Posted on 02/21/2023 11:06:34 AM PST by ebb tide
Here are the heartening statistics of growth and fidelity at a time when the Catholic Church is in a free fall outside the Latin Mass. This is the benevolent and thriving future of the Catholic Church in America. It should be applauded, not suppressed or targeted. Featured Image Latin MassAllison Girone
Fr. Donald Kloster
6
Mon Feb 20, 2023 - 3:50 pm EST Listen to this article 0:00 / 8:34 BeyondWords
(LifeSiteNews) – Why would the FBI target peaceful traditional Catholics with young growing families that attend Latin Mass? Why would Pope Francis suppress the thriving Latin Mass, which is building a young community of strong, faithful, and committed Catholics deeply devoted to the practice and tenets of the Catholic faith?
Despite harassment from Rome and targeting from federal law enforcement, the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) movement is growing in strength and numbers determined to worship Our Lord at the 2,000-year-old Traditional Mass of the Ages. The recent TLM statistics convey that this thriving community of growing Catholics loves the Catholic Church, embraces its teachings, and is growing exponentially.
What would justify the FBI targeting good, Church-going Catholic citizens with large young families?
Why suppress the fastest growing entity of Catholicism, Pope Francis?
Here are the heartening statistics of growth and fidelity at a time when the Catholic Church is in a free fall outside the Latin Mass. This is the benevolent and thriving future of the Catholic Church in America. It should be applauded, not suppressed or targeted.
It has been four years since my First National TLM Survey of all adults was released in 2019. The survey consisted of seven questions and yielded a sample total of 1,773 from 16 states.
The survey contrasted the beliefs of Novus Ordo Mass attendees versus Traditional Latin Mass attendees in three areas of doctrinal beliefs: contraception, abortion, and gay “marriage.”
Of the Novus Ordo faithful, 89% approved of contraception. The TLM, only 2%. Of the Novus Ordo faithful, 51% approved of abortion. The TLM, a meager 1%. And 67% of the Novus Ordo faithful approved of same-sex “marriage.” At the TLM, this number is only 2%.
It would seem that only a few of the questions have had a percentage shift from 2019 to 2023. One is the fertility rate of Novus Ordo women, which was 2.3 in 2019.
Pew Research now has the fertility rate of American Novus Ordo women at 2.1. The fertility rate among the United States TLM women was 3.6 in 2019; it now has risen to 3.8 (this is my estimate from talking to TLM apostolates).
This increase could be explained by older TLM women who used contraception in their youth and then had stopped using contraception once they began to attend the TLM. The TLM women in 2019 had a 57% bigger family size. In 2023, TLM women have an 81% bigger family size.
This number may continue to widen, since collectively there continues to be an elevated percentage of Novus Ordo women who use contraception, and younger TLM women who are marrying have never and will never use contraception.
The fertility rate was around 5.0 for all women worldwide in 1960, according to worldbank.org. Therefore, I expect the fertility rate to keep rising among TLM women.
The question on weekly Mass attendance has also changed since the virus shutdown of 2020. Before 2020, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) was saying that 22% of Novus Ordo Catholics in the United States were going to Mass. That number has been cut by 40-50%.
In my own Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, there were around 441,000 Catholics in 2020 and 70,000 were going to Mass. That’s about 16%.
As of the end of 2022, we were around 445,000 Catholics with 50,000 going to Sunday Mass, which is about 11%.
Conversely, the TLM Sunday attendance for all adults in both of my National Studies came in at an average of 98%.
The percentage number of TLM Catholics going to Mass from 2020-2022 held steadily at 98%.
The virus didn’t affect the TLM faithful the way it did the Novus Ordo faithful. I conducted an informal poll of 10 parishes across the country in the fall of 2022. Their attendance from Easter 2021 to Easter 2022 had a median growth of 24%! The amazing outcome was that the growth was after and in spite of the promulgation of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. — Article continues below Petition — PETITION: We won't give any money to liberal bishops who attack the Faith Show Petition Text 12581 have signed the petition. Let's get to 15000! Add your signature: Keep me updated via email on this petition and related issues.
The Second National TLM Study concluded on March 1, 2020. Just two weeks later, we endured the shutdown of Catholic Churches for months. This Second Study of 18-39 year old adults collected 1,779 samples from 39 states.
For anyone attending a Sunday TLM, it is incredible how much younger the congregation is as compared to the Novus Ordo, which is now heavily attended by an aging baby boomer segment of the Church.
One response that gave me a lot of hope was that 80% of our young adults going to the TLM thought about a priestly or religious vocation. I doubt that number would be north of 10% among their fellow young adult Novus Ordo-attending Catholics.
We know that our USA population is made up of 51% females and 49% males. When I was a seminarian, there was much talk about attracting men back to the Novus Ordo Mass. It is obvious to anyone who is not an ideologue that the Sunday Novus Ordo is bereft of any significant number of men. It was not uncommon to have many men in the confessional at my various TLM apostolates. The Second TLM Study showed that 57% of the respondents were male; that is an eight-point bump over the percentage of males in our USA population!
The TLM attracts men because the Traditional Liturgy is more masculine and ceremonially transmits the faith on a much deeper level.
Finally, the TLM is made up of around 20% converts. The Novus Ordo has a much more modest number of 2% converts. The reverts in the TLM were also an elevated number of 25%. I’ve not been able to locate a percentage number of reverts who attend the Novus Ordo. Only 16% of the respondents attributed their preferred TLM attendance to their parents.
In fact, most of the young adults frequenting the TLM tend to bring their parents into the TLM; intuitively quite backwards.
As a priest who has said the Novus Ordo for over 20 years and the TLM 24 years (seven years exclusively the TLM), I can testify to the beautiful expansion of my spiritual life through the Holy Mass. The Novus Ordo gave me sanctifying graces slowly like a dripping faucet. The TLM has given me graces superabundantly like a rapidly flowing river.
One should not be surprised that the Mass of the Ages, the Mass given to us by the early Church, and the Mass attended by generations of our forefathers would better quench our collective spiritual thirst.
Father Donald Kloster has been ordained for 27 years for the Diocese of Bridgeport. He received a BA from the University of Texas at Austin. He attended the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, OH for 2 years and completed an MDiv from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary In Philadelphia, PA. He worked as a VA Chaplain for 8 years in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, TX and was a Missionary priest in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil Ecuador as a pastor for 7 years in one of the largest poorer parishes.
He has completed two National Studies on the TLM in the United States. He is a prolific writer on liturgical issues and speaks all over the country. His website is liturgyguy.com where his surveys and articles can be accessed.
The survey contrasted the beliefs of Novus Ordo Mass attendees versus Traditional Latin Mass attendees in three areas of doctrinal beliefs: contraception, abortion, and gay “marriage.”
Of the Novus Ordo faithful, 89% approved of contraception. The TLM, only 2%. Of the Novus Ordo faithful, 51% approved of abortion. The TLM, a meager 1%. And 67% of the Novus Ordo faithful approved of same-sex “marriage.” At the TLM, this number is only 2%.
Ping
Sheds some light on Bergoglio’s bilious, vitrolic hatred of the Latin Mass in particular and Tradition in general.
I live in the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and the Traditional Latin Mass is offered at an Oratory run by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The Oratory was erected (in law, not physically) in October 2020. One of the fears of the Vatican was that TLM folks were anti-Vatican II and anti-Bergoglio. In my many casual conversations with parishioners, I have heard some grumbling about Bergoglio and some dismay at the council, but no wholesale opposition. The parish is growing like crazy; Sunday attendance over the past 2 1/2 years has grown from approx. 500 to at least 850 per week; MANY young families with LOTS of children; and weekly contributions are about $7000.
I take my grandson to SSPX in the morning, then I take an elderly lady at night to FSSP.
I can’t tell the difference.
Our American Latino Bishop is near retirement. He likes our FSSP.
If another new Bishop tries to stomp on FSSP, I’ll just go twice per Sunday to SSPX, and they’ll probably have to add more Masses.
“I take my grandson to SSPX in the morning, then I take an elderly lady at night to FSSP.
I can’t tell the difference.”
That’s right: same Mass.
Suck it, Frank.
Unsurprising ... the only difference is that FSSP has historically been in a rather more "regular" relationship to the Vatican/Diocese/Parish structure than the SSPX. The Argentinian Communist is determined to destroy both.
Except on the contraception issue, even the New Mass Catholics in my area do not possess those liberalized views at anywhere near the reported rates. In fact, they’d be closer to the TLM Catholics than to the stats as given. I have to think the polling samples were obtained from liberal big city dioceses or some other type of biased sample. Heck, even the general population in my area is not that liberal.
How do you know that?
Because I’ve lived here and known them for almost 70 years and am familiar with homilies given by parish priests — very often pro-life, etc. The relatively small number of liberal Catholics we have would be transplants from big cities like Seattle and Portland. I am in Yakima diocese which includes many Hispanics who also tend to be conservative on social issues.
The SSPX has no inclination to commit Harakari and so will be a harder nut to crack, and thus far Francis has kept the FSSP friendly by favouring them over all the rest of the Trads.
But all that is for naught now, Murph.
Haven’t you heard that all dispensations (past, present and former) to offer a TLM must come directly from the dictator pope or his little Cockroche?
Do you think Bishop Barron will follow these unjust laws of Bergoglio?
Correction:
former=future
Even TDOAY'S First reading.. - Sirach of all books !!!
My son, when you come to serve the LORD,
stand in justice and fear,
prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere of heart and steadfast,
incline your ear and receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;
thus will you be wise in all your ways.
Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in crushing misfortune be PATIENT;
For in fire gold and silver are tested,
and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and God will help you;
trust in him, and he will direct your way;
keep his fear and grow old therein.
...
Study the generations long past and understand;
has anyone HOPED in the LORD and been disappointed?
Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken?
has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?
Compassionate and merciful is the LORD;
he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble
and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.
I’m not hopeless, Murph. I’m militant!
Update:
The FBI just knocked on my door and asked what I meant by “militant”, and then searched my home for firearms.
They claimed I was suspected of being a Rad-Trad.
The homosexual deal is just the side show...
In more ways then one.
It's the State that will be the strongest
in attempting to extinguish, or silence the Church.
2020 was just the start.
The devil always sends errors into the world in pairs-
-pairs of opposites.
And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking
which is the worse.
You see why, of course?
He relies on your extra dislike of the one error [Homos]
to draw you gradually into the opposite one.
CS Lewis
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