The Wayward Flock: Catholic Youth in Postwar West Germany, 1945-1965 (review)

The Wayward Flock provides new insight into German Catholicism on the eve of Vatican Council II, and it summarizes well a large field of research. Focused primarily on the Cologne Archdiocese with solid comparative research in southern Germany and particularly Lower Franconia, it examines the decline of the Catholic milieu from the vantage point of a ministry where many placed their hopes for the future of the Church and Germany. As the author notes, the Catholic youth movement of the 1920's and 1930's claimed nearly two million members, and German Catholics could—and still do—point to their youth organizations as some of the most vital resistance cells of the Nazi period. Church leaders expected a dramatic return of Catholic youth work in the postwar era and a new age of religious revival. Monsignor Ludwig Wolker, a key figure in this book, launched a massive effort to bring all Catholic youth organizations under one impressive body, the League of German Catholic Youth (Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend), and simultaneously to integrate Catholic sports clubs into the Deutscher Sportbund, an all German sports federation. Similarly, Mark Edward Ruff examines the efforts to revitalize Catholic girls' organizations, young worker associations, and rural youth initiatives. So, why did these vigorous efforts fail so profoundly by the late 1950's and 1960's?

Ruff notes that the return to practices and leaders of the prewar era created a notable generation gap in Catholic youth work. The times had become more attuned to "individualistic forms of expression," while church leaders sought to rebuild the all-encompassing, closed "integralist" community. They then watched young men and women leave in droves. Ruff is careful to note variations in the Catholic milieu's breakdown, such as the persistence of stronger Catholic organizations in rural areas and the tendency of girls and young women to stay longer in the organizations. The overall downward trend in membership was unmistakable, however, no matter what efforts were made to accommodate contemporary society. The decline, Ruff argues, is due partly to the outmoded organizational model of the German Verein (association). With the new culture of consumption, the Verein simply lost out, rooted as it was in authoritarianism, subordination, and tradition. Ruff also asserts that "consumption was a vehicle for the transformation" from authoritarianism to an individualistic democracy and the "ethos of individualism." But, as he notes, Catholic youth ministry was also a victim of postwar Catholic political success. With the rise of Christian Democracy and the welfare state, Catholic separatism lost its relevance. Finally, Ruff concludes, the in-fighting between church leaders over the direction and control of youth ministry absorbed far too much time and energy.

Ruff helps clarify some historical realities of Catholicism on the eve of Vatican II. Efforts to adapt youth and young adult ministry to new cultural and social trends reaped few rewards. What the author does not recognize fully in this work, however, is that debates over the direction and purpose of youth ministry reflected old rifts in Catholic society as much as any new ones. The reader should also contextualize this study in decline: This is the decline of modern organizational structures, many that were part of the Church for less than a century. Historians need to be careful as well not to equate these institutions with the Catholic population as a whole. As Ruff points out in the beginning of his work, only about 30% of young Catholics participated in church programs of the period. What should we as Catholic historians know about the other 70%?