Posted on 09/17/2015 12:42:53 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Over 50 percent of Americans raised in the Catholic Church say they've left the faith at some point in their lives, according to a Pew Research survey on religion and public life.
The data further revealed that among the 52 percent who left the Church, about six out of 10 have returned at some point.
Two-thirds of the group that left the Church now consider themselves ex-Catholics and no-longer identify with the faith.
Around 13 percent, however, still identify as Catholic, but no longer practice the religion.
For those who are still practicing, around 73 percent said they've been in the Church their entire life, and seven out of 10 said they could never imagine leaving it.
Aside from membership, Pew Research also uncovered surprising beliefs held by Catholics pertaining to families.
The survey found that a "strong majority" of Catholics said children being raised in unconventional families with unmarried parents living together, same-sex couples or single parents, is acceptable. Around 90 percent, though, preferred that children be raised with a married mother and father. Forty-three percent said it's acceptable for a gay couple to raise a child.
"Nine-in-10 U.S. Catholics say a household headed by a married mother and father is an ideal situation for bringing up children. But the survey shows that large majorities think other kinds of families — those headed by parents who are single, divorced, unmarried or gay — are OK for raising children, too," noted Pew in the analysis released just days before Pope Francis' first U.S. visit in which he'll encounter a national Catholic population largely supportive of family units not advanced or encouraged by Church teaching.
The survey also found that: "A sizable majority (85 percent) think it's acceptable for a man and a woman to live together as a couple outside of marriage, including more than half (55 percent) who say cohabitation is as good as any other living arrangement for adults. And [seven]-in-10 Catholics say married couples who opt not to have children have chosen a lifestyle that is as good as any other."
And while many Catholics hold progressive beliefs when it comes to issues involving families, the Church seems to be maintaining its traditional views, despite the change in tone from Pope Francis when it comes to divorce and homosexuality.
The Pope did, however, make changes to the Church's annulment process, loosening restrictions on Catholics who wish to remarry. The Vatican is also expected to host a meeting in October with Catholic leaders worldwide where they will analyze recommendations on family issues, including divorce and marriage.
He loosened NO restrictions....there are some cases that are apparent from the start and all he did was speed up the time for those clear cases.
Thanks for the ping.
Well let's see now ...., you listed 20 popes and 6 were duplicate listings....that means 14 bad ass popes over 2,015 years.....that's 1 every 144 years......this country is about 225 years old and we've had ........how many bad presidents.....the Catholic Church is doing just fine....hurry back!!
Only old testament....the Catholic Church gave us the New Testament.Without the Catholic church, you wouldn't have the faintest idea of the life and teachings of Christ.
Once validly Baptized by anybody, anywhere, you are a Catholic...you cannot be baptized something else....
Yeah but then Pelosi still receives the sacrament doesn’t she
Fool
Double posts happen.
I’ve done my share because of the device I’m on.
No, it was not simply BAD popes, with the implication that they were the only ones and all the rest were good.
It was two lists of the WORST popes, which didn’t even agree with each other.
And that is still way too many.
Scripture is absolutely clear on the qualifications of a deacon or elder. The Scripture that the Catholic church claims it wrote and won’t even follow.
Wishful thinking if ever there was any.
Just another example of Catholicism's obsessive control freakness.
They just have to make a claim to owning everyone and to have their fingers in everybody's business, don't they?
I belong to Jesus, not Catholicism. HE is the one who saves me. No one or nothing else.
As for Pelosi, et al, and those who allow her to receive, they will answer to God, not to me. For he who eats the Body of Christ unworthily brings a judgement upon himself. So goes, I suppose, Nuncle Lear, for those, who chose, to give Him to her.
As for me, and the other 2 billion plus, God will judge us as well. I stick to what the Church teaches as best I can, it's up to God to judge, not some arrogant self-interpreter who would categorically damn us all to hell!
Tend your own back yard!
Mark it, nuncle.
Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest,
Leave thy drink and thy whore
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shalt have more
Than two tens to a score.
- "King Lear" Act 1, Scene 4
None at all.....
Where? In the Catholicism haters who can't wait to see our Church fall? Or who sit like kids on a sandbox, saying "We're going to Heaven, and you're not"?
Puh-leeze!
Then you need to read them over again- objectively, this time- without the anti- Catholicism squint.
Catholics leave the Church every Sunday after they attend Mass.
Verga, that was the dialogue (between God and Satan) Pope Leo XIII claimed he heard as he descended the altar that inspired him to compose the Prayer to Saint Michael. The old "Leonine Prayers" at the end of mass were the result of this "vision." They were chucked, along with much else, as a result of the Second Vatican Council.
RE: leave
I think you are using the word “leave” in a different sense as the author of this article :)
Thank you for clarifying. My only excuse is that I was not familiar with that particular reference and that it has been a very long week at work. My apologies.
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