bj,
1. The major church buildings of the Catholic Church are NOT crumbling.
2. The Catholic population continues to grow in the USA and in the world - over 1 billion and counting - 1/6 of the world.
3. Some church buildings have been sold - your point is what?
4. The Anglican church is dead. The Catholic Church continues on, as it has for 2,000 years and will for thousands more. And all you had to do was watch the funeral for Pope John Paul II (or even Mother Teresa) to see how the Church is still a major force in the world.
1) I will grant you that one- many of England's old buildings- not just churches, but castles as well- are crumbling. There may be many reasons for this, but declining church attendance certainly does not help.
2) Catholicism is growing- thanks be to God. So is Anglicanism- thanks be to God. Most of that growth is outside of Europe and North America. Yes, the Church of England is in decline. In fact Christianity throughout Western Europe, Canada and the Northeastern United States is sadly in decline.
3) The Catholic Church in the northeastern United States is in a state of decline. Congregations are graying, attendance is declining, and dioceses are finding it harder and harder to keep every parish open. Many are combining parishes and selling the surplus property for cash. In contrast, Catholicism in the South and Southwest is growing very fast.
4) I beg to differ on the "Anglicanism is dead" thought. How many Catholic Curches use Alpha? That was started by Rev'd Nicky Gumble- Anglican priest. Right now Anglicans are leading the fight against the revisionism that has seeped into Western Christianity.
The largest religious denomination in the US is the Roman Catholic.. the second largest is non practicing Roman Catholic.
You can total all the other religions in the US and their numbers combined wouldn't beat either practicing or non practicing roman Catholics.
I suspect as the break away churches continue to embrace clearly immoral things, more and more folks will discover Catholicism.
The Anglican Church, worldwide, has something like 80 million + loyal adherants...the vast majority being evangelicals in the developing world. Probably 10,000+ in Africa alone become baptized Anglican Christians every week...one of the fastest growing denominations.
It ranks 2nd in the world as the largest single Christian body.
Hardly dead sir.