As teens head back to public schools across Northern Virginia, many are returning to a cultural and spiritual battlefield.
“It definitely isn’t easy to be a Catholic in a public school environment,” said Michelle Lopez, a rising senior at Fairfax High School and a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church. “If you bring out a Bible in school, you’d probably get debated about it.”
Lopez is one of four Catholic teens who shared their experiences openly identifying as Catholic in a public school environment. Three out of the four students had been questioned or ridiculed about their beliefs during their high school career.
Kevin Cabrera Sanchez, a rising senior at George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church and also a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua, said that teens often face returning to environments that are skeptical, if not antagonistic toward Catholicism.
“In my personal experience, when someone has stated that they’re Muslim or that they’ve converted to Islam, they applaud that person. But then it’s the complete opposite when someone says that they’re Christian,” he said.
Cabrera Sanchez said that he wasn’t always strong in his faith. During high school, he even developed an interest in Islam, and began researching, comparing, and contrasting the beliefs of Islam and Catholicism. But after much research and discernment, he returned to the church with new zeal. “I began coming to church more often, getting more involved with the community,” he said. “My faith is a lot stronger now, because I stand up for it.”
Cabrera Sanchez added that while most students of other religious affiliations are respectful of his faith, some are not. “There (are) a few students who I know at my school who are Muslim, and they have an extreme hatred toward Christians. So, even though their Quran teaches about peace, they’ll go out of their way to be mean to (Christians),” he said.
Lopez said that while she was never bullied for her faith at Fairfax High School, she was questioned about her beliefs. Once, while reading “Jesus, I Trust in You,” a book on the Litany of Trust, at lunchtime, several students took notice. “They asked me what religion I was, and I said, ‘I’m a Catholic,’ ” she recalled. Lopez said the students began accusing her of worshipping Mary. But she took the opportunity to evangelize.
Lopez recalled she asked the students, “Do you love your mom?” and used the analogy of mothers raising their children to describe Mary’s intercession for mankind.
Marco Noe Bautista Bones, who recently graduated from Massaponax High School in Fredericksburg, encountered similar situations. Students “would ask questions that I didn’t know the answer to … and that would leave me questioning myself and my faith.”
Fortunately, Bautista Bones turned to his parish young men’s group, “Fight Club,” at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg. In “Fight Club,” male youths in grades 7-12 discuss moral struggles they encounter over Saturday-morning brunch. Bautista Bones said the conversations were fruitful. He became more confident sharing his faith at school, particularly when his peers would approach him with questions on the Eucharist.
One teen experienced something different. Angelica Corral, who recently graduated from Colonial Forge High School in Stafford, said that she thankfully never encountered opposition from other students about her Catholic faith. Corral said that as a “quiet kid,” creating a supportive group of friends has been essential to keeping her faith. “It’s just really who you involve yourself with,” she said.
Defending the faith is one thing but evangelizing is another. The teens said that evangelization looks different for every person. Lopez, an avid soccer player at Fairfax High School, said that she and several of her Christian teammates pray together before games. For Cabrera Sanchez, who enjoys drawing and competing on the wrestling team at Marshall High School, evangelization is about opportunity. “I don’t go around telling random people, ‘Oh hi, I’m a Christian.’ But if it ever comes up in a conversation, I’m not one to hide the fact that I’m a Christian,” he said.
Corral said that she often invites her friends to church events. “I invited them to church or retreats or stuff I was involved in,” she said. “I would even invite them to YOUCAT,” a St. Mary teen ministry that fosters discussion of Catholic theology in a small-group environment.
All four teens emphasized that engaging in a Catholic community, whether at school or at their parish, is essential for keeping the faith in a secular environment. “It can feel a little isolating” if you’re a Catholic student without a Catholic community outside of school, Bautista Bones said.
The teens’ parishes strive to provide this necessary community. At the St. Anthony of Padua Teen Center, high schoolers engage in a variety of activities every day, from soccer and flag football, to bonfire nights, to visits to the elderly and Eucharistic adoration. St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception hosts both young men and women’s groups, the YOUCAT theology ministry, and an apostolate where high schoolers mentor middle schoolers preparing for confirmation.
Corral encourages hesitant or apathetic Catholic teens to explore their faith “to create a strong relationship with God. And for me, that was getting involved in the different groups that helped grow my faith.”
For Bautista Bones, being Catholic in a secular environment means you can’t be passive about your beliefs. “One of the biggest things for someone to really live out their faith is to understand it more, to learn about it,” he said. “When people question you, ‘Hey, why do you believe this?’ it’s really important to know what you believe and also why you believe it.”
Why is it important for teens to practice defending the faith? Because, according to Bautista Bones, the secular affront to Catholicism never goes away. “People aren’t going to stop asking you questions,” he said. “If you’re able to persevere, then your faith will become a lot stronger.”
