I believe this article is basically true. I say "basically" because I think it is overly negative. Perhaps things north of Boston are that bad, but my experience has been that things are getting better. Little by little, yes, but still it seems as though the ship is starting to steer back on course.
I see a lot of signs of hope. I meet more and more young Catholic families with lots of kids who are clued in to what is going on in the Church and are making sure their kids are getting properly catechized. Eucharistic Adoration is growing all over the United States. Young, orthodox religious orders are exploding. Some seminaries are starting to get back on track such Sacred Heart in the Archdioces of Detroit.
Signs of hope are there to be seen if we aren't too focused on the negative. I used to be very focused on the negative, but I recognized after a while that this was filling me with despair. I decided to stop reading periodicals such as the Remnant. I figured that I know there are problems in the Church, why do I need to drum that into my head over and over again.
That kid chewing gum in Mass? At least he's there, eh? We are all at different stages of our walk with the Lord. That door is wide open and you never know who the Holy Spirit will lead in and what stage of their faith he or she is at. I only mention this because I use to really focus on this stuff, looking down my nose at that family with the bermudas on and the kid chewing gum. Now I try to focus on thanking God that they are there and that He will lead them further, and me for that matter.
I'm not suggesting that there aren't problems, big problems in the Church. There are, and we just have to pray for those who continue to try to destroy the Church from within wittingly or unwittingly.
You make some excellent obervations on which we all should reflect. Thank you!
I believe the sex abuse scandal was a 'gift' in disguise. Through it, the media shone a spotlight on deep problems in the Catholic Church. These same problems exist in other religious groups but only the Catholic Church was singled out by the MSM. This, IMHO, is yet one more example of the Holy Spirit keeping Christ's Church alive. Actions taken have resulted in changes in the seminaries. Add to this the death of JPII and the election of Benedict XVI, and the stage was set for all those JPII youth to 'answer the call'. As you pointed out, we are now seeing the fruits of these actions. Thanks be to God!