Catholic tradition fading in US (Evangelical Protestants now outnumber Catholics)

The Washington Times ^ | February 26, 2008 | Julia Duin

[Antoninus]

This is a snapshot of a moment in time, but I don't have any difficulty believing it. The numbers of practicing Catholics is even lower--maybe much lower.

That said, the Catholic Church in the US has turned a corner since 2002. The Vatican is taking a more active role in weeding out the bishops whose poor catechesis is primarily responsible for Catholics falling away from the Faith. The Church moves in geologic time and it takes a long time to turn such a big ship around.

I am encouraged by the fact that conservative Protestant intellectuals, pastors, and preachers are finding their way across the Tiber in great numbers, thanks in part to the fantastic work of The Coming Home network among others. Meanwhile, those who leave Catholicism are generally those who were never properly catechized and thus easily led or have bought into the morals of the secular culture.

[Antoninus]

When some of the descendants of said people grew wealthy and suburbanized (and assimilated), they saw the faith of their ancestors as being archaic in the sense that it was associated with poverty and downward mobility.

Good point. One can not serve both God and Mammon. For a lot of these folks, Mammon is the easier choice.

[OLD REGGIE]

Yep. We now outnumber the Baptists in the Dallas area.

Converts?

Immigrants?

[Antoninus]

And leaving in greater numbers.

Not in our parish. We've got so many catechumens every Lent it's unbelievable. But then again, we've also got priests who preach the Faith without political correctness, insist people go to confession, institute perpetual Eucharistic adoration, and say the traditional Latin Mass once per week.

[OLD REGGIE]

Sorry about your Patsies, Reg. ;o)

It's a good thing I like you. :)

[DesScorp]

The Catholic Church’s numbers would grow if they embraced real Catholicism, and not this liberation theology crap. The last two Pope’s have tried to do just that, but liberal toadies like the Jesuits are fighting it tooth, nail, and devil’s cloven hoof.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

Sorry about your Patsies, Reg. ;o)

How come I never got a "sorry bout your Broncos"? :-)

[al_c]

Converts and Catholics moving to Texas from other states make up the majority of registered members. Illegals don’t bother registering most of the time.

[OLD REGGIE]

Let me correct myself. While I agree there are Catholics that don’t believe in the real presence, I doubut it’s “most” as you claim. I’d like to see your numbers on that.

Just a couple:

We're all familiar with the surveys conducted a few years ago that seem to lead to the conclusion that only about twenty-seven percent, I think it was, twenty-seven percent of Catholics believe in the Real Presence as the Church teaches it.

Several years ago, The New York Times ran a poll about belief in the Eucharist. All of us understand the limited value of polls, but this one deserves careful attention. It seemed to show that only about a third of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist!

Knights Of Columbus

[al_c]

How come I never got a "sorry bout your Broncos"? :-)

C'mon, Steven ... the Broncs are sorry enough on their own, they don't need me to add to it. ;o)

[OLD REGGIE]

Not in our parish. We've got so many catechumens every Lent it's unbelievable. But then again, we've also got priests who preach the Faith without political correctness, insist people go to confession, institute perpetual Eucharistic adoration, and say the traditional Latin Mass once per week.

I'm afraid your parish is not the United States.

[al_c]

From the Columbia (KofC publication) article ...
It seemed to show that only about a third of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist!

Boy, that's a sad state of affairs. There were times in the past when I wondered if I was in the right church. The pull of the Eucharist is what kept me from leaving. I'm glad I didn't give up ... God has blessed me so much since then.

[OLD REGGIE]

Converts and Catholics moving to Texas from other states make up the majority of registered members. Illegals don’t bother registering most of the time.

You asked me to back up my claim of "most Catholics". I did. It's your turn now.

[al_c]

Let me see what I can find. It might be tomorrow before I post anything (darn work getting in the way of FReeping).

[Between the Lines]

Count the number of your parishes and schools closing...That's the real statistic...

The vast majority of Catholic parish and school closings are due to the fact that Catholics are moving out of these parishes. The problem is that many places where Catholics are moving to the Church has little or no presence, particularly here in the South.

I live in a small unincorporated town of about 15000 in South Carolina. The Catholics met at a school here for many years with about 300 attending. The diocese finally decided to build a church here two years ago that would seat 450. They thought it would give them room for future growth. Since it opened they have five Masses every week that are standing room only. By the diocese's own admission, they had no idea there were so many Catholics in the area.

The Catholic Church has done a poor job here in the US in dealing with a mobile society. 100 years ago they were fairly quick in moving into areas where Catholics moved into. But today they are reticent in closing old churches and schools where there are few Catholics and building new ones where the Catholics have emigrated.

As a result Protestant churches in the South are growing from the influx of Catholics that have no church home. About one quarter of our church are former Catholics.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

C'mon, Steven ... the Broncs are sorry enough on their own, they don't need me to add to it. ;o)

Oh sure take your shots now but don't come cryin' to me when they win the SB.

[Petronski]

Instead, we're served the "Catholicism is dying" headline du jour.

That's because there are people in this world anxious to announce the demise of the Catholic Church so they can celebrate it. I can smell some of them right here in this thread.

[Between the Lines]

Yep. We now outnumber the Baptists in the Dallas area.

Converts? Immigrants?

A surge in immigrants from Latin America also is reshaping the church. Hispanics now make up between 20 percent and 30 percent of the Catholic population nationally and two-thirds of the Catholics in the Dallas Diocese.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/tx-dallas/Dallas-2001.htm

[al_c]

From your link.An influx of immigrants from Latin America and white-collar workers from the North is driving the growth.

Good info. Thanks. But there's still not concrete numbers and it's old data. A lot has changed in a lot of parishes since 2001. I'm going to keep looking for further info.

[maryz]

Scroll down a little more than halfway to THIRD GALLUP POLL (1992): BELIEF IN DOGMA ON HOLY EUCHARIST. This poll seems to be the source for that figure.