LMF Network Meeting: Loneliness

Meeting Summary

This LMF Network meeting was a facilitated discussion on loneliness, hosted by Francine Pirola ahead of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Rather than a single presenter, the session drew on three documents shared in advance — including the Publica paper by Professor Patrick Parkinson and Dr Michael Jensen — and opened into a wide-ranging group conversation. One of the most striking findings from the research challenged the common assumption that elderly people are the loneliest group in Australia: the data showed that 18–24 year olds are in fact the loneliest cohort, something several members found deeply confronting given how connected young people appear on social media.

The discussion ranged across the multiple dimensions of loneliness — emotional, social, existential; transient, situational, and chronic — and the important distinction between isolation (an objective reality) and loneliness (a subjective, internal experience). Members reflected on the parish as a largely untapped resource for human connection, noting that Catholic communities tend to undervalue what they offer compared to Protestant churches, and that superficial morning teas rarely build the kind of relationships that sustain people through hard times. Practical ideas surfaced: passionist family groups (small monthly social gatherings with no agenda), intergenerational activities at parish morning teas, Christmas and Easter lunches for those with no one to go to, and the Catholic Women’s Network’s mentoring pilot — where both mentor and mentee reported unexpected gains from the relationship.

Francine closed by drawing the theological thread through: in Genesis, God declares it is not good for the human person to be alone, and the theology of the body points to a deeper truth — that loneliness, rightly understood, is an existential ache that points us toward union with God. The increasing incidence of loneliness in the community may be less a social problem to be solved and more a spiritual symptom of a humanity searching for divine consolation.

About the Facilitator

Francine Pirola is co-director of the Parish Marriage Resource Centre and co-founder of Smart Loving. She facilitated this session drawing on research from the British Campaign to End Loneliness and the Australian Publica paper, framing the discussion around the pastoral implications for parishes, families, and the upcoming World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

Key Takeaways

The loneliest group in Australia is not the elderly — it is 18–24 year olds. This finding from the Publica research challenges the assumptions many pastoral workers make about where to focus attention, and raises questions about whether loneliness is driving young people into rushed relationships or excessive social media use as substitutes for genuine connection.
Loneliness is multidimensional and subjective. The gap between the level of social connection a person perceives they need and what they actually have is what produces the experience of loneliness — which means the same level of community contact will be more than enough for one person and deeply insufficient for another. Pastoral responses need to reflect that.
Catholic parishes are underusing what they already have. Compared to evangelical communities, Catholic parishes invest relatively little in genuine fellowship and follow-through. People join a church, go for weeks, and leave without anyone knowing their name — and when they find a community that welcomes them, they often don’t come back. The solution doesn’t require programs; it requires intentionality.
Small, low-structure social groups — like the Passionist Family Groups model — are among the most effective parish tools for building real connection. Meeting monthly, rotating hosting duties, and keeping it simple removes the pressure that causes community initiatives to collapse under their own weight.
Loneliness has a theological dimension that pastoral responses need to address. Genesis declares it is not good for the human person to be alone — and the theology of the body points to a longing for union with God that no human relationship can fully satisfy. The rising tide of loneliness in Western society may be, at least in part, a symptom of existential alienation from God.