Church people say materialism among young Catholics has now replaced restrictions in practicing religion as the main concern for the Church in communist Laos.

“Secularism and materialism is infiltrating our people. It is a poison for youths’ spirituality. It is penetrating us deeper than political ideology,” said Bishop Jean Marie Prida Inthirath, apostolic vicar of Savannakhet.

Many young Catholics cannot distinguish wants from needs and have drifted far away from Church and religion, he said.

He blamed media for this saying youth “want to have the same things they see on television — such as mobile phones and modern clothes.”

Bishop Prida also observed that many Laotians move across the border to more developed Thailand to look for work and bring back money and new consumer products.

“The meaning of life for them has changed. Money, emerging as the most important thing in life, is destroying our traditional culture based on simplicity,” he said.

Bishop Prida also held the older generation accountable. “If our young people are leaving the Church, the obvious problem is we, the adults, are not properly training them.”

The Church is trying to counter this trend by organizing sports groups for young people in villages and training people in organic farming, the bishop said.

Father Somdeth Kaleuan, a local priest, agrees that the Church’s main worry today is young people. “We worry that they will not be able to resist the pull of materialism. We have to reverse their worldview.” He says catechesis is the key in helping young Catholics rediscover their faith.

It is ironic that “in the past, even when there was religious persecution, most Catholics did not leave their faith,” said Vinad Phasixiengmay, a Catholic from a village near Thakhek. But today many Laotian teenagers do not practice their faith even though the political situation does not force them to do so, he said.

Efforts to help young people in their faith life should begin with the family. “Parents should teach and instruct their children all the time,” he said.

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