I remember going to church as a child. I attended a kindergarten through eighth grade Catholic school where we attended mass once a week, at the minimum. The teachers would file all of us into wooden, uncomfortable pews and we'd all be silenced to a hour or so of mass.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes it was fun-- we got to put on plays recreating events such as St. Patrick's journey in Ireland, the Passion of Christ, and the Nativity-- but for the most part, many of us dreaded that weekly church visit.

According to PEW Research, almost 35% of young adults ages 18-29 are unaffiliated to any church or religion. This drastically changing number has been brought forward for discussion within many churches-- especially those of Catholicism. Just why doesn't the younger generation prioritize attending regular mass or identifying with a religion? Almost 65% of those people who are unaffiliated in that age range were-- at one point-- members of a church. So, the question comes to why are so many young people leaving the church?

I was raised Catholic. I'm a baptized and confirmed member of the church and I pray regularly and maintain my relationship with God. Recently, I've taken notice of the drastic changes in church attendance and involvement from young adults such as myself. I really don't go to church, and I roll my eyes when my mom tells me to, regretfully.

Although I believe in Christ and God, I really have my doubts about the Catholic Church itself and its lack of willingness to change. I wish I didn't feel this way-- but there are some glaring problems I have with the Vatican, Diocese, and Church-- and I really don't think I'm alone.

For one, seniority is not necessarily better and the lack of diversity is a glaring issue.

Who leads our church? Really? When you think about it, a bunch of white men call the shots for the future of the church. The Cardinals essentially set forth the standard to all the diocese of the world. The YOUNGEST Cardinal is 50 years old.

Let that sink in. 50 years old. Not only does the Vatican lack fresh perspectives that can acknowledge the needs of the younger generations, they also have no women on the council. The highest rank for a woman in the church is most likely an Abbess-- which essentially is the leader of a Monastery or region of Monasteries.

So think about this. Not only does the head decision-making council of the Catholic Church not have a single person under the age of 50, but they also have no women. All decisions-- especially the major ones-- in the Catholic Church are made by the majority of old, white men. Sound familiar?

Catholic Church, incarcerate the bad seeds.

This one really gets my goat. For a Church that stands apparently for justice, kindness, and love, you sure do a bad job at keeping complete and total perverts out of one of the most honorable careers in the world.

This one piece of advice would save the Catholic Church billions of dollars and possibly bring in a better crowd to create a new generation for the church to grow: stop assaulting children. I'll give it to the church a little, I don't hear as much about it but I could just be blind.

My mom grew up in Northeast Portland, by Laurelhurst Park. She attended a K-8 Catholic School like I did, and her case, her church pastor was the notorious Fr. Laughlin. In 1983, boys from her 8th-grade class came back to the school filing lawsuits on Laughlin for alleged sexual abuse throughout their time in grade school as altar boys.

Okay, I know what you're thinking-- "there are bad people in every profession!" But here's the thing: of course I have a problem with anyone molesting and taking advantage of children, but this is where I look at the church in disgust. Upon further research, in 1965, before my mom was even at her grade school, Laughlin was moved by the archdiocese in Portland abruptly when complaints of sexual abuse came forward.

So, the church said, "Well, maybe he won't do that in a different place!" Wrong. After being moved to Corvallis, the church still heard complaints of sexual assault and in 1972, Laughlin was moved back to Portland to be the pastor at a Catholic grade school where the abuse continued.

Laughlin is a small piece of the pie in the Catholic Church abuse scandals. Within the last 10 years, there has been over 3,500 sexual assault cases filed against priests in the Catholic Church-- and those are the only ones the Vatican knows of. Think of all the cases like Laughlin's in which the diocese just moved the priest around, hoping for the problem to disappear.

So, here's my problem with the church: it's really not a secret anymore as to what has been happening. Why are we not taking a firmer stance on this instead of the ban on gay marriage? Or the intolerance of trans-people? It's completely unacceptable that this happens at all, however, the tolerance for this behavior of the Catholic Church seems to pull the carpet of moral-high ground out from under.

I'm also sick of the hypocritical discussions within the church.

God loves you unconditionally-- unless you're gay! All members of the church should give back financially-- unless it's in the form of income tax! The hypocritical behavior of the church and its teachings has forever challenged my belief in the strength of my faith.

I don't think that people are going to hell because they have sex before marriage. I really don't think that God, our creator, is sitting up there and thinking "I gave every human the ability to love unconditionally and without bounds, but if a man loves another man, then they clearly are sinners". Isn't one of the most important commandments to love thy neighbor as thyself? Since when did the Catholic Church become so adamant in determining who God smiles upon and who is going to hell?

The lack of flexibility conflicts with the younger generations.

As parents, we're taught not to be authoritarian in teaching styles and to explain why and how something is how it is. One thing the church fails miserably at is doing just this. No one likes being talked at, and for most of my Catholic experience, that's all I've been. Just talked at.

There's very little discussion. No one talks about the tricky subjects and questions we probably have, and the lack of communication and relationship between the church leadership and clergy, even on a local level, disallows my generation to feel as if they're a part of a community that they can help.

I'm proud of my relationship with God and I cherish every bit of it. I believe He watches over me and I find myself consciously making decisions to be a better person not just in His eyes, but my own. I don't necessarily believe that I have to have a firm relationship with the church itself in order to love and feel connected to God.

It's tricky because the church is really facing some serious threat to where they'll stand in a couple decades when our generation is the majority of the population. In order to reconnect with the lost generation, sacrifices and change will have to be made.

I really do believe in the teachings of Christ and the unconditional love and forgiveness of my God, but I really don't think that the Church is what will determine this. In order to secure the future of Catholicism, my generation has to keep fighting for the growth and change much needed within the Catholic Church.