"The Incredible Shrinking Catholic Church"

[hedgehog]

"Benedict’s understanding of the church—his reinterpretation of the reforms of Vatican II in particular—erases the power of local culture in the experience of Catholicism. It also undermines the ecumenical movement by claiming that Protestant churches are not “true” churches, judges priests on their identity (gay priests must leave) rather than their actions, stops dialogue on any topics that do not meet the Pope’s approval (such as the possibility of women priests), sheds gay people from its ranks and fights against their rights, ignores the diminishing number of priests and the effects of this shortage on Church communities, and calls on Catholics to form the “perfect society” resembling the ecclesiology of Opus Dei. It is no surprise that Pope Benedict comes from a country—Germany—where the percentage of Church members attending Sunday mass is one of the lowest in the world. Strict adherence to orthodoxy will not be popular."

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religionandtheology/1059/the_incredible_shrinking_catholic_church

[47of74]

1. If it hadn't been for the parish I'm a member of now...

I would not be a Catholic today. In spite of everything Benedict and the Bishops have done and said, I have remained a member of the church, and it saddens me what they are doing to the church. I have remained mainly because of the wonderful parish that I'm a member of now.

[Matilda]

2. Is this the way the Church will have to move in the future?

"A Brisbane Catholic parish at the centre of a six-month row with the church hierarchy will learn its fate tomorrow.

St Mary's parish in South Brisbane had been ordered to stop unorthodox practices, which include commitment ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/07/2485244.htm

Apparently Fr. Kennedy will know tomorrow whether he's to be excommunicated.

It isn't easy to know where the line should be drawn, but if we reflect
that more than 50% of today's parishioners are over 60 (most of them
women), things aren't looking hopeful for the future of the Church.

I think priests like Fr. Kennedy and congregations that are far more
accepting and tolerant of difference are the way of the future. Not
so very long ago, Catholics in countries like the US and Australia were
sidelined and looked at with suspicion. Now we're part of the
mainstream, and I think we're better off for it. We've put the ghetto
mentality behind us, and are ready to embrace those who are marginalised,
as we ourselves were sixty years ago.

I think Pope Benedict, and I know Sydney's Archbishop Pell, are not
happy with this situation, but I hope their stand is the last of the
old guard fighting off the inevitable.

[hedgehog]

3. One of the hardest things for people in the West to realize is that the population in

general is aging. Our bishops today were young priests during the baby boom and they think the norm for a healthy parish is 20 or 30 Baptisms a week. I read too many things to remember the source, but the typical American parish today with a middle aged congregation and few young families is representative of the demographics of the native born population in the US. What I am saying is that an aging Church is not necessarily a dying Church. A Church which continues to expel this group and that group is a dying Church.

[Beer Snob-50]

4. some the other day

told me that enrollment in seminaries was up something like 8%. that has to be good for church as a whole.