Posted on 09/06/2009 3:50:15 PM PDT by NYer
And in a big way. A lot of you have seen the great ads produced by a group called Catholics Come Home. The ads, evidently, are working. And spreading.
From the Los Angeles Times:
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento is home to nearly 1 million Catholics. On a typical Sunday, less than 137,000 can be found in church.Curious to see what all the fuss is about? Check out the videos below. And you can find more at the Catholics Come Home link.
Now, using a strategy straight from the secular playbook, its leaders hope to lure back those who have drifted.
The diocese and nearly a dozen others across the country are preparing to air several thousand prime-time TV commercials in English and Spanish, inviting inactive Catholics to return to their religious roots.
In addition to Sacramento, dioceses in Chicago, Omaha, Providence, R.I., and four other cities will launch the “Catholics Come Home” advertising blitz during Advent, the period before Christmas.
Four more dioceses will follow during Lent next spring. Los Angeles is not among the initial group but could be part of a nationwide campaign slated for December 2010.
"I'm hoping that a significant number of people will give us another look," Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said of the campaign. "Many Catholics have a sense of believing but not always a sense of belonging."
The potential audience is huge.
Only about one-quarter of U.S. Catholics say they attend Mass every week, and a majority go to religious services a few times a year or less, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, which conducts social science research about the Catholic church.
Researchers there also found that two-thirds of Catholics believe they can be good members of their faith without attending Mass regularly.
Inactive Catholics cite a number of reasons for their absence. Many do not believe that missing Mass is a sin, the center reported. Others say they are too busy with family or work, or, as other analysts point out, are more interested in material happiness than spiritual fulfillment.
"There is a strange pattern of people who aren't practicing but still have beliefs and pick up parts of the faith," said Mark Gray, a research associate with the center. "They may give up meat on Fridays during Lent or attend Ash Wednesday services."
Bump!
Despite any scientifically valid data to the contrary...
Most Catholics voted for Obama in the 2008 election and give him positive marks for his performance in office thus far.
Obama won 54% of the overall Catholic vote in the November presidential election.
This according the the Pew Research Center.
The Pew data is based on non-random, non-scientific polling data.
It is scientifically meaningless.
Paul 544, herewith a post of mine on the occasion of Kennedy's funeral, posted 08/30/09:
"A personal odyssey. My wife and I were both raised Catholics and both went to Catholic schools. Now in my 60s I still attended Mass faithfully and received Communion weekly.
For years I was bothered by the fact the Church would take no action against pro-abort politicians like Kennedy, but I deferred to the Church's judgement. There was also the pedophilia scandal which almost bankrupted the Spokane diocese north of me (I am in the Yakima diocese), but again I deferred to the episcopate. Surely these people know what they are doing and have the best interests of the faithful at heart, don't they?
Then came Obama at Notre Dame. Watching aged nuns and priests be arrested while that man was an honored guest at a "Catholic" institution named after our Holy Mother was finally more than I could bear. That order at ND is under the direct supervision of the Pope and he and the order's prefect did nothing (in fact the prefect defended the invite). Judas Jenning, Order of Pontius Pilate, is still running ND and the Church, while constantly giving lip service to its Pro-Life position, did nothing, does nothing.
That the Church honors this pagan who poses as a Catholic doesn't surprise me in the least. It sickens me but it does not surprise me. After all just how much money have the Kennedys given the Church over the years in order to buy its silence and cooperation, such as buying their jokes of annulments?
Needless to say I am no longer a practicing Catholic, for as Ronald Reagan said of the Democrats, I didn't leave it, it left me.
And just so you won't think I am only critical of the Catholic Church for its inconsistencies, I point the same accusing finger at our Mormon friends. One of your apostles once called abortion "the greatest evil of our time" (perhaps paraphrased, but reasonably close). That was one of your apostles, guys, a rather exalted person in your Church, no? So then explain to me why Harry Reid is still a member in good standing?
Will our side ever take a firm stand on anything?"
I received some very kind, very concerned replies from some Catholics of here for which I am grateful, but it changes nothing. A few days later there was a story on here about how that pos Jenkins refuses to drop charges against those arrested for protesting in defense of Life and against Obama being honored at ND. Meanwhile the Church does nothing, says nothing. Jesus decried the hypocrites of His day. I do likewise and absolutely refuse to be an accomplice any longer in this travesty.
Good luck and God's speed my friend.
LOL! That has to be the best I’ve come across.
Spiritual intellectual weakness is a burden. I will pray you overcome such shallow formation.
Well said.
You congratulate error.
The Catholics? Maybe you mean "the democrat Catholics"?
You know, the same "Catholics" who routinely reelect their likeminded, pro-abortion Catholics such as Leahy, Biden, Kennedy and the slew of other digraces.
Indeed. Catholic grade school graduate, Catholic High School graduate (when the Church was the Church), and Adult Religion classes.
I pray you will overcome ignorance before you speak and your overweening spiritual pride.
So did white people, black people, etc. Are you going to leave the human race?
“So did white people, black people, etc. Are you going to leave the human race?”
Of course not !
Draw the conclusion that you will, but when the majority of Catholics vote for a President who holds clearly anti-Christian viewpoints, and when you have many ex-Catholics here saying the exact same thing, maybe it's time to look at the errors of the Church.
But I know, the "Church" can never make an error, it is without blame, it is perfect in all that it does. Right?
Then fight for the Church as you would for America. Bad eggs in both that we need to overcome.
How can you fight the errors of the Church when it does not err, by definition? It is never wrong; it is the sole arbiter of what is correct and what is Christian. Thus to argue against the Church would be to commit heresy.
That, in my opinion only refers to matters of faith and dogma. Obama doesn't fall into either category as far as I'm concerned.
What if the next Pope agrees with Cardinal McKerrick, and accepts pro-abortion supporters as full Catholics? Will you change your acceptance too, since the Church is never wrong?
Then why the concern over the fact that a majority of Catholics voted for Obama, and that you have Cardinals praising pro-abortion Catholics?
I am concerned. But just as a majority of Americans voted for Obama and we have so-called secular leaders backing him, I can't abandon my country. And, as much as I've had my issues with the Church (as a divorced and remarried Catholic) I can't abandon it, either.
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