Dispatches: The State of the Catholic Church

ChurchMilitantTV ^ | Sept 30, 2013 | Michael Voris

[RCB-Catholic]

5 part series titled "Dispatches" by Church Militant TV Uses the Official Catholic Church Directory(aka Kennedy Directory) to study the state of the church via number crunching--the same number the bishops generate and use. Number of baptisms now versus 50's, 60's, # priest, religious, marriages. Analyzes all the statistics in an effort to argue against the professional Catholic media that everything is getting better.

The Dispatches from the front lines of the battle for the Church in the US is that we are losing the war badly.

Dispatch #1 : 19 mins

So, do you believe there is an unparalleled crisis in the Church today or not? If not, watch this.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-09-30

Dispatch #2: 21 mins

For those who deny or downplay the current crisis in the Church - these numbers CANNOT be ignored.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-10-01

Dispatch #3 : 20 mins

Heads in the sand. So, do you believe there is an unparalleled crisis in the Church today or not? If not, watch this.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-10-02

Dispatch #4 : 19 mins

Obama at Notre Dame became THE watershed moment for us here at ChurchMilitant.TV.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-10-03

Dispatch #5 : 14 mins

he Dispatches from the front lines of the battle for the Church in the US is that we are losing the war badly.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-10-04

Somewhere around 1hr 30mins of video here, all from the last past 5 days.

[RCB-Catholic]

My feelings are that things are firming up a bit, assuming we have risen up from a bottom of 10 or so years ago. This is something Voris doesnt talk about...have the numbers been firming up in the last 5,10 or 15 years. Most of what Voris gives us is comparisons to the 60's to make his case and doesnt address any firming up in the last 10 years one way or the other. So have we hit bottom? or does government persecution and/or the pagan licentious culture that has been rolling downhill, like a growing snowball, on us for the last 50 years lead to a deeper bottom. Only circumstances of history will tell....And a lot of us already know that answer... There will be martyrs!

[jobim]

He takes everything into consideration. Where there has been a small resurgence of some sort, as with a couple of nun's orders (Ann Arbor & Nashville), these are anomalies, and don't have significant impact overall.

The faith has been carried intact up to the closing of VII. All the high water marks are from about 1962-1967. So these folks are hitting retirement, and in 20 or so years will all have reached Judgement Day. Not much will be left in their wake, according to his numbers.

[ClaytonP]

My feelings are that things are firming up a bit, assuming we have risen up from a bottom of 10 or so years ago. This is something Voris doesnt talk about...have the numbers been firming up in the last 5,10 or 15 years.

Its my understanding that there has been a small uptick in seminarians as well as families that are living a more traditional way without contraception.

However, Church closing have accelerated in the last 10 years compared to the 90s because Gen X and Gen Y were not raised properly. The last decade is when the remaining predominantly older faithful began to die off in mass.

The dying of the old gray hairs who were raised before Vatican 2 will accelerate the decline in the future. As of 2008 90% of boomers were still alive. By 2025, it is estimated that 50% of the baby boomers will have died.

It won't be a while before we know if the more traditionally minded families of today are able to keep their children in the faith.

[Ge0ffrey]

Why does he keep moving from screen to screen? And, Good Lord, where did he get that toupee? His stats aren’t analyzed with any nuance. I’d need to see these stats side by side w/ Protestant denominations. I was actually surprised to learn that in 2010 there were that many adult converts and that large a percentage of those who take their faith seriously. That fills me with hope, especially considering what we’re up against. What is he up to? I understand righteous anger, but Christ wasn’t always angry. Was he? I think it was just once, in the temple w/ the money changers. Why is he so angry?

[RCB-Catholic]

I have a degree in statistics, I can tell you he substantially focused on 60’s vs today and glossed over or didnt adequately address a ‘theoretical’ or ‘presumptive’ firming up or resurgence in the last 5-10-15 years or whatnot.

Yeah, you could say in the segment where he addressed Church closings he addressed the last 10 years. But on nearly every other factor(marriage, baptisms, first communions) it was strictly comparing a date from the 60’s to a recent current date. These kind of comparisons only would hide a firming up and so he didnt really address things wholly.

Of course I could be wrong on some minor point, I didnt watch this twice, but noticed it from a statistical standpoint that he didnt paint a complete picture, nor did he do hand waving to address. Which is not to say there is a hidden firming up in the data, its just that he walked around it, didnt directly address it and it really was the purpose of the series. !!!!!

[jobim]

I believe you if you say so, as I have no such expertise. Why don’t you send Voris your assessment for his clarification. And let us know if he responds.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Jesus is in control of His Church. We are in control of our free will. Keep hope in His Church and focus on your free will.

Pope B16 said it better - Prayer, not Strategic Campaign, is needed.

That’s all I know, I know no more. The rest is a waste of His time allotted me.

[Jeff Chandler]

Good Lord, where did he get that toupee?

Toupee? I thought that was some kind of animal.

[cloudmountain]

There are statistics and then there are damn statistics.
:o)

[RCB-Catholic]

famous quote fail!