Posted on 04/28/2009 11:10:26 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
A fascinating Pew report out today finds that most Americans have changed religious affiliation at least once and that within this dramatic religious churn, Roman Catholicism is the biggest loser. Four times as many Catholics are leaving the faith as are joining it, the study finds.
And yet an upbeat E-mail from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops landed in my inbox today, with this triumphant first sentence:
A Pew Forum poll on Americans and their religious affiliation finds Catholics have one of the highest retention rates, 68 percent, among Christian churches when it comes to carrying the Catholic faith into adulthood.
How could the American religious tradition that boasts one of the highest retention rates be losing the most members? Easy, says Pew: because Catholicism is attracting so few newcomers.
Catholics are leaving the faith at four times the rate that newcomers are joining. "Religious change is not simply a function of retention; it's a function of recruitment. It's both sides of the ledger," explains the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's Greg Smith. "In no other religious groups we looked at did we see this high a ratio people leaving versus joining."
And yet Catholics still account for just under a quarter of the population, as they have for many years. That's because the surge in Hispanic immigration has offset the steady decline of white Catholics. Roughly 2 in 3 Latino immigrants are Catholic, according to Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. He also notes that Hispanic fertility rates are higher than those of white Americans, ensuring more Latino Catholic growth in the United States.
These countervailing trends in American Catholicism raise a question: Does the American Catholic Church have a numbers problem? Or, facing an American demographic future that's much less white than today, is the church's complexion merely changing with the nation's?
And yet Catholics still account for just under a quarter of the population, as they have for many years. That's because the surge in Hispanic immigration has offset the steady decline of white Catholics. Roughly 2 in 3 Latino immigrants are Catholic, according to Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. He also notes that Hispanic fertility rates are higher than those of white Americans, ensuring more Latino Catholic growth in the United States.
Given the profoundly countercultural nature of Catholicism, it is a miracle there are any Catholics left in the US.
Here in Los Angeles, the Catholic weekly paper Tidings is apparently aimed only at the growing Mexican population. Plenty of brown power, reconquista, prison outreach articles and nothing relating to archbishop Mahoney’s criminal behavior.
It has become impossible to recruit converts in the current environment.
They don’t DO numbers- they do bingo.
If you look at the numbers, 22% of Protestants change denominations or drop out.
More of the same.
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Do I count as a miracle? I went to the Catholic church that I was baptized in 39 years ago last week and signed up for the classes to become a full fledged Catholic. It was a long journey. I went to my first mass last Sunday. I felt that it was time. When I signed up last week at their office they said “Welcome Back” which gave me a wonderful feeling.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life: 2 For the life was manifested; and we have seen and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us: 3 That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full. 5 And this is the declaration which we have heard from him, and declare unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness.6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
[...]
1 Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth not us, because it knew not him. 2 Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is. 3 And every one that hath this hope in him, sanctifieth himself, as he also is holy.
(1 John 1,3)
Welcome home.
I’m right with you. I was never baptized, although my gramps on my mom’s side was a Baptisth minister. He passed before I was born. Oddly, I never had a strong religious background growing up, but I considered myself a Christian. I married into a strong Irish Catholic family, and a couple of years ago, my wife & I mutually agreed that we would start attending her mom’s church. The pastor is very engaging, and I was impressed with the positive message of love and giving. I signed up officially for RCIA recently, and, God willing, my goal is to be baptized, confirmed and receive Holy Communion at Easter Vigil 2010.
So, count me as one of the converted.
So,
I call BS on Lugo's claim.
Our little parish has three masses every Sunday, and all three are usually SRO or close to it.
Why? We have NO lady priests, NO extraordinary chicks, NO altar girls, NO nuns with guitars, NO praise orchestra, NO felt banners, NO liturgical dance, NO overhead projector, NO clap-along baby songs, NO cry room, NO Jesus-On-The-Side Chapel, NO Holy Hot Tub, and NO gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender ministry. We are not open-minded, inclusive, or in touch with the freaky flower-power Now Generation, or whatever the current term for hip is.
What we DO have is the OLD mass, complete with lots of scary Latin, a priest who faces AWAY from the congregation, plenty of beautiful TRADITIONAL music played on an organ, and the Body and Blood of Christ Himself, front and center.
And babies. Lots and lots of beautiful, uncontracepted, unaborted Catholic babies. One family in our parish has nine kids (including two nets of twins); another has seven; and plenty have fives and threes. Hell, even Team B-Chan has one, with hopes for more. We are in your schools, in your businesses, breeding, breeding...
So let the Devil tempt away who he can. The dross will burn away, leaving pure gold. Parishes like ours are the future.
“I call BS on Lugo’s claim.”
Why??
**Does the American Catholic Church Have a Numbers Problem?**
These reporters are so ill-informed. There is absolutely NO SUCH THING as an American Catholic Church.
Roman Catholic
or other rites of Catholicism — yes,
but not American Catholic.
When will they ever smart-up?
Welcome Home! Let us know how we can help.
Welcome home to you, too!
Thank you! We went to Easter Vigil this year to see what I was in for in 2010...oh, man, 3 hours long, but it was awesome.
Once one attends an Easter Vigil, they never miss it again.
Four rites:
The Rite of Light
The Rite of the Liturgy — lots of readings
The Rite of Baptism (and Confirmation and Eucharist)
The Rite of the Eucharist
It really is beautiful — and then we have a huge reception afterward. We have 25 baptisms this year and 20 people come into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. That’s a lot!
As I said above, welcome home, and let us know if there are any questions we might answer.
Thank you very much. Althoug B-Chan might be a bit off put by this, we do have a “Holy Hot Tub” at our parish - the baptisms are full immersions, and I am so looking forward to it. A lot of work to do over the next year, though. In fact, I have class tonight!
The surrender of the church to the "Gay Pervert Lottery" is the root cause.
Many Catholics simply refused to pay the bill, directly or indirectly.
They would have preferred to throw the pervert priests under the bus. The religion wasn't to blame; nor the parishoners.
Why should they bear the payment of billion$?
Most would have spent the money, defending the parishioners' church.
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