Posted on 04/18/2022 7:05:01 PM PDT by marshmallow
Denver Newsroom, Apr 13, 2022 / 16:57 pm (CNA). At a time when Catholicism in Australia faces crises such as a loss of faith and declining religious practice, a plenary council preparatory document shows “serious failures” that suggest a lack of confidence and “evangelical vigor,” one archbishop has said.
The document’s doctrinal contradictions and general tone, he said, can encourage Catholics to shrink from their “prophetic task” and become caught in a “spiritual paralysis.”
“This is the time for the Church to rise up with new evangelical vigor. This is the time to turn all our attention to announcing a word of life and hope,” Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart said in an April 11 commentary. In reading the working document, he said, “I sense a church that has lost confidence in itself; a church that has lost confidence in its identity and mission.”
“The sharp edge of the call to conversion and faith is lacking in the document. In the face of the rise of those who declare that they have no faith it is necessary more than ever to issue the call to faith,” said Porteous, whose archdiocese is on the island of Tasmania.
“The Church in Australia is in the midst of an existential crisis as it witnesses thousands abandoning participation in the sacramental life of the Church each year,” he added. “The Church is in serious decline, yet no real recognition of this reality is given in the document.”
“Because the crisis of faith is not acknowledged, the document makes no effort to propose a way forward for the Church,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicworldreport.com ...
“The Church in Australia is in the midst of an existential crisis as it witnesses thousands abandoning participation in the sacramental life of the Church each year,”
The Church in the US witnessed a much larger exodus, yet did little more than pack its fiddle and head to Rome. There is absolute denial at the highest levels of the hierarchy that this operating model is done; they see the parishes and schools shuttering, but do nothing to stop it. They inspire nobody; in fact, they work against the Church by promoting ecumenical nonsense which only causes Catholics to wonder why they abide by any religious laws at all. If our non-Catholic brethren are on their own path to salvation, why not join them in sleeping in on Sunday? /s
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.