I agree that there is an epidemic of loneliness within our culture and there are many reasons for it. Women are very social beings who fulfill their God given nature by touching other lives. However, this article goes a bit off kilter when placing absolutes such as a Catholic woman must make a new friend every five years or she isn't living fully. That is an unsubstantiated claim. Where in the Book of Life does it say this? Where is God's Commandments is this stated? Also, if a group of women ( or men) are going to study Church documents and Teachings, they need to be guided by a faithful priest. They cannot be left on their own. I could go on, but I will spare the reader. Lil

Young people tend to be a bit rebellious. They like to be different and often believe themselves to be more virtuous and more enlightened than their elders. They also have a penchant for the underdog and those they perceive as being put upon. Add this to the nonsense they have been fed that you can be anything you want to be and all you have to do is believe. I think these are additional reasons for the increasingly rates of the alphabet disease we are seeing among young people.