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"What I find is that people who were cradle Catholics and had the Catechism stuffed down their throats as children do not appreciate their faith very much; they can’t remember the details of what they learned (and even that, at an unsophisticated level suitable for children) and don’t understand the extraordinary beauty and power of this faith"

You are very, very correct. I didn't start really learning about my faith until challenged by an aunt who left it. It's sad that unless challenged, we ignore the beauty of the faith.

What do you suggest we do to combat this? your opinion is very valued.

What do you suggest we do to combat this?

1. Return to traditionalism. I'm greatly blessed to be taken into a Catholic church that is quite traditional in its approach. The last priest set up an Adoration chapel; the current one instituted Latin masses every Sunday. They are MOBBED. You have to get there early to find a parking place, and the school across the street has been drafted to provide overflow parking. People are really hungry for this stuff. We shouldn't make it look up-to-date and trendy: people are thrilled by the traditional liturgy, music, and teachings. They want to feel the exaltation that only comes from the gorgeous old ways.

2. We have to do community outreach. The conservative evangelical Protestants are seriously good at this--they're not afraid to grab people by the collar and ask them "Do you know you're going to heaven? Have you accepted Jesus?" Catholics are far more reticent about doing this to strangers, but we should not hesitate to speak freely to neighbors, co-workers, and friends, to persuade and encourage them. And in order to do that we have to study, as well as to pray that the Lord will put the right words in our mouths.

3. I also think targeted advertising with many more sites like Catholics Come Home, a real PR offensive showing how the Faith can feed the hungering soul, will bring people back. Catholic charities need to be more visible so that people stop equating Catholicism only with child molesters.

"What I find is that people who were cradle Catholics and had the Catechism stuffed down their throats as children do not appreciate their faith very much;"

What age people are you talking about? I can only speak for around here (Boston) and the parishes I've known, but I don't think many people much under 60 had the "Catechism stuffed down their throats" as children.

Of course, the society is less supportive of Christianity than it was. Remember the 60s, when businesses closed at noon on Good Friday? (Just the example that occurred to me.)

Over and over, I hear cradle Catholics say the same thing: they complain about essentially unimportant things: some nun was mean to them, the church keeps asking for money, etc. And we have to nail them on this and say, “So some nun rapped your fingers when you were eight. How does that negate the truth the Church is teaching? If a PhD physicist was mean to me, does that negate gravity? There may be sinful people in the Church—I’m one of them—but so what? God is still God.