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<p>‘We need to get out of our apartments, get out of our homes,’ Father Schmitz urged, while also referencing pop culture and more.</p>
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<p>Despite a noticeable revival of young adults filling Catholic pews in cities like New York, many single Catholics still feel stuck when it comes to finding a spouse.</p>
<p>According to Father Mike Schmitz — who is headlining the final stop of<i> </i>his “Parables” tour Monday night at Radio City Music Hall — the roadblock isn’t a lack of desire for marriage. Instead, it’s a culture of digital isolation and a fear of taking risks.</p>
<p>When considering real numbers, the statistics are jaw-dropping. A 2025 Cigna Group report entitled “<a href="https://newsroom.thecignagroup.com/loneliness-in-america">Loneliness in America</a>” found that 67% of Gen Zers reported being lonely. The study also found that at least 65% of millennials, who grew up with digital technologies, felt isolated — compared to 60% of Gen Xers and 44% of baby boomers.</p>
<p>Drawing on decades of experience working with students “from middle school to medical school,” Father Schmitz noted that young adults today are more connected virtually than ever, yet far less connected in person. They have also become markedly more “risk-averse,” largely due to the pressures of living in the internet age.</p>
<p>“It’s not all their fault,” Father Schmitz told the Register.</p>
<p>“I mean, think about this: You go to a dance and you make a fool of yourself; that’s fine — the people at the dance are the only ones who ever saw it. You do it now, and it gets posted on the internet, and the internet lives forever. That reality of always being watched and always being assessed and judged is higher than ever.”</p>
<p>However, Father Schmitz emphasized that love inherently requires vulnerability.</p>
<p>“One of the things a person needs to do when it comes to love, when it comes to relationships, is you have to be open to risk,” he said. “And that means stepping up, and that means taking that step.”</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">As young adults suffer from high rates of loneliness, Father Mike Schmitz offers his take on dating for Catholics today&#8211;ahead of his last stop of the Parables Tour in NYC this Monday! @AscensionPress @BulldogCatholic https://t.co/ENlkWZ9fUm</p>
<p>— National Catholic Register (@NCRegister) <a href="https://x.com/NCRegister/status/2121625115763056991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2026</a></p></blockquote></div>
<p>For young men trying to navigate the dating scene, Father Schmitz’s advice has evolved over his 22 years of campus ministry as chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. While he used to tell college guys to simply “ask her out,” he now encourages a bit more social awareness first, recalling how young men often get turned down by young women for a fixable reason.</p>
<p>“I’m like, ‘Oh, have you ever talked to them first? Have they given you any indication that they’re interested?’ ‘Oh, they haven’t.’ ‘Okay, well, we’re looking for those [basic interactions].’ We have to start at some level.”</p>
<p>Beyond reading social cues, Father Schmitz’s primary prescription for post-college singles is to physically show up in “third spaces” — places outside of work and home where people gather around shared interests, such as a gym or coffee shop, and of course the perennial place of Catholic connection, a local parish.</p>
<p>“We need to get out of our apartments, get out of our homes,” Father Schmitz urged. Pointing to the <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/the-new-catholic-hubs-manhattan-new-york">thriving young-adult scenes at Catholic parishes in New York City</a>, he expressed optimism for those willing to put themselves out there: “They’ll go to Mass, they’ll have some wine and cheese afterwards, and hopefully go on some dates.”</p>
<h3><b>What It Would Be Like to Meet Pope Leo</b></h3>
<p>Father Schmitz’s tour finale at Radio City Music Hall also arrives at an exciting moment for the Church in the United States, as Catholics continue to celebrate the pontificate of American-born Pope Leo.</p>
<p>Though Father Schmitz has seen Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI from afar and watched Pope Francis on television, he has never met a pope in person. Knowing that Pope Leo hails from Chicago brings a unique, personal excitement to the possibility for a fellow Midwesterner. (Fun fact: Father Schmitz was born in a Chicago suburb, though he was raised in Minnesota.)</p>
<p>“I always had this sense of, I know I want to meet them, but I also know that if I were to say anything in English, they would probably understand it, but would they really know what I was saying?” Father Schmitz explained of past popes. “And I had this awareness of, if I ever, God willing, get to meet Pope Leo, he’ll know, he’ll understand every word I’m saying!”</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">WATCH: Ahead of his stop in NYC on The Parables Tour, @frmikeschmitz talks what it would be like to meet @Pontifex Read more at https://t.co/zqIzrTZL7q! @AscensionPress @BulldogCatholic https://t.co/k38qXF7jCv</p>
<p>— National Catholic Register (@NCRegister) <a href="https://x.com/NCRegister/status/2121623320710017042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2026</a></p></blockquote></div>
<p>For Father Schmitz, sharing a native language and cultural shorthand changes how he imagines that first papal encounter.</p>
<p>“Like, I can make a reference to the TV show <i>The Office</i>, and he’d be like, ‘Oh yeah,’” he joked. </p>
<p>“Even watching him speak in English and thinking, ‘Oh, we have the same accent.’ Just the communication part of it is so personal — that sense of being able to say, I wonder if, God willing, I could have a personal conversation with the Holy Father, that would be just neat.”</p>
<p>Beyond the shared cultural touchstones, Father Schmitz praised Pope Leo’s early leadership, particularly his first encyclical<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html"> addressing artificial intelligence</a> and how the faithful must navigate this new technological age.</p>
<p>“I think it was really important about AI and things we need to be aware of when it comes to this new technological age that we’re experiencing entry into,” Father Schmitz said. “Just really grateful, and it’d be cool to meet the Pope.”</p>
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<figure><img alt="Father Mike Schmitz ends his long globe-trotting tour this Monday at Radio City Music Hall in NYC! Make sure to check for a full report as the Register will be in attendance. " loading="lazy" width="1200" height="1200" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, (max-width: 1200px) 70vw, 800px" srcset="/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=640&;q=75 640w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=750&;q=75 750w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=828&;q=75 828w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=1080&;q=75 1080w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=1200&;q=75 1200w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=1920&;q=75 1920w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=2048&;q=75 2048w, /_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=3840&;q=75 3840w" src="https://www.ncregister.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fpb-ncregister%2Fswp%2Fhv9hms%2Fmedia%2F20261114091124_243086d36f7d8ab3d053513474d1b1d24ab2c22cc051ffeb32019a1743db5ebb.webp&;w=3840&;q=75"/><figcaption>Father Mike Schmitz ends his long globe-trotting tour this Monday at Radio City Music Hall in NYC! Make sure to check for a full report as the Register will be in attendance.<span/></figcaption></figure>
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Father Mike Schmitz Offers Tips for Dating — and Why ‘It’d Be Cool to Meet the Pope’
