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Salvation is not about numbers.

Yep! Christ calls us all, even those who reject him on a daily basis. The health of a Church isn't so important. The overall hope is that the number of Christians tends to infinity. So, come on Protestants and non-denoms ... lets follow Christ and not look at the numbers as a gauge of which Church is doing better in a horse race. That is our fallen nature calling, not Christ's vision of the Kingdom.

I, as a practicing Catholic, don't see it that way. We all are the body of Christ, relying on His grace, full of faith, hope and love. This should not be seen as negative in a time of such relativism. It is good news that any Christian Church is growing! The growth of Christianity is good and should be hoped and prayed for. No?

I specifically added in the stuff about nondenominational churches and smaller, conservative, breakaway churches to the main article so as to not sound like I was saying to protestants, "haha, my church is growing; your church is shrinking!" I really have no news at all to report about how they are doing, but thought that silence about them might also communicate a message I don't mean to send.

But frankly, given the scandals the Catholic church has been through -- the corrupt leadership, the supposedly alienating style of church conservatives and Pope Benedict, and the blistering attacks against it from the left (MSM) and the right (incessant sermons against Catholic doctrines) -- I think the Catholic church is doing pretty good to be growing the way it is; and I think its growth says things about conservative values that support ALL conservative religions, in that a church with very large conservative and liberal factions is growing wherever it finds truth, and that ain't among the liberals!

Salvation is not about numbers.

Who said it is? But let's be honest, if this article instead said "Catholic Church in disastrous decline, Protestantism grows by leaps and bounds" you'd be here shouting "Alleluiah, Jesus's message is spreading."