Kids with iPhones, not rosaries, in their pockets
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In a world where children often have cell phones in their hands before they can read and write, the church has a particular challenge of encouraging them to embrace the meaning of the Eucharist and other sacraments, representatives of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame told catechists in the Archdiocese of New Orleans May 1.
“The point of the program is to take a really good and hard look at the realities of childhood today and the challenges that the world presents to children,” said Lesley Kirzeder, a mother of three and program director of the institute’s “Contours of Wonder Initiative,” which seeks to renew children’s liturgical formation across the country.
Formational challenges
The challenges children face today, such as excessive cell phone use and video gaming and lack of direction from parents, need to be identified and discussed.
“We want to look at those things that are forming children in a way that is contrary to worship, contrary to really having a sacramental vision,” Kirzeder said. “When children are looking at their devices and living in a virtual world, it’s really hard to transform their disposition out of that and into one that can see sacramentally and see the truth and the realities behind the things and people at Mass.
“We really want to accompany all of these wonderful folks who minister to children into an awareness and reimagining of how to form children into particular dispositions that open them to the wonder and worship and toward a liturgical life.”
About 50 directors and coordinators of religious education, priests and religious sisters from across the archdiocese attended the daylong event, which was conducted previously in five other dioceses – Nashville, Dallas, Atlanta, Charleston and St. Petersburg.
National study underway
Dr. Tim O’Malley, associate director for research for the McGrath Institute, said the institute will welcome approximately 20 people from the six dioceses who attended the local seminars to join a “leadership cohort” to engage more deeply with the key elements of the initiative’s research and themes over the next year.
That leadership group – which will include those involved in children’s catechesis, religious education, formation, teaching and ministry – will have 10 weeks of online coursework and a pastoral leadership retreat next February in Georgia, culminating in capstone projects and a summer 2026 celebration at Notre Dame.
“We’re looking to pique interest so that we can do longer-term formation with groups of people who are super-interested in this kind of work,” O’Malley said. “Anyone could get this information if we did this online, but I think being here and getting dioceses to have conversations around the state of childhood today and how to respond to it is our real interest.”
‘Conclusive’ impact
Kirzeder said psychological and social research points to the deep impact of electronic devices on children.
“It does point to not just a correlative shift in the way children are transformed and changed dispositionally, mentally and emotionally by social media, but it is a conclusive shift at this point,” she said. “So, it really has changed the way we now have to minister to children because their needs are different.”
On a personal level, Kirzeder said she and her husband have waited until their children are in ninth grade to give them a cell phone – and it is not a traditional smart phone but a “Wisephone” by Techless that has “very limited apps on it.”
“You can text and call, there’s a map feature, but there’s no internet connection,” Kirzeder said. “They can connect with their friends, make plans and call us if they need us. We don’t do social media, so it helps keep them off of that.”
The Contours of Wonder initiative features the work of Father Romano Guardini, a theologian philosopher from the early 20th century who analyzed how a person “disposed to worship and to see the world as a gift” can make a return gift to others.
Volunteers are passionate
Kirzeder said what has impressed her the most about doing the seminar in six dioceses has been seeing firsthand “the incredible dedication of all these people who minister to children.”
“They see and can feel that children are different today – even different than they were 10 years ago – and they’re trying to minister to different children because they’ve been formed by these things so quickly.”
One local catechist mentioned that religious educators are often the ones “trying to fill in the gaps and telling parents what they should be teaching their kids.”
“What we should be doing is asking parents – what do you need from us?” Kirzeder said.”It’s bringing families into the conversation. We’ve started to see different dioceses pick that up with things like a family catechesis program.”
O’Malley said adults often are guilty of creating obstacles to children’s growth in the faith.
“Children will do what their parents say, and the greatest evidence that a child will be faithful later in his or her adult life is that the parent was faithful,” O’Malley said. “Part of this renewal has to be really committed adults and parents working with folks who are not as committed and being there for them and inviting them into that conversation.
“Adults need to be witnessing to adults. Sometimes that’s the priest, but it may not be the priest. We need parents and parental formation that makes them witnesses themselves rather than being consumers of a product we’re receiving at our local parish.”