Posted on 07/01/2006 3:31:56 PM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Catholic population rose by more than a million last year, but the church registered declines in Catholic school enrollments and in sacramental practice, according to figures in the 2006 Official Catholic Directory. The 2,043-page tome, also known as the Kenedy Directory after its New Jersey publishers' imprint, came out at the end of June. It lists all ordained U.S. Catholic clergy, parishes, missions, schools, hospitals and other institutions. It also gives statistical data on the church by diocese and nationally. Its national figures include data from Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, and U.S. territories overseas such as the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam. Based on annual reports submitted by each diocese, the directory is supposed to be a snapshot of what the church looked like on Jan. 1, 2006. The Catholic population rose about 1.3 million last year, to 69,135,254, the directory said.
Thanks to illegal immigration.
Pray for vocations! Tomorrow, the first Sunday of the month, we will be gathering early to pray the Rosary for our parish and especially for vocations.
Pity most of these catholics are CINOS. Very few American catholics believe in the Real Presence - IIRC it was something like 25%. Can you imagine the impact if 70 million catholics actually PRACTICED their faith?? What a difference this would make in the spiritual battle against the Culture of Death.
In addition, after long discussions with my husband, he is going to enter RCIA this fall and convert.
Always wonderful to hear of converts to the faith. God bless you and your husband.
I'm a cradle Catholic and have always believed in the Real Presence (thanks be to God). I'm always amazed, though, (and inspired) by non-Catholics who convert because it must take such a great leap of faith to start believing that the Eucharist is actually JESUS HIMSELF when before they believed it was just a symbol.
Way to go, Sister. Kudos.
They must be different than the illegals in my little town. In my town, they hardly ever show their faces in church.
Not in Los Angeles or other heavily Hispanic cities.
They are there front and center.
Well, at least going to Mass is legal :)
I'm not Catholic, and I believe in the Real Presence. In fact, He's sitting with me right now.
I do agree that if a person is going to profess adherence to Catholic beliefs, he should understand and appreciate those beliefs and practice them accordingly.
Dear Carvaggio,
I'd be interested from where that statistic derived.
I saw a study a few years ago that reported a similar result, however, I wouldn't hang my hat on it.
It was a study conducted through phone interviews. Catholic respondents were asked what they believed about the Eucharist. Then they were given a series of choices, which, even when I read them in black and white, it took me a moment or two to select the correct choice. The language of the choices was theological language (in some sense, by necessity), and no explanation was offered of the language. Individuals were not told which choice most accurately reflected Catholic teaching.
Several of the choices were similar, and could be described as encompassing different ways of describing either transubstantiation or consubstantiation.
I can imagine that many Catholics, hearing these choices read to them over the phone, with no assistance with the language of each choice, might have erred.
Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of respondents rejected definitions of the Eucharist which emphasized only a symbolic event.
Like Disraeli said, there are three types of lies...
sitetest
It is a gift of the Spirit. When that gift arrived in our lives a dozen years ago, it became impossible for my wife and me not to convert. As in Ephesians 2, "... now we are no longer strangers, no longer aliens, now we are fellow citizens with the saints in the kingdom of God." What a joy to be home!
Thanks foro many converts! And people coming back to the Church. In our last Catholics Can Come Home class we had anywhere from 17 to 20 attending a six week series. And they are moving beyond that and coming back to the Sacraments too! (Sometimes a lot of work (annulment) for them.)
The impact of Catholic practicing their faith through prayer, attendance at daily Mass, the Rosary and sacrifice and works of mercy is present today -- in Poland. We only need to imitate this country where 98-99% of the population is Catholic.
We will get there. Our cup is half full not half empty.
At many of the places I visited there were as many young people, teens and young adults, as their were older people like me!!!!
It was awesome to visit Poland! (One has to wonder how much having Auschwitz in one's country influences the present day decisions also.)
**In addition, after long discussions with my husband, he is going to enter RCIA this fall and convert.**
How exciting. Ii just got shivers when I read your post. God bless you both!
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WRONG!
1. Illegal aliens rarely register with a parish, because they don't understand that, unlike Mexico, the Church can keep such records secret.
2. Only about 70% of Mexicans are Catholic. Among illegals, the number drops to around 40%. Most of thoe who identify themselves as Catholic are not pracicing Catholics, and have no reason to register with their church.
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