The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Laity

CatholicExchange.com ^ | July 16, 2007 | David Hartline

[Salvation]

David J. Hartline	Other Articles by David J. Hartline Printer Friendly Version
The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Laity

---

July 16, 2007

It started with anti-Catholic flyers on the windshields of cars in a Catholic church's parking lot.  One could argue that the modern post-Vatican II Catholic apologetics movement started with that act.  San Diego businessman Karl Keating became so upset about these flyers, he felt called to take action.  He subsequently started Catholic Answers and one of his first employees was Patrick Madrid.  For over 25 years, Catholic Answers has been providing Catholics with answers about their faith along with Scriptural, Catechetical and other faith enhancing materials.  My book, The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism, tells the stories of many individuals who have had their own epiphanies and decided it is up to them to help spread the Faith handed down from the Apostles.

Some say that Vatican II itself was the ultimate empowering agent for the Catholic laity.  While that may be true, it has been those Catholic men and women who have supported the Church's teachings and adhered to orthodoxy that have helped the Church grow and prosper.  By the 1980s, many Catholics, especially those born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, had come of age lacking the basic understandings of much of their faith.  As the group born in the 1950s began having children, they craved a better understanding of their faith for themselves and their children.

Bible and Catechism studies were needed to help explain the faith, but establishing these programs in parishes was often derailed by opposition.  As the 1980s and 1990s wore on, Catholic lay people began to become involved in other means of understanding and spreading the faith.  In 1996, Catholic radio had a paltry 30 stations compared to nearly 2,000 Protestant, mainly Evangelical, stations.  However, because of more Catholic lay involvement over the last decade, more that 200 Catholic radio stations can now be found on the air. 

EWTN is a giant in Catholic mass media.  It is hard to imagine where Catholic teaching and learning would be without the faith and perseverance of Mother Angelica.  Without the hundreds and thousands of lay employees and volunteers at EWTN and other Catholic apostolates, one can hardly imagine where the Church would be.  Shows like Mother Angelica Live and Marcus Grodi's The Journey Home would not be possible.  Who knows how these shows have affected the countless millions who have stayed faithful to the Church or have come home to the Faith?

A shining example of Catholic lay involvement is the Internet and specifically the Catholic blogosphere.  While Catholicism has been playing catch-up in radio and television, that is not the case with the Internet and the blogosphere.  Catholic laity are in the forefront of evangelizing and defending the Faith.  While there are thousands of Catholic websites that zealously defend the Church, there are but a handful of heterodox or liberal Catholic websites questioning the Church's teachings.  Pope John Paul II's call for a springtime evangelization of the Church has been answered.  Indeed the tide is turning!

 

David J. Hartline was a Catholic school teacher, coach, principal and diocesan administrator.  He founded the CatholicReport.org website in 2005.

[Salvation]

For your information and discussion.

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

[Salvation]

The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism

The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Youth

The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Converts

The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Clergy

The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Laity

[Salvation]

**A shining example of Catholic lay involvement is the Internet and specifically the Catholic blogosphere. While Catholicism has been playing catch-up in radio and television, that is not the case with the Internet and the blogosphere. Catholic laity are in the forefront of evangelizing and defending the Faith. **

Good to see this on FR — where we do exactly as this quote says!

[aposiopetic]

Amen. For example, many were blessed through this weekend’s EWTN Family Celebration.

[Salvation]

Saw the advertisement for that on their website.

[tiki]

It was about 20 yrs ago that I received a horrible anti-Catholic publication in the mail. I don't even know why I read it but it made me mad even though I kind of believed that Catholics had it all wrong. I showed it to my Catholic friends and they were shocked and hurt.

Isn't it funny that something so hateful furthered my journey to the Catholic Church. We actually started studying the Bible together and they started learning more about their faith so they could answer my incessant questions.

I asked all the usual questions, like...why do you worship Mary? LOL

[Ransomed]

“As the group born in the 1950s began having children, they craved a better understanding of their faith for themselves and their children.”

Maybe in some areas, but I reckon if this craving was as common as this guy says, the bishops of the U.S. would catch a lot more static of an orthodox sort than they do now.

Freegards

[Sun]

bump!

[rjp2005]

While that is true, the springtime that PJP prophesized about is even bigger, amd primarily is about Europe recovering it’s faith and being rebuilt as a truly Christian nation again.

[Biggirl]

...Or of the west realizing that the Christian faith is truly a blessing in and of itself and is a protection against an ever threatening Islam.

[A.A. Cunningham]

He subsequently started Catholic Answers and one of his first employees was Patrick Madrid.

Although he hasn't posted in nearly a year, Patrick Madrid is a Freeper.

[netmilsmom]

>>Maybe in some areas, but I reckon if this craving was as common as this guy says, the bishops of the U.S. would catch a lot more static of an orthodox sort than they do now.<<

I don’t know that it isn’t there but we just don’t hear about it.
Also, in some places the innovators are so “in the trenches” that there is no way to shoehorn them out. This was the case when I moved to my area. I found a nice parish, then suddenly a new DRE was hired. Very innovative. Soon all of her buds were in the highest places of the parish. We went from a nice parish to “innovation central”. Many of our parishoners were Snowbirds who left for winter and came back in summer to the innovations. Living through VII, they had no clue about the new postures and liturgy so just went along.

Some of us began to protest. One lady found out the the Catechism classes would be parading through the main for Mardi Gras, with noisemakers. She went to the priest. First he defaulted to the DRE then after enough complaints (why not teach about Ash Wednesday?), he relented.

After volunteering to assist in the 1st grade class and hearing the teacher tell a boy a simple “No” to the question, “Is it really blood in the cup.” I knew I had to do something before the following year when my daughter would be in second grade. I volunteered to be part of the Education Committee. To make a long and horrible story short, the DRE wanted suggestions to improve the parish to come from the Protestant churches in the area. Any suggestion of Catholic (like an explaination of the sacraments by the Knights of Columbus inserted in the bulletin) was poo-pooed.

Needless to say, I escaped.
Now I say, talk with your feet. Find a good orthodox parish and move your money there.

[netmilsmom]

Really!?!
I wonder if he could get me back on the Catholic Answers Forums.

(don’t be a traditionalist there!)

[GCC Catholic]

How long has it been since you’ve been there? They’ve had a “Traditional Catholic” forum there for the last 6 months or so.

[netmilsmom]

I got tossed from the TA forum for stating that I felt it was put started to get all the traditionalists together and ban them. Unlike the Eastern Christianity forum, anyone was allowed into it to take pot shots at traditionalists. Then then trads got reprimanded. The only way to stick around there is to take abuse and stay quiet.

Karin, Paramedicgirl (she was only reinstated after threatening to pull all money and having to apologize), Caesar, Adonis33, DetroitSue, WalkingHome, Damascus and I were all banned, some of us permanently. My hubby was banned eventhough he posted there very few times. (we called it “The Great traditional Inquisition”) I got an email with my suspension, and actually missed it. Karin sent me an email telling me about it. The suspensions were being discussed on Paramedicgirl’s blog. I added an LOL and got a permanent suspension.

Understanding that in the years I was on, I had one infraction (on the War on Terror forum) and never a suspension, I was shocked. But it’s Karl’s playground. Like FR, he can do what he wants. Go to my profile there. I'm not sure how long I was on, but it was a while. I was Netmilsmom there too.

[GCC Catholic]

Gotcha... That’s really a shame. I thought they were making some progress with implementing the Traditional Catholic forum. I could see them having problems if some of the Traditional Catholics there are suggesting or encouraging schism... but I don’t remember seeing anything like that from the group you mentioned. I post there occasionally (same handle) but it’s been a while.

Just one more hint that the road is uphill...

[netmilsmom]

And the funny thing was that the real “Traditional” Catholics saw it for what it was and tried to stay away. Paramedicgirl’s sister Marlena laid so low, that she was never banned.

She became our spokesperson to say goodbye to people who we were cyberfriends with. It was pretty sad.

[karnage]

Is this really happening? Do you have evidence? I thougth Europe had already committed suicide through low birthrates, and surrendered to the muzzies through political correctness.

[annalex]

So Is Karl Keating, albeit with only a few posts.