Posted on 09/06/2009 3:50:15 PM PDT by NYer
And in a big way. A lot of you have seen the great ads produced by a group called Catholics Come Home. The ads, evidently, are working. And spreading.
From the Los Angeles Times:
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento is home to nearly 1 million Catholics. On a typical Sunday, less than 137,000 can be found in church.Curious to see what all the fuss is about? Check out the videos below. And you can find more at the Catholics Come Home link.
Now, using a strategy straight from the secular playbook, its leaders hope to lure back those who have drifted.
The diocese and nearly a dozen others across the country are preparing to air several thousand prime-time TV commercials in English and Spanish, inviting inactive Catholics to return to their religious roots.
In addition to Sacramento, dioceses in Chicago, Omaha, Providence, R.I., and four other cities will launch the “Catholics Come Home” advertising blitz during Advent, the period before Christmas.
Four more dioceses will follow during Lent next spring. Los Angeles is not among the initial group but could be part of a nationwide campaign slated for December 2010.
"I'm hoping that a significant number of people will give us another look," Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said of the campaign. "Many Catholics have a sense of believing but not always a sense of belonging."
The potential audience is huge.
Only about one-quarter of U.S. Catholics say they attend Mass every week, and a majority go to religious services a few times a year or less, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, which conducts social science research about the Catholic church.
Researchers there also found that two-thirds of Catholics believe they can be good members of their faith without attending Mass regularly.
Inactive Catholics cite a number of reasons for their absence. Many do not believe that missing Mass is a sin, the center reported. Others say they are too busy with family or work, or, as other analysts point out, are more interested in material happiness than spiritual fulfillment.
"There is a strange pattern of people who aren't practicing but still have beliefs and pick up parts of the faith," said Mark Gray, a research associate with the center. "They may give up meat on Fridays during Lent or attend Ash Wednesday services."
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
The scandal of Ted’s funeral didn’t help very much. General opinion is (again) that the rules are only for the “little people.”
There are a lot of spineless bishops and Cardinals. Nevertheless, it’s ridiculous to say the Church isn’t against abortion. The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the pro-life movement for decades.
Yes, a “rule” written some 1400+ items after that saying good old Muslims are welcomed into Heaven for simply acknowledging their Creator, Allah.
And who defines what is innocence? None are innocent in the eyes of God, we have all sinned.
**In addition to Sacramento, dioceses in Chicago, Omaha, Providence, R.I., and four other cities will launch the “Catholics Come Home” advertising blitz during Advent, the period before Christmas.**
A good time to do this. We alwasy advertise for our returning Catholic group before Christmas and before Easter. Also in the Christmas and Easter bulletin so that we get the C and E Catholics.
Churches all over our diocese are asking the leaders of our Catholic Can Come Home Again to visit their parishes and explain what we have been doing. We have anywhere from four to over 20 returning Catholics in any one session and we have been doing it for over five years.
Wow. We surely go to different Catholic Churches.
So, instead of avoiding the one True Church and bemoaning those that you say are involved, how 'bout getting involved to change it for the better?
There's only one True Church. No place else to go......
‘Far too many Marxists’ — The Catholic Church is fighting the same battle we are fighting outside the church: the libs are trying to take over, the conservatives are holding the line of orthodoxy/ tradition. You will not find every CC full of Marxists. There are ways to spot those and avoid them.
But new, conservative, orthodox priests are coming in, especially in the Dioceses with conservative leadership. We have a new priest at our church, SO on fire for the Lord. Not a Marxist to be seen, and those parishioners who supported the Sodomite Marriage Initiative in the last election have run, screaming, after the very strongly-worded no-nonsense homilies.
I was wondering the same thing. In California, the Masses are JAMMED-PACKED each Sunday; all the Missions; all the Churches seem to be doing very well, but I don't know of anyone who quantifies attendance.
..........and, in Cairo and in Beijing - standing room ONLY at the Catholic Churches if you get there too late.
A beautiful thing.......
I watch (and generously donate to) EWTN when I want a dose of solid Catholicism. I speak as a non-Catholic who may one day convert.
Beautiful. I hope you convert. EWTN is on at my home quite often (my folks are staying with me for an extended period of time). It's a great program.
Use that line during your particular judgment and see what it gets you.
Since the concept of the Catholic Church being the sole arbiter of Christianity and the “only Church” is not Biblical, I think I’m on pretty good ground.
The Catholic Church teaches many things contrary to scripture. Yes, I’ve had many lecture me on making my own interpretation of scripture - something Augustine understood, BTW, since he wrote 4 books on how to do it - but I’ll take my chances staying true to scripture.
Purgatory denies the power of God and the completeness of the sacrifice of Jesus.
Indulgences are simply obscene, and Mariology - the very fact that such a term exists - is blasphemy as well. There are some things I can compromise on, but treating the created like the Creator is not one of them!
Surprised then that you're not leaving the USA.
Based on your many posts alon, I would say that your misunderstanding of it seems to do so, but Purgatory itself is part of His Truth.
There are some things I can compromise on, but treating the created like the Creator is not one of them!
The Catholic Church doesn't do that. Your dispute is with those who lie about the Catholic Church and her teachings.
Nope.
The Catholic Church teaches many things contrary to your own personal interpretation of Scripture.
So what?
I believe the Catholics helped get Mr. Obama elected.
The church left me.
I did not leave the church.
Hilarious.
LOL
I can’t and won’t try to explain it but Sunday Mass for me is my way of keeping in touch with everything I love.
A Catholic here but haven’t gone to Mass much in the past couple of years other than Christmas and Easter. I have to confess that when I go to the confession the next time, I have too much to confess, it’ll take all night.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.