How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4: 14) comes true.Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
This homily was delivered on April 18, 2005. Since then, the evidence of his preaching has manifested itself in all too personal a reality for many of us. We raised our children in the Church, ensured they were properly educated and received all of the sacraments yet many of them have slipped away.
Secularism can be a strangle hold to impede the development of one's growth in faith.
I am Catholic but not “practicing”. Until the church starts kicking out some politicians I find no reason to be in the pew.
It’s happening all over American Christianity. People have decided that they don’t need church or religion. Oprah tells them that its more important to be spiritual than religious. They meditate through yoga to “commune with diety”. They stop attending church because they don’t agree with one part of doctrine...and the next church has a different disagreeable piece of doctrine....and the next church another.
Basically, they believe they hold all knowledge on their cell phone. They can publish their beliefs for the whole world to see via the phone everytime they discover that they believe something new. They can reach out and buy things on their phone.
So, they worship the phone. We’ve become a cargo cult.
The problem for me is that the people this describes are those that occupy high and low office in the Church. I refer to the pro-abortion-politician-loving USCCB in particular. And not only do they force public policy, they actively thwart the teaching of proper Catechism and morals.
That's why I left the church - things are so awful by me that I now have serious doubts about the beneficial value of the Eucharist. I wish this were not the case, but I'm seeing a negative correlation between the frequency that a person participates in the sacrament of Communion and the amount of vile (yet sanctimoniously executed) actions taken by them.
It breaks my heart, really (no sarcasm whatsoever), but I can't ignore what's happening.
Discovered the cause in the very first sentence yet failed to make the connection.
I can definitely see why religion is unappealing to women and women are leaving in droves. The only women who go to church are really old, like some of my aunts in their 60’s.
The only reason my family went to church is because my father dragged my mother and me/sibling down there. He actually liked church. Once he died, we stopped going. It’s a very depressing place.
Simple answer: Pray to God for your loved ones and all persons who have left the faith that He may show them the way back. On a personal note from certain members of my own family (my sister and a nephew) who have left the Church, it is my perception that neither one of them seem to have a sense of a "fear of the Lord." They truly have no profound sense of guilt for a sin, which is sad.
Count me in as one of the 30 million former Catholics. Between Kool Aid drinking ultramontanists on the Catholic Right, and illegal alien enablers on the Left, why bother?
Being called heretics or schismatics would be mild language for many RCs on FR. But the charge is mutual btwn Scripture Christians and RCs.
I see several very clear, distinct reason for those who before called themselves Catholics to no longer do so.
The largest, single reason is that these were CINOs, Catholics in Name Only, who were only socially aligned with Catholicism. Where they had lived the church effectively ruled over them, dominating the government, the police, and all the good jobs. It even after a fashion dominated the criminal element. The ticket to anything was that a person had to call themselves a Catholic and be affiliated with a parish.
When this social omnipotence of the church ended, so did any reason the CINOs had to be anything other than nominal members.
The second biggest reason was Vatican II. To traditional, conservative Catholics, it felt like a betrayal at the top.
I got to see what happened when a church in Phoenix was again allowed to conduct a Latin Mass. Catholics who had not been to church since Vatican II *had* to return. The first two rows of pews were filled with aged invalids, some on death’s door. Standing room only in that large church, with floor fans because of the heat of so many crowded together. A few elderly people carried icons of their deceased spouses.
These were people who felt the church had deserted them. They wanted their religion back, not whatever trendy ideas were popular for the moment.
68% of those raised Roman Catholic still are Catholic (higher than the retention rates of individual Protestant denoms, but less than Jews at 76%). 15% are now Protestant (9% evangelical); 14% are unaffiliated. Pew forum, Faith in Flux (April 27, 2009) http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/fullreport.pdf
80% of adults who were raised Protestant are still Protestant, but (analysis shows) 25% no longer self-identify with the Protestant denomination in which they were raised. ^
44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations since childhood, mostly mainline Protestants. 7% who were raised Protestant are now unaffiliated; 15% now belong to a different Protestant faith. ^
51% of Protestants from a different Protestant denomination cite a lack of spiritual fulfillment as a reason for leaving their childhood faith. 85% say they joined their current denominational faith because they enjoy the services and style of worship. Only 15% left say they left because they stopped believing in its teachings. ^
Those who have left Catholicism outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin. 10.1% have left the Catholic Church after having been raised Catholic, while only 2.6% of adults have become Catholic after having been raised in a different faith.^
4% of Americans raised Catholic are now unaffiliated; 5% are now Protestant. ^
Over 75% of those who left Catholicism attended Mass at least once a week as children, versus 86% having done so who remain Catholics today.^
Regarding reasons for leaving Catholicism, less than 30% of former Catholics agreed that the clergy sexual abuse scandal played a role in their departure. ^
71% of converts from Catholicism to Protestant faith said that their spiritual needs were not being met in Catholicism, with 78% of Evangelical Protestants in particular concurring, versus 43% of those now unaffiliated. ^
50% of all Protestants converts from Catholicism said they stopped believing in Catholicism's teachings overall. Only 23% (20% now evangelical) were unhappy about Catholicism's teachings on abortion/homosexuality (versus 46% of those now unaffiliated); 23% also expressed disagreement with teaching on divorce/remarriage; 16% (12% now evangelical) were dissatisfied with teachings on birth control, 70% said they found a religion the liked more in Protestantism.
55% of evangelical converts from Catholicism cited dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings about the Bible was a reason for leaving Catholicism, with 46% saying the Catholic Church did not view the Bible literally enough.
81% of all Protestant converts from Catholicism said they enjoyed the service and worship of Protestant faith as a reason for joining a Protestant denomination, with 62% of all Protestants and 74% Evangelicals also saying that they felt God's call to do so. ^
42% of those now unaffiliated stated they do not believe in God, or most religious teaching. ^
54% of “millennial generation” Catholics (born in 1982 or later) are Hispanics, while 39% are non-Hispanic whites. On the other hand, 76% of “pre-Vatican II generation” Catholics (born 1943 or earlier) are non-Hispanic whites, while 15% are Hispanics. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, September, 2010 . http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6850/Openers-More-evidence-of-the-browning-of-US-Cat.aspx
68% of all Latinos in the U.S. identify as Catholics. Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion http://pewforum.org/Changing-Faiths-Latinos-and-the-Transformation-of-American-Religion.aspx Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion - American Piety in the 21 Century – 9-2006 http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
Among Catholics under the age of 30, 47% are white, and 45% are Latino. In contrast, among Catholics over the age of 65, 82% are white (Pew Forum 2007, reported in http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Catholics-and-LGBT-Issues-Survey-Report.pdf)
Latinos comprised 32 percent of all U.S. Catholics in 2008, versus to 20 percent in 1990. However, Catholic identification has slipped from 66 percent in 1990 to 60 percent in 2008. There has also been a significant rise in the number of Latinos who do not adhere to a religion. The longer a Latino has lived in the United States, the less likely he or she is to be Catholic. Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College, http://theamericano.com/2010/03/18/new-report-on-u-s-latino-religious-identification/
18% of all Latinos say they have either converted from one religion to another or to no religion at all. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/75.4.pdf
1,000 Mexicans left the Catholic Church every day between 2000 and 2010, a decline that has continued uninterrupted over the past 60 years, from 98.21 of the population to 83.9 percent today. Latin American Herald Tribune, March 10, 2011, based upon census data and study by sociologist and historian Roberto Blancarte of Colegio de Mexico and the National Autonomous University of Mexico
The percentage of of Protestants and Evangelicals rose from 1.28% in 1950 to close to 8% of the total population in 2010, (excluding so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons). 5.2 million say they profess no religion. ^
This decline is seen as extending across the region (Catholics represent between 55% to 73% in Central America, 70% in Brazil, 50% in Cuba and Uruguay).^
Brazil’s National Statistics Institute reported that the number of evangelical Christians in Brazil (the world’s largest Catholic country) has risen from 15% of the population in 2000 to to 22% of the population in 2010, and 4% 40 years ago, while the proportion of Catholic Brazilians fell from 93.% of Brazilians 40 years ago, and 74% of the population in 2000 to to 65% in 2010. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/29/ratio-of-evangelicals-in-brazil-jumps-44-in-10-years/
Almost 20% of all Latino American Catholics have left the Roman Catholicism, with 23 percent of second-generation Latino Americans doing so. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf
54% of Hispanic Catholics describe themselves as charismatic Christians. http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=75
51% of Hispanic Evangelicals are converts, and 43% are former Catholics. ^
82% of Hispanics cite the desire for a more direct, personal experience with God as the main reason for adopting a new faith. Among those who have become evangelicals, 90% say it was a spiritual search for a more direct, personal experience with God was the main reason that drove their conversion. Negative views of Catholicism do not appear to be a major reason for their conversion. ^
Latino evangelicals are more than 20 percentage points more likely than Catholics to say that abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances. http://www.nhclc.org/news/latino-religion-us-demographic-shifts-and-trend
The first generation of Latino immigrants is 74 percent Catholic, and 15 percent Protestant. The second generation is 72 percent Catholic, and 20 percent Protestant. The third generation is 62 percent Catholic, and 29 percent Protestant. ^
According to the Census Bureau, the Latino population in the United States grew from 22.4 million in 1990 to 41.3 million in 2004, adding a staggering 18.9 million people in 10 years. Broader estimates, which include Puerto Rican islanders (4 million) and undocumented immigrants (5 million), put the U.S. Latino population at over 50 million. ^
In 2003, Latinos surpassed African-Americans as the largest minority group in the United States. Latinos now represent about 14 percent of the U.S. population. This growth is a result of both immigration and high domestic birth rates. About 53 percent of all immigrants to the United States come from Latin America. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans make up 58 percent of all foreign born Latin-American immigrants. ^ More :
we had nuns in nun outfits....
we had processions all the time...and in May we did special devotions to Mary...
we sang simple nice music, but definately not the kumbaya stuff around now...
the old Catholic church was built aroung the family.....all those huge families after WW2...we had cyo basketball...we had church choir picnics...we had blue and gold dinners for our parish boy scout troop...
it was all good...a wonderful time to be a kid...
now....there is little fellowship...at least not like before...we don't know what we believe....we think we need to "reach" out to every pervert and not be judgemental on abortion and birth control and especially, we don't encourage large families....no, not that...we couldn't have large families...
large families is what the Catholic church in America was all about and now its just a moot point...
My husband grew up in a very Catholic community. He went to a Catholic grade school through 8th grade. Unfortunately, the local Catholic Church had few activities for the young people. My husband had lots of friends in high school and was regularly invited to attend Luther League events. The Lutheran college, only 15 miles away, offered summer courses for high school students. My husband attended one and liked the college so much that he applied there and was accepted. That’s where he met me - a life long Lutheran. His priest’s greatest fear was realized. :-)
So my dear husband has been a Lutheran for many years. I think he may have left the Catholic Church on his own, based on issues he has had with it over the years. But it was the outreach of the Lutheran Church with first drew him away.
Doctrinal differences here.
The more I read of Scripture, the bigger difference between it and the teachings of the Catholic church I saw.
It finally reached a breaking point and the Word of God won out.
Churches that are Biblically accurate and culturally relevant are growing like crazy.
People see whether a church is congruent with its message. They know whether the message is meaningful.
Churches that fail one or both are shrinking - and this without regard to denomination.
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I was received (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist)) into the Church in 2009. I am probably one of the more traditionally minded in our small rural VA parish. What drew me into the Church, was not quite what I found. It seems that some in the Church are more interested in a worldly kingdom (social things), not a heavenly one(true conversion). Maybe the lack of pastoral challenge against our sinfulness keeps people away.
I was received into the Church in 2001, via EWTN. Of course I found neither the piety, reverence nor the teaching anywhere in my diocese to even begin to compare with EWTN, nor even a single effort in the diocese to accommodate the Extraordinary Form. The nearest accomodation is almost a 7 hour drive.
The parish churches are stripped now, taking on the appearance of protestant churches, along with guitars and 2nd grade level lyrics in many of the song selections. No silence to speak of, because music has prime of place. The sign of Peace is out of control, exaggerated now, into other rows and scandalously across the aisles and back, even extending cheerfully into the Lamb of God prayer.
I wretch at the fall of the Mass every single Sunday, but I would NEVER miss a Mass. I am outraged and revolted every Sunday, but I would never miss a Mass. My heart is pierced by the abuses I witness, but I would never miss a Mass.
I made a pact with God Himself to acknowledge that He is there in the Mass and He is pained also, but He is there for me, in Holy Communion, and I must be there for Him to receive Him.
All He asks is for me to endure unto the End.
He warned us in Sacred Scripture what was to come, and it is here. We did it to ourselves and we accept His warning— that but a remnant of even the faithful will be saved— that were not the days shortened even the very elect would be lost. I believe Him. He knows of the outrage, pain and disgust.
“....and you, my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
Have a blessed Christmas and a blessed New Year.
I don’t know, I went to a friend to his Catholic mass on Christmas day. The church had two masses going at all times and several times throughout the day. It was full to the last seat.
But if I were looking for the "original" church, I would go to the Orthodox: the doctrine is essentially the same, but the hierarchical setup and the "style" of the RC is more medieval/Renaissance, while that of the Orthodox is pre-medieval.