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The Incredible Shrinking Catholic Church
Catholic World News ^ | May 2003 | Kenneth C. Jones

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.


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion
KEYWORDS: bigshrinkage; bovineexcrement; catholicsindenial; fascinatedwcatholics; rcscanthandletruth; shrinkage; wishingitweretrue
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To: fr maximilian mary

amen


81 posted on 05/28/2007 7:53:54 PM PDT by WriteOn (Truth)
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To: livius
You can’t forgive a heretic until he has repented. If people do not wish to abide by Catholic doctrine, they should be honest and separate themselves. Staying in the Church lets them lead many, many more people astray than if they left. Their repentance and reconciliation is always a possibility. But they have to do it, and cannot be kept within the bosom of the Church to poison others if they do not do so. And the bishops are falling down on their duty to protect the flock if they do not declare this.

Agree perfectly with you here. I still don't think they should go to Protestant churches though, they should not have the opportunity to spread their heresies in any forum among those who profess to be follow Christ.


82 posted on 05/28/2007 7:54:19 PM PDT by LambSlave (Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give it to you.)
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To: nmh
It’s no wonder MANY are turning from Catholicism. It’s not just the Priests and Nuns. The congregations are dwindling as well.

Don't fool yourself. Some areas which have had bad bishops for decades remain in decline. Meanwhile, other areas are growing. I belong to an old-style parish. Our Church is PACKED every Sunday. We've got three choirs. On holy days, the train of altar boys is double-file 20 rows deep. And that doesn't include the altar serving young girls--there are a good 20 of them as well, all dressed up in habits like little nuns.

And, horror of horrors---our priests increasingly use Latin.

In the not-too-distant future, parishes like mine will be the rule, not the exception--at least in the dioceses of the bishops who remain Catholic and aren't Episcopalian wannabes.
83 posted on 05/28/2007 9:20:10 PM PDT by Antoninus (P!ss off an environmentalist wacko . . . have more kids.)
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To: fr maximilian mary
Families that follow God's plan tend to have more children and more vocations. We are getting lots of vocational inquiries from large Catholic families, frequently homeschooled.

There's your answer. In our homeschool group, my family with 4 kiddies (soon to be 5) is actually average to small. There are several with lots more. And more wonderful people you'll rarely meet.
84 posted on 05/28/2007 9:24:48 PM PDT by Antoninus (P!ss off an environmentalist wacko . . . have more kids.)
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To: Antoninus

Where are you?? That sounds fabulous!!


85 posted on 05/28/2007 9:26:34 PM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her Phoniness is Genuine!!!)
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To: Talking_Mouse
The Holy Spirit is answering prayers for vocations.

The other night, I found out that the 8-year-old son of one of our friends is thinking about becoming a priest. And based on the abnormal piety of that young fellow, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he did.

Of course, he's homeschooled as well...
86 posted on 05/28/2007 9:31:22 PM PDT by Antoninus (P!ss off an environmentalist wacko . . . have more kids.)
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To: Suzy Quzy
Where are you?? That sounds fabulous!!

South Jersey if you can believe it. And our parish isn't even the most traditional one in the diocese...
87 posted on 05/28/2007 9:35:53 PM PDT by Antoninus (P!ss off an environmentalist wacko . . . have more kids.)
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To: ducdriver

Has it changed in 4 years?


88 posted on 05/29/2007 4:51:12 AM PDT by Gamecock (FR Member Gamecock: Declared Anathema By The Council Of Trent)
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To: Gamecock

Yes.

Lots of those old priests have died and not been replaced.


89 posted on 05/29/2007 4:55:56 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: Gamecock

That’s funny, my RCIA class had 97 this Easter vigil, including converts, and not counting the slew of teenagers along with over 120 first communicants (With 3 masses of different languages on 4 Sundays in May with first communions, it’s a task... along with all the baptisms in between).


90 posted on 05/29/2007 5:12:28 AM PDT by AliVeritas (I see the men and women on the battlefield... where are the men and women here?)
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To: Gamecock

the catholic church is not the USA church, it is universal. There are about 60 million catholics in the USA, only a fraction of the 1.1billion catholic population. The church is booming everywhere except the secularist west. in mexico for example there are almost as many seminarians as there are priests, in brazil the number of seminarians has increased 10 fold since the 70’s, africa, south and east asia it is booming. All IS well in the church, just wait a few years and things will come right again in the West. It’s a generational thing; young people will return to the church, and they are, you’ll be swamped by them in a decade or two.


91 posted on 05/29/2007 5:19:09 AM PDT by rogernz
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To: wagglebee

Wags, let them keep trying to chip away... I offer it back up for them.

This year in the NY Archdiocese seven of my friends were ordained, two were also ordained in Rome. Last year three, the year before four, the year before that four; I know 20 that have taken the veil... that’s only the friars and i’m in the Bronx.

I have many friends that are postulants and looking for the community with the charism they’re called to.

The JPII generation is on fire... and we need it.

For all of us:

In case some haven’t noticed... we face times when our armor is best on. Our time would be well spent in prayer for all, instead of nitpicking at others who love the Lord.


92 posted on 05/29/2007 5:24:10 AM PDT by AliVeritas (I see the men and women on the battlefield... where are the men and women here?)
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To: Antoninus

You are blessed to have such a traditional Church. Our new priest (tep. thank God) has a gold earring!!!!


93 posted on 05/29/2007 5:51:12 AM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her Phoniness is Genuine!!!)
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To: big'ol_freeper
the fastest growing Christian denomination

Not to pick a fight, but the Catholic Church is not a denomination. If anything, it's the opposite.

94 posted on 05/29/2007 6:23:59 AM PDT by Romulus (Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo.)
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To: nmh; vladimir998; NYer
Dominican Sisters Experience 1400 Percent Growth

Sorry to burst your bubble...

95 posted on 05/29/2007 6:51:42 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Dead Ráibéad.... Lifelong Irish Papist!)
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To: WritableSpace; Gamecock; NYer

http://ncregister.com/site/article/1733

18 vocations in MEMPHIS, TN! And only two are older vocations. The Spirit moves where He will!


96 posted on 05/29/2007 6:54:39 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Dead Ráibéad.... Lifelong Irish Papist!)
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To: Gamecock
My word...Seminaries are filling up...again...DRAT! There goes my presumptions!
97 posted on 05/29/2007 6:57:11 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Dead Ráibéad.... Lifelong Irish Papist!)
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To: fr maximilian mary

ASIA IS CHURCH’S HOPE FOR VOCATIONS
Largest Number of Seminarians in India

VATICAN CITY, APR 20 (ZENIT).- Next Sunday, April 25, is the “World Day of Prayer for Priestly and Religious Vocations.” According to the latest estimates in the Holy See’s Statistical Yearbook, there are 404,208 priests in the world today, 140,687 of whom are religious clergy.

In his message for this day of prayer, the Holy Father has linked Vocations Day with the Jubilee. “Humanity needs holy priests and consecrated souls who live daily the total gift of self to God and to their neighbor,” he writes.

According to the latest estimates, there are 58,210 men religious (not priests), and 819,287 women religious, including cloistered nuns. The members of secular institutes total 31,197, almost all of whom are women (30,534 to be precise). There are at present 24,407 permanent deacons, of which 548 are religious.

The Holy See’s Statistical Yearbook reveals an impressive increase in the number of priestly vocations in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America between 1978 and 1997.

At present, there are 18,156 candidates for the priesthood in Africa, both religious and diocesan. In North America there are 5,413; in Central America, 9,589; in South America, 18,041; in Asia, 25,169; in Europe, 28, 641; and in Oceania, 861.

The increase of the number of candidates for the priesthood, including Eastern Europe, is significant. North America, however, is undergoing a serious crisis in vocations, and no let up is in sight.

The greatest surprise is that Asia has become the “vocational hope” of the Catholic Church. It has virtually the same number of seminarians as Europe and Latin America, in spite of the fact that in Asia the number of Catholics is only 4.5% of the total population.

India has become the country with the largest number of vocations in the world, specifically, some 10,000 seminarians, ahead of traditionally Catholic countries like Poland (6,954), Mexico (6,849), Brazil (6,805), Italy (6,299), Colombia (3,923), Spain (3,010), Argentina (2,046), and France (1,628).

The United States has 4,785 seminarians.
Other promising vocations in Asia include the Philippines, with 6,941 candidates to the priesthood; Indonesia, with 2,637; Korea, with 1,812; and Vietnam, with 1,412.
ZE99042003


98 posted on 05/29/2007 7:00:09 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Dead Ráibéad.... Lifelong Irish Papist!)
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To: Gamecock
Americans get an "F" in Religion (with a quiz attached)
99 posted on 05/29/2007 7:04:35 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Dead Ráibéad.... Lifelong Irish Papist!)
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To: Truth_will_rule_eventually
have defined God in my own image? How so? I have found a God who loves me so much that He gave His only begotten Son for me and the whole world (John 3:16). I made the decision to follow Him (John 1:12) because the Father drew me to Himself (John 6:44). I realized that I was a sinner and He forgave my sins. I became born again when Jesus came into my being and abided with me after I believed.

And you don't think that Elohim, YHvH, who created this time-space continuum,
that we call the universe, did not know that from before the foundations of the universe?
b'shem Yah'shua
100 posted on 05/29/2007 7:16:14 AM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (you shall know that I, YHvH, your Savior, and your Redeemer, am the Elohim of Ya'aqob. Isaiah 60:16)
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