Speaking to a gathering of over 100 people at Kimmage Manor for the launch of Transformative Renewal in the Catholic Church, by Fr John O’Brien CSSp, Bishop Coll spoke about what he called the “I-Gen” — young Catholics born from 1995 onward and “Gen-Z”.
Far from demanding doctrinal change, Bishop Coll said this generation is showing signs of renewed seriousness about the faith. “Growing up (since 1995) entirely in a post-Christian, digital, morally fragmented culture they have no inherited memory of Catholic Ireland. Paradoxically, this leads many of them to seek clarity, coherence and tradition. Often converts they are drawn to doctrinal solidity, sacramental depth and continuity with the Church’s tradition. For them the Church lies in truth that is intelligible in body and demanding, not adaptability”, he said.
The Bishop suggested that while synodal conversations often focus on structures and processes, many young Catholics are asking a more basic question: What does the Church actually believe? “Having grown up amid constant choice, information overload and moral ambiguity, they are less interested in conversation and more in formation that produces conviction and confidence.”
In a pointed remark, Bishop Coll observed that the Catholics he encounters are not consumed by progressive agendas. “If you are in a leadership position today, most people you meet are not on fire with progressive questions and it is hard for me to say that to you.”
Instead, he warned that synodality detached from doctrine risks drifting into directionless debate. “And this leads me to propose that synodality, if not anchored in scripture and doctrine risks endless discussion without direction. This highlights one of the most pressing challenges: catechesis and catechist formation. Renewal cannot be sustained without formation.”
He pointed to weak catechesis as a central factor in the Church’s present fragility, warning that many young Catholics now encounter the faith online — often through fragmented and polarised sources — rather than through structured teaching in parishes or schools. “A synodal church requires not only participation but understanding, not only voice but formation. The People of God cannot discern together unless they can articulate what they believe and why.”
Bishop Coll said that the book’s author offered a framework that seeks to hold tensions together. “His emphasis on mutual learning with integrity indicates a framework by which the hunger among i-Gen Catholics for coherence and tradition might be received as a gift to the Church not a problem to be managed. Synodality must hold together listening and teaching, discernment and authority. The task is not to choose between synodality and tradition but to integrate them.”
And he issued a sober reminder to those expecting quick fixes. “Renewal will be slow and sometimes uneven. It requires sustained theological clarity and spiritual depth.”
And he concluded: “Transformative Renewal in the Catholic Church offers the Irish Church and indeed the Church in Britain, a welcome, hopeful and realistic vision beyond institutional collapse and I’m delighted to be part of its launch. Its reception must include serious attention to formation, catechesis and the theological instincts of i-Gen Catholics, while situating ecclesial failure within a wider societal crisis. The future of Irish Catholicism will depend on whether the Church can become both synodal and coherent: a church that listens deeply, teaches clearly, forms intentionally and bears warm witness in a wounded world.”