[Ken522]

This is from the New York Times???

[the invisib1e hand]

It's a reflection of how resilient religious faith can be

yeah. so is 2000 years of vital history.

[frogjerk]

The power of prayer.

[sgtbono2002]

I dont know about other places, but they had a big donation appeal last year that was a first for me. They asked for large contributions and made up some sort of story, when most of us actually thought the money was going to pay for the law suits over the pedophile priests.

Most of us still believe that. Anyway a lot of p[eople ponied up for this special appeal. Lots of money. Then along comes the Cardinals appeal. Well: there is just so may times you can go to the well. Thats whats hurting the Bishops or Cardinals appeals IMO.

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

[weegee]

Sex scandals in public schools haven't swayed Americans from sending their children there.

Sex scandals in the UN (rape, child prostitution, sexual slavery) hasn't shaken the left's support of this outdated relic.

[Theoden]

"The gates of hell shall not prevail against it..."

[frogjerk]

The percentage of Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week also held steady from September 2000 to September 2005 at 33 percent, with a slight rise to 39 percent immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the center's polls.

The closer this number gets to %100 the better this country and the world will be.

[Unam Sanctam]

Nice to hear some positive news about the Church in the secular media once in a while!

[Salvation]

This increase is happening in lots of places!

Hong Kong diocese to baptize 2,400 catechumens
Catholic, Mormon, and Pentecostal Churches Fastest Growing
This Year's Intake (the newest members of the Tiber Swim Team)

Thousands to Join Catholic Church Holy Saturday
This Catholic church is born again (Evangelical approach helps attendance soar)
400 local (Palm Beach) Catholic converts enter new faith
Baptism of adults increasing steadily in France
The number of young parishioners growing in the Russian Church
There Is a Catholic Oasis in Dubai. And Another Has Sprung Up in Venice

Six million African Muslims leave Islam per year
The numbers game: Stats give picture of Pope John Paul's pontificate
Study Sees Church Rebounding From Scandal

[Nihil Obstat]

"The only significant decline is in the percentage of Catholics who contributed to diocesan financial appeals, annual campaigns that are usually run by bishops."

That might be good as well - maybe they are giving to more worthy groups. Some of the bishops will waste that money, there are better options for evangelization, like:

EWTN - https://www.ewtn.com/ewtn/ssl/donation/donation_ewtn.asp

and Aid to the Church in Need -
http://www.kirche-in-not.org/index_s.html

[Antoninus]

The only significant decline is in the percentage of Catholics who contributed to diocesan financial appeals, annual campaigns that are usually run by bishops. While the percentage of Catholics who contributed to their local parishes remained steady, those who gave to diocesan appeals dropped to 29 percent in 2005 from 38 percent in April 2002.

That's me. I object to the bishop forcing our priests to show a video during Mass in place of a sermon when the annual appeal kicks off. And I think the funds are horribly misappropriated, with not nearly enough going toward generating vocations, supporting excellent seminarians and doing evangelical work.

During the Appeal, we send our donation directly to the local seminary, to the FSSP in Nebraska, or some other cause. Sadly, until a bishop demonstrates that he can be trusted, I'm very hesitant to support him financially.

[sageb1]

Our little church is running way behind on the Bishop's Appeal, but it's not for lack of effort. We have two Catholic churches in our small city. The Cathedral enjoys the participation of the area's wealthier folk, whereas our smaller church serves a greater percentage of the less well-off.

On a positive note, however, enrollment in the joint Catholic elementary school has risen so much that some are hoping for the return of the Catholic high school, which had to be closed over a decade ago.

[NYer]

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Dumb_Ox]

Satan's loss.

I know some teenagers were using this as a reason to leave the church back at the height of the worst news. Perhaps they would have left anyway, and it provided a convenient rationale.