Posted on 05/27/2007 7:17:23 PM PDT by Gamecock
The numbers tell the story.
Time magazine wanted to talk theology with Mel Gibson recently on the set of The Passion, his new movie depicting the last hours of Christ. Asked what he thought about the effects of the Second Vatican Council on the Catholic Church, the Braveheart of Catholic traditionalists said, "Look at the main fruits: dwindling numbers and pedophilia."
Gibson's post Vatican II ergo propter Vatican II argument would be enough to drive any high school logic teacher crazy. Is the Council responsible for all the Church's ills, including the priestly sex-abuse crisis, that have arisen since the Council closed in 1965? After all, many of the abuse allegations pre-dated the Council, and some of the most notorious offenders--like John Geoghan and Paul Shanley--were trained in the pre-Vatican II seminaries. Too many factors come into play to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Council caused the pedophile priest phenomenon.
But Gibson comes closer to the mark when blaming the Second Vatican Council for the "dwindling numbers . In fact he is being generous, because "plummeting would be a more accurate term than "dwindling" to describe of the incredibly shrinking Catholic Church since 1965. In every area that is statistically measurable--such as the number of priests, seminarians, priestless parishes and nuns--the deterioration is obvious, and is the exact opposite of the trends before the Council.
EMPTY SEMINARIES
Beyond a vague understanding of a need for "more vocations," most Catholics are perhaps unaware of the disaster facing the American priesthood. After skyrocketing from about 27,000 in 1930 to 58,000 in 1965, the number of priests in the United States dropped to 45,000 in 2002. By 2020, there will be about 31,000 priests--and only 15,000 will be under the age of 70, according to a study conducted by Dr. James R. Lothian of Fordham University.
The shortage of priests has created a problem previously unknown to modern Catholics: the priestless parish. Only 3 percent of the parishes in the US--a total of 549--were without a priest in 1965. In 2002 there were 2,928 priestless parishes, about 15 percent of all US parishes. By 2020, a quarter of all parishes, 4,656, will have no priest.
As one would expect, the priest dearth has been fueled by a collapse in the seminarian population. There were 16,300 seminarians in 1930 and 49,000 in 1965. By 2002 the number had plunged to 4,700: a 90 percent decrease. Without any students, countless seminaries across the country have been sold or shuttered. There were 596 seminaries in 1965, and only 200 in 2002.
And empty seminaries result in declining ordinations. While there were 1,575 ordinations to the priesthood in 1965, in 2002 there were 450, a decrease of 350 percent. Taking into account ordinations, deaths and departures, in 1965 there was a net gain of 725 priests. In 1998, there was a net loss of 810.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS DISAPPEARING
The tragedy of the convents has been perhaps even more startling. A host of 138,000 sisters ran the Catholic education and health systems in 1945; their numbers swelled to 180,000 by 1965. In 2002, there were 75,000 sisters, with an average age of 68. By 2020, the number of sisters will drop to 40,000--and of these, only 21,000 will be age 70 or under. One does not have to be Chicken Little to predict that within a generation there will be no nuns.
The same is true for the once-proud religious orders of men. For example, in 1965 there were 5,277 Jesuit priests and 3,559 seminarians; in 2000 there were 3,172 priests and 389 seminarians. There were 2,534 OFM Franciscan priests and 2,251 seminarians in 1965; in 2000 there were 1,492 priests and 60 seminarians. There were 2,434 Christian Brothers in 1965 and 912 seminarians; in 2000 there were 959 Brothers and 7 seminarians. It does not require special training in statistics to conclude that by 2050, if these trends continue, the Jesuits, the Franciscans, and the Christian Brothers, will be the virtually extinct in the US.
Other statistics on the life of the Catholic Church in America tell the same story. At the time of the Council there were 4.5 million students in US parochial schools; now there are 2 million. Before the Council there were less than 400 marriages annulled by Catholic diocesan tribunals in an average year; now there are 50,000. Before the Council 3 out of 4 Catholics attended Mass each week; now the figure is 1 in 4.
Given these alarming facts, one wonders how a movie star like Mel Gibson can sense a Church in extremis, but the American bishops cannot. They know the statistics (which are published by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops), yet take no action to counter the catastrophe.
The bishops do not have a good track record when it comes to responding to crisis. Just as they showed no interest in the sexual abuse of minors--in fact they were sometimes complicit--it is a good bet that the bishops will neglect the emergency that threatens the very existence of the Church in the America.
[AUTHOR ID] Kenneth C Jones of St. Louis is the author of Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church since Vatican II, published by Oriens Publishing Co.
Only because the “protestants” you speak of in Yoor-up are the members of the state Anglican and Lutheran Churches. Pentescostalism and Free Church evangelicalism is a western hemisphere phenomenon. Guess who is winning converts left and right in Latin America?
Thank you, Father. Thanks, wagglebee. Father, my wife and I were profoundly affected by the work of priests for life many years ago. We wound up bringing our now-deceased handicapped son to Father Paul Marx’s place as we would volunteer and talk with Father and his people. This had a profound effect on me, a non-Catholic at that time. Decades later and hundreds of Latin Masses assisted as an altar server, I like to think this influence was huge.
Deo gratias
8mm
We have a cry room but most sit in the church, when they cry Father just talks louder.
Crying is one thing, but engaging in pitched battles with energy weapons is something else. Pat blasted Father (with a pocket calculator) one day. I thought I would die.
LOL, I shouldn’t but I love kids and I love their antics. Sometimes parents are horrified but most people understand that children will be children.
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Brothers and Sisters in Christ [Part Four of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
The Adventure of the Priesthood [Part Five of a series on Celibacy] -- Catholic Caucus
>>Meanwhile the Catholic Church is the fastest growing Christian denomination in the world with an average of 250 million new Catholics annually...half of which are converts.<<
Please cite your sources. The figure (250 million per annum) you provide is, in my opinion, quite implausible.
Given a world population (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) of approx. 6.555 billion in 2006 and a natural increase (births minus deaths) of about 77.7 million per annum (ebenda), an annual increase of a quarter of a BILLION new Catholics would an extremely high rate of religious conversion (approx. 170 million per year), even if EVERY newborn were automatically baptized a Catholic.
See #43
Which could be a good thing. Once away from the influence of the empty legalism and ritualism of Roman Catholicism, there is the opportunity to reach them with the truth of Christ, especially during times of crisis when many remember the great existential questions.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Risky,
As you know, God is love. And if we love Him we will keep His commandments. And that love will animate all we do since we will do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. I hope you’ll be open to seeing true love for God in Catholic Christians here at FR. I realize that not everyone here at FR is “friendly”. But I think it’s important to realize that there are Roman Catholics who deeply love the Lord Jesus and seek to follow Him with all their hearts.
God bless you and keep you, and let’s pray for one another.
A 4 year old article?
Each to his own, I guess.
I find the "ritualism" of the Catholic Church far from empty. On the contrary, it is historically, symbolically and spiritually rich. These are the sacred mysteries. The mysteries handed down from time immemorial. The mysteries in which the saints and fathers of the Church partook and which make Christ truly present. There is an incredible source of grace, strength and holiness contained in these rituals.
On the other hand, what I find empty is some guy in a suit giving me his take on a passage of Scripture or the superficial rock concert atmosphere which can be found in some church auditoria.
For me, religion is not about getting a "buzz" or the constant search for some new "experience". It's about an interior spiritual life lived in union with the crucified Christ.
Only fully trusting the Atonement of Christ to have paid the full and total debt for your sin will.
THIS STORY IS FROM 2003....!!!!
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