Posted on 03/18/2025 3:52:08 PM PDT by ebb tide
It's bad news for Catholics from a PEW Survey on Religion in America, the first since 2014. For every 100 new Catholics entering the Church, 800 leave. This from Eric Sammons at Crisis Magazine: I can't say I'm surprised. Francis has spent a decade decimating the faith along with many of the cohort in miters and pectoral crosses. How many bishops are more interested in pursuing the almighty dollar than in giving praise and worship to Almighty God. Isn't that their chief motive for championing the invasion at the border? But the reality is it's probably more than that: Sammons goes on to point out that the survey is from "self-identifying" Catholics. How many who "self-identify" actually practice the faith? How many "cultural Catholics" don't mind saying their Catholic, but rarely kneel in the pews? The news is bad indeed. Sammons goes on to give his opinion about the causes and cures. I'm inclined to agree and one of his cures is something I've been saying for years, decades in fact: ABOLISH THE USCCB! It's nothing but an old boys' club that uses peer pressure to keep the cowards quiet and marginalize the brave. I remember when Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska tried to get his brothers to study the impact of homosexuality on the sex abuse crisis during the pathetic Dallas meeting in 2002. He couldn't even get a second to his motion from the "hapless bench of bishops." They collectively decided to cover up the problem and shift the blame to parish priests and the laity. Their Cadillac safe touch program, VIRTUS, included pretending that homosexuality had nothing to do with the abuse crisis. Carrying the shepherd's crook doesn't keep you from being the wolf's best friend. Read the article and weep for Holy Mother Church. And pray the rosary that the Lord sends holy workers to the vineyard: O Lord, give us priests, O Lord, give us many priests, O Lord, give us many holy priests, O Lord, give us many holy religious vocations, O Lord, give us many holy, Catholic families! You tend to get the leaders you deserve. So each of us should resolve to imitate Christ to the best of our ability. All things are possible with God's grace. Don't wring your hands over it. Resolve to storm heaven for the antidote, resolve to spend time in Eucharistic adoration, and pray the rosary. Check out the article, Catholics Are Rapidly Losing Ground No other religion has nearly as bad of a join/leave ratio. For every 100 people that become Protestant, 180 leave. That’s bad, but it’s not Catholic bad. Conversely, for every 100 people who leave the religious “nones” (i.e., they join a religion), a full 590 become part of that irreligious cohort.
Where are the former Catholics going? Of all the former Catholics, 56% become religious “nones” and 32% become Protestant. I think we all know from personal experience that these numbers ring true. What Catholic doesn’t have family members who have become Protestant or have stopped practicing any religion? It’s just part of being an American Catholic these days.
Yes, but there’s something that keeps the numbers slightly afloat: immigration. As the Pew Survey itself states, “immigration has helped to bolster the number of Catholics in the United States.” So while millions are fleeing the Catholic Church, new migrants keep the overall numbers from looking horrific. I’m not saying our bishops are working so hard to keep mass immigration alive in this country to keep the true horrible state of the Church hidden, but the inflow sure does end up having that effect.
For every 100 new Catholics entering the Church, 800 leave.
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I can't say I'm surprised. Francis has spent a decade decimating the faith along with many of the cohort in miters and pectoral crosses. How many bishops are more interested in pursuing the almighty dollar than in giving praise and worship to Almighty God. Isn't that their chief motive for championing the invasion at the border?
Faith has no religion, and the church is not a building or an institution.
2 Cor 6:14
Ephesians 6
All while 6.5 million more people in 2020's than in 2010 attend nondenominational churches. These tend to be the ones who are more evangelical and don't get NGO money.
I wonder where those numbers come from. I have lived in Southern California for 55 years and attend Mass every week. Aside from the Covid years, attendance at the parishes where I have lived is quite high. Our local parish Masses are packed to near standing room only for all of the more popular time periods and have a high attendance at other times. Collections are very good. Maybe there are problems elsewhere in the US, especially along the East Coast but here, things are booming despite the nonsense of Pope Francis.
Here in Alabama I hear about many of the “mainline” Protestant churches hemorrhaging members, especially the left leaning ones. While the largest nondenominational church (a Protestant one) is growing like crazy. I attend that church, and can tell you that not only is the regular attendance high, but also there are tons of volunteers there. My church has to have 3 services on Sunday mornings. It has twenty-something campuses, plus meeting in all prisons in Alabama.
America is no longer a majority Protestant nation. This is probably the first time since the Mayflower landed that this has not been a majority Protestant nation.
It's still a majority Christian nation, but then the only other large Christian cohort that is keeping it that way are the Catholics, and they are declining even faster than the Protestants. So how long will that last?
We're going to be like Europe: mostly non-believers.
And look at the other link showing the nondenominational churches growing. Of course, they're Protestant. But many people who go to those churches forget that they're Protestant. So they may not answer that they're evangelical Protestants, just answer that they're Christian. I hear that a lot, especially in Alabama.
“self-identifying” Catholics could mean anything. Somebody researched people who answered surveys this way and some respondents never were Catholic but identify with the word.
It's hard to measure belief. I knew lots of mainline Protestant kids growing up and none of them were really religious. So if you asked them they would say "I'm Presbytarian" but if you asked them if they went to church or read the Bible or went to Sunday School the answer was "no, not really".
The term CINO used above is a good one.
I think one thing that has changed is that it was considered rude or even evil to say you were an atheist in my youth. Everyone was taught to say they were something, even if they were just CINOs.
Now people are free to say they don't believe, without offending anyone or being thought strange. So more people say that.
The other point is good too. Yes, a lot of people going to unaffilliated churches think of themselves as "Christian" not "Protestant". I've had many discussions with people who can't describe their church's beliefs at all. When I went to a (non religious) school we were taught ABOUT religion: you know, what the Reformation was, who the Pope was, what the Pilgrims believed and why they were persecuted in England.
I doubt you could find that in any non-religious school these days.
It's worth going to check it out. Both article are from a Catholic perspective on the data, which is interesting, but the conclusions Pew drew about their own survey are quite different.
Link to Pew Survey results: HERE
Their main article on the results is this:
Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off
Which I think we can all agree is a pretty different take than either the original post, or the article linked.
From tha Pew article, here is the key graphic:
All birth control, including NFP, is an obomination against ovulation and a self-curse against mankind.
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth
What I'm about to say is admittedly anecdotal. Most of the young adults I know my "kids" age (early20's to early 30's) are polar when it comes to beliefs. They're either staunch Christians, or professing atheists. There are only a few who are lukewarm Christians or agnostic. Repeat that with virtually every other characteristic (i.e. hardcore druggies or don't touch it all, very few who just smoke a joint here or there like was somewhat common when I was younger, same with money habits being one extreme or the other, etc.)
None of the young adults I know are rude about their beliefs. In fact, they seem to think of it as a sign of maturity to get along with each other and not pretend they're offended at every other thing like the rabid left says to do. The pro-lifers and pro-abortion younguns get along with each other and openly talk about it. The same for the devout Christians and party animal atheists. The same for the blow their money ones getting along with the FIRE (financial independence retire early) younguns. Perhaps that's because I live in a red state.
That attitude is why young people are turning away. If you don’t have anything meaningful or unique to offer then why bother?!
I think it’s simple, most organized congregations have all the defects of human agency, and the Gospel has been diluted by “enlightened “ heresy.
I refuse to support an organization directly opposed to God’s word. Kids today can smell bullshart a mile away.
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