Meghan Clark writes:

People do not exist in isolation; we are formed in and for community. For this reason, participation in the common good, alongside human dignity, are hallmarks of Catholic social teaching.

Today, however, we find ourselves in communities fractured by deep divisions—political, ecclesial, and social. Our ability to be in community at all seems precarious. Between technology and living costs, it can feel as if forces are conspiring against building meaningful relationships.

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a public health report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” in which he noted that “about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness” before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Feelings of loneliness and isolation are at particularly high rates among Millennials and Gen Z. In “What’s behind America’s Loneliness Crisis,” Ian Marcus Corbin argues that economic pressures at both work and home fostered a system in which “we are all mercenaries scrambling to grab some scrap of security for ourselves and those we love.”

Within this social structure, the young and the old are even more vulnerable to loneliness….

Political or ideological division is not merely a fragmentation but becomes also a form of isolation. Due to increasing loneliness, there is risk of forgetting how to belong to community itself….

Decades ago, sociologist Robert Putnam rang alarm bells about isolation and loneliness in his landmark book Bowling Alone (Simon & Schuster), focusing on the disappearance of recreational communities such as bowling leagues. The social capital created by communal recreation activities combats social isolation and opens new possibilities to build community….

If we want to combat loneliness and isolation, we must also ask what our parishes can do to allow for greater social participation. How can we attend to the loneliness and isolation that affect us and our neighbors? As we consider both the ongoing synod and the U.S. presidential election, we must build community first and from there work together to build the common good.