From The "Springtime Of The Church" File
The Church in the UK faces "Biggest Threat Since The Reformation"
An interesting study just hit the streets today in Britain.
In The Future of the Catholic Church in Britain, Tom Horwood said: “The Church in Britain is suffering from a terminal decline in membership, irregular commitment among the remnant, and, in the wake of persistent child abuse scandals, a leadership of bishops and priests that has toppled from its pedestal with a mighty crash.”
Over three decades Mass attendance has slumped by 40 per cent, baptisms by 50 per cent, Catholic marriages by 60 per cent and confirmations by 60 per cent.
The 260-page study of the Church indicates that the number of adult converts fell by 55 per cent and first communions by nearly 40 per cent, described as the “greatest pastoral and demographic catastrophe” since the Reformation of the 16th century.
Exactly. What faithful Catholics there are remaining in North America and Western Europe there are, we desperately want to be exactly that... Faithful Catholics!
But it's kind of hard when we have Cardinals seeking refuge in Rome from the Boston District Attorneys Office.
But it's kind of hard when we have an Archbishop giving almost a half million dollars in hush money to his boyfriend.
But it's kind of hard when we have priests who preach heresy from the pulpit each and every Sunday.
The figurative phrase "cleanse with fire" keeps echoing in my brain housing group.
Let's start in the chanceries, move on to the seminaries, then the rectories from there.
Any other ideas?
The Church in the UK faces "Biggest Threat Since The Reformation"
An interesting study just hit the streets today in Britain.
In The Future of the Catholic Church in Britain, Tom Horwood said: “The Church in Britain is suffering from a terminal decline in membership, irregular commitment among the remnant, and, in the wake of persistent child abuse scandals, a leadership of bishops and priests that has toppled from its pedestal with a mighty crash.”
Over three decades Mass attendance has slumped by 40 per cent, baptisms by 50 per cent, Catholic marriages by 60 per cent and confirmations by 60 per cent.
The 260-page study of the Church indicates that the number of adult converts fell by 55 per cent and first communions by nearly 40 per cent, described as the “greatest pastoral and demographic catastrophe” since the Reformation of the 16th century.
Exactly. What faithful Catholics there are remaining in North America and Western Europe there are, we desperately want to be exactly that... Faithful Catholics!
But it's kind of hard when we have Cardinals seeking refuge in Rome from the Boston District Attorneys Office.
But it's kind of hard when we have an Archbishop giving almost a half million dollars in hush money to his boyfriend.
But it's kind of hard when we have priests who preach heresy from the pulpit each and every Sunday.
The figurative phrase "cleanse with fire" keeps echoing in my brain housing group.
Let's start in the chanceries, move on to the seminaries, then the rectories from there.
Any other ideas?
posted by Kevin Whiteman at
4:36 PM
5 Comments:
I just finished reading Peggy Noonan's new book on JPII. At one point she talks about meeting with Cardinal Law. She asked him some direct questions and he rushed away looking angry. Maybe he was having a bad day but he comes off as arrogant and condescending.
I'll go you one further, Cavey, let's start at the FAMILY level!
Mom and Dad can model truly catholic christian behavior, and expect the same from their children. Parents could have an actual copy of the Catechism in the house, and a 'Catholic Edition' bible, instead of the protestant NIV. They can, gasp..PRAY together, as a family, on a regular basis.
Parents can have their kids dress properly for Mass, and behave reverently during, and actually stay until the priest has completed the recessional, or even some silent prayer AFTER Mass.
If the parents are only nominally Catholic, the kids, short of those frequent miracles, won't take the Church seriously either.
Maybe once the Anglican Churches in England start getting converted into Mosques the remaining English Catholics will wise up...
It's time to get back to basics. Here's what should be done, in my fallible, humble opinion:
- The Pope should denounce or somehow "clarify" the Second Vatican Council out of existence and start preaching the traditional Faith.
- The Pope should stop this drive towards a false œcumenicalism, which is nothing more than a watering-down of our own Faith to appease and accomodate our enemies.
- The Pope should purge the clergy of homosexuals, pædophiles, pæderasts, liberals, and all other heretics.
- The Pope should liberate the Tridentine Mass -- not give an univeral "indult" (i.e. "permission") for a Mass that was declared involable and irrevocable by Pope St. Pius V.
- The Pope should make the Oath Against Modernism mandatory for all Confirmands during Confirmation.
- The Pope should consecrate Russia by name (and not "the World", or similar weaselspeak terminology) to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as per Our Lady's instructions given at Fatima.
In other words, the Pope should start acting like the Pope and Catholics will start acting like Catholics.
Could not agree more with Gaufridus Gilbertus. Additionally, if you all have not read "Open Letter to Confused Catholics" by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (copywrite 1986), then you must! It is as brilliant today as it was 20 years ago.
Thinking of sending a few copies to my bishop?
Semper Fi-
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