told Canadian young people: “Make a difference. Don’t let the world control you; don’t let it drag you down.”

The pre-synod meeting will be an opportunity for the church to listen to the hopes and concerns of young men and women.

Young adult Catholics suffer from lacking a community of other young adults, but we fundamentally suffer from a lack of a wider Catholic community. A parish can offer that — even without the hip young adult group.

The Vatican has released an online questionnaire to better understand the lives, attitudes and concerns of 16-to 29-year-olds around the world.

Seventy-two percent of our reader sample told America that, for good or ill, the way their children were welcomed had a critical effect on their own relationship with their parish.