Jubilee of Mercy, But With the Confessionals Empty

Chiesa Online ^ | 1/9/16 | Sandro Magister

[marshmallow]

The shocking letter of a priest with the care of souls. Fewer and fewer penitents, and less and less repentant. The counterproductive effects of a "door" thrown open too wide

ROME, January 9, 2016 - One thing that made the news at the end of the year was the data furnished by the prefecture of the pontifical household on attendance in 2015 at the public audiences with Pope Francis, with numbers down almost by half compared to the previous year:

At the Wednesday general audiences there was a drop from 1,199,000 visitors in 2014 to 704,100 in 2015. While for the Sunday Angelus the fall was from 3,040,000 to 1,585,000.

This does not change the fact that Pope Francis remains overwhelmingly popular. His popularity ratings are not enough, however, to determine what level of effective religious practice corresponds to them.

Other revelations are much more indicative in this regard. For example, the official figures that ISTAT compiles every year in Italy on the daily life of a gigantic sampling of citizens, made up of almost 24,000 families, for a total of 54,000 individuals residing in 850 cities large and small.

In the most recent annual report made public, relative to 2014, the "percentage of persons over the age of 6 who go to a place of worship at least once a week" turned out to be 28.8 percent.

The fact that more than a quarter of Italians go to church at least once a week can be seen as significant, in itself and in comparison with other countries. But if this figure is compared with the results of previous years, here as well a clear drop can be seen.

During the seven years of the pontificate of Benedict XVI, this same indicator was consistently above 30 percent in Italy, on average.....

[Biggirl]

Not surprised at all.

[Salvation]

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[vladimir998]

It’s not like he isn’t setting a personal example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKHKmEtpWao

[Biggirl]

The only real time the cofessionals are really busy is when it gets close to either to Christmas or Easter. But also to, the folks that go to confession must make that needed break from sin.