Posted on 11/26/2004 1:05:21 PM PST by Chi-townChief
The Catholic Church is in deep trouble. The more immediate problems are the sex abuse scandal -- which has not gone away and won't for a long time -- and the clumsy efforts of some bishops to deliver votes for the Republican Party. There are three chronic problems in the Catholic Church to which it is not even trying to respond -- the decline in mass attendance, the decline in vocations, and the decline in parochial school attendance.
Ask what is causing the problems and you'll hear personal opinions and cliches, most of which blame the laity. They're materialist, consumerist, secularist, weak in faith, caught in the grip of American hypersexual culture, etc., etc., etc. Having delivered themselves of that wisdom -- which cannot be verified because it cannot admit of falsification -- the priests who prate such nonsense settle back complacently. There is nothing for them to do, except turn on the TV.
It is difficult to imagine that another large institution faced with similar difficulties would be satisfied with such easy and self-serving analysis, much less demoralizing policies, in response to apparent bad news. The church closes parishes because people are not attending mass, closes seminaries because there is no more vocation, and closes schools because apparently no one wants them or needs them anymore. No hope, no leadership, no vision. Bad news, cliched judgments, then cut and run! Pessimism and despair carry the day. Real bright!
Research shows that Catholic priests are the happiest men in America and that Catholic schools are among the best religious and educational bargains in America. Catholic art and liturgy are the richest devotional heritage in the Western World. Yet let's close up shop and run for the hills without trying to figure out why we have troubles.
We do studies of Catholic schools, of course, and expensive studies at that, but the purpose of them is to figure out which schools to close, not to ask why some schools are closing and others have waiting lists. Priests write petitions to Rome advocating the abolition of celibacy, but they never ask themselves serious questions about the quality of preaching and liturgy. Nor do they ask themselves when was the last time they tried to recruit young men into the priesthood.
A cardinal back in the 1940s said to an expert who suggested routine research (presumably something more sophisticated than counting noses on an October Sunday), "The Catholic Church doesn't need research, sir. We have the Holy Spirit." No one quite says that anymore, but the presumption is the same -- guesswork, strongly held opinions, faith in God, and panic when money seems to run low. That will have to serve for what in the secular world is called "R and D."
God help us all, though we don't deserve God's help because we're not able to do anything ourselves.
I have my own opinions on these matters -- homilies and liturgies are bad, no one recruits, no one promotes the schools. But they are only opinions, though unlike the opinions of some other priests they can be disproved by research. "The sexual revolution" or "secularism" or "consumerism" are explanations that cannot be falsified and so cannot be proved, either. So if you're a priest or even a bishop, you make major decisions by wetting your finger and putting it in the air or reading the entrails of dead foul or guessing or talking to your stock broker.
I argue for research not because I intend to do it anymore -- my name on a research project causes priests to reject a priori the findings -- but because I cannot imagine the CEO of any other institution operating without it. Well, we've been around a long time and so we'll muddle through, even if that is another form of tentatio dei -- tempting God.
It may not be possible to turn off the Catholic laity. If sexual abuse, bankruptcy and political meddling don't do it, what will? Maybe closing their schools and their churches without good reason or -- as in some dioceses because your financial people say that land is ripe for resale -- will do it. At least we're going to try.
My longtime colleague William C. McCready once said to me, "The Catholic Church is in terrible trouble." I nodded. He went on, "All it has left are the Catholic schools and the Blessed Mother, and a lot of you guys don't believe in either anymore."
Not hard to imagine at all - it sounds quite a bit like the democrat party and their apologists in the media.
Whatever trouble the Catholic church is in is due in large part to frauds like Andrew Greeley.
so middle managment lied to upper managment who lied to the boss..... seems very american if it wasnt so pathetic and such a crime.... and no one gets punished.... how is that.... ??? ok one or two sacrifices..... what about all the others.....
if we did this ..... we would be under the jail.... so why are nt they?
The new assistant pastor in my parish barely speaks English (that I could over look) and his theology sucks - that I cannot overlook. I've already changed parishes twice to find one where the theology is solid and/or aims about the third grade level but with no luck.
Wonder why that is? (Sarcasm)
"A cardinal back in the 1940s said to an expert who suggested routine research (presumably something more sophisticated than counting noses on an October Sunday), "The Catholic Church doesn't need research, sir. We have the Holy Spirit."
I believe that in the 1940's, the Catholic Church was robust, respected, her priests were popular heroes, and they did indeed have the Holy Spirit.
Greeley is such a self-important puffed up fool he has the answer nailed down right in front of him and he is too smug to see it.
And yes, BTW, what exactly has Fr Greeley himself actually DONE for the church lately, besides get rich and famous from pulp novels?
Try an Eastern Rite church. They are still traditional.
No one seems to care that all, repeat all, religions have had "clergy" involved in sex scandals of one kind or another .....at one time or another.
The sum and substance of this is cheap shooting of a wounded faith carried along by a willing media and then pounded furthur by other "religious" leaders....
Let him who is without sin cast the next stone...
Its Bush's fault.
"The church closes parishes because people are not attending mass..."
Sure not a situtation in evidence where I live. Our Church
is so packed at each of the 4 weekend masses, we're in the middle of a $25 Million Church renovation/addition! Our
PREP school runs twelve months a year, able to accomodate
just over 810 kiddoes annually (2nd thru 8th graders). And
there are 6 other Catholic Churches running similar numbers
within 8 miles of us!
Most closings are in the cities where population shifts have
occurred. Many of those old buildings are sold rather than renovated due to cost effective decisions.
Having the Holy Spirit and obeying the Holy Spirit are not the same thing!
One of the problems was /is the secular and homosexual infiltrations of the clergy, changing "let us pray" into "let us PREY".
And, apparently, a hierarchy more concerned about bean-counting than the character and quality of those serving.
"For the sin we are about to commit, we give thanks."(sarcasm)
Somehow, I don't think any of this is what Jesus had in mind when He said,"Let the little children come unto Me."
It has to make a difference for one to be Catholic. The Church cannot be afraid to say that it's better to be good a Catholic than to be a good atheist. It's better to be a good Catholic than to be a good protestant. And it's infinitely better for you to be a good Catholic than a bad Catholic and here's what marks a bad Catholic and you should start asking yourself which you are.
Start looking at the orders and the diocese which DON'T have a vocations crisis and you'll start to figure out what works and what doesn't. By and large, a diocese or an order will get the vocations it deserves. People know who are getting the vocations and who are not. Instead of making the obvious connections, instead they'll tell you that that kind of Catholicism may work out in the sticks, but it doesn't fly here. And so instead of making changes that will encourage vocations they'll make changes that encourage the laiety to take over the responsibilities of the priest. The result is a further erosion of love for the Church and even fewer vocations.
What I really want is evangelical Catholic but not the Lutherins. :-D
I agree but none of the problems you describe were going on in the 1940's--certainly notwithstanding an isolated case could exist somewhere. As far as "having" vs "obeying" the Holy Spirit, I don't know. Whatever your point is, I concede.
As I examine it from a management perspective, it seems that an autopsy will soon be in order.
>>What I really want is evangelical Catholic but not the Lutherins. :-D<<
Oh Geez, too bad you are not in MI. I just ran away from an evangelical Catholic church to an Old Ethnic one.
Most of the churches in my area are what you are looking for. I think.
What is your definition of Evangelical?
The facts show clearly that in dioceses that have had good bishops, the Church has done very well, but that in diocese where the bishops are liberals or dissenters vocations have plummeted, schools have closed, mass attendance is down, and sex scandals were unpunished.
Priests like Andrew Greeley are part of the problem.
Dioceses like Boston and Chicago which now have good bishops on the heels of bad bishops are bound to suffer for years, because a new bishop will have a hard time dealing with all the dissident priests, catechists, and established bureaucrats. You can fire priests, but then there's no one left to say mass. But the only long-term solution is to return to the teaching and practice of the faith.
Your second sentence answers the first.
When you rely on your own wisdom, and your own moral strength, instead of doing as the Holy Spirit prompts(+), you end up with the problems we have now, instead of those in the 40's.
(+) Think of being urged to do good instead of tempted to do bad, for example. Both processes are CUMULATIVE. After a certain amount of 'minor' vice, you're comfortable with sinking lower. After a certain amount of reaching, growing--dare I say being sanctified--you reject behaviour you used to take for granted. Project these from an individual onto mass society as a whole, and you begin to get the picture...
Cheers!
>>Start looking at the orders and the diocese which DON'T have a vocations crisis and you'll start to figure out what works and what doesn't.<<
Where are you at?
My new, very ethnic, very traditional parish has eight seminarians. Is this the case with you?
Hi, I am Catholic educated from the 50s and 60s, the Church needs, in my opinion its doors for Confession open all afternoon on Sat, like it used to, the Church is strong if on ly people adhere to its beliefs, but the culture is at fault, the revolution in the 60s has changed this, and if you can have an ad like the one of "Levis" with the girl taking off her jeans and giving them to the guy, it is a cultural diaster, people don't recognize things that are offensive to God anymore. Start the guilt trip again, it is real and people will start coming back to the Church, you can't have a love fest forever and sing kumbiya all the time. sin is sin period.
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