Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Index of Leading Catholic Indicators
Una Voce America ^ | June 2003 | Una Voce America

Posted on 06/09/2003 9:28:34 AM PDT by Maximilian

UVA Interviews Ken Jones, Author of Index of Leading Catholic Indicators

Una Voce America director Fred Haehnel recently sat down with Ken Jones, vice president of Una Voce St. Charles, to discuss his new book, Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church since Vatican II. Mr. Jones is an attorney and legal publisher in St. Louis. His translation from the French of Cardinal Hoyos’ letter to Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of St. Pius X was published in the August-September 2002 issue of Inside the Vatican.

Why did you decide to put together your Index of Leading Catholic Indicators?
For two reasons primarily. First, there really isn’t any other single, easy-to-read source that collects the vital statistics of the Church. This book was born out of frustration. I had heard a lot of vague references to a “priest shortage,” but I discovered that when I wanted to examine the extent of the shortage or the trends over several decades, it was difficult to get my hands on a good reference. Moreover, statistics about other areas of Church life besides the priesthood - such as nuns, Catholic school students, baptisms and marriages - were even more difficult to find. I spent a lot of time tracking down these numbers, and decided to write the book because I thought other people would be interested in looking at them too.

My second reason for writing the book was to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the effects of the Second Vatican Council. We all have our own gut feelings about the Church since Vatican II. Some insist we’re experiencing a vibrant renewal, others say we’re suffering through an era of unprecedented disintegration. I’m a lawyer - I want evidence, not feelings or anecdotes, to support my verdict.

What is your verdict?
I can only agree with what Cardinal Ratzinger said: “We find ourselves faced with a progressive process of decadence. ... It is incontrovertible that this period has definitely been unfavorable for the Catholic Church.” Since Cardinal Ratzinger made these remarks in 1984, the crisis in the Church has accelerated. In every area that is statistically verifiable – for example, the number of priests, seminarians, priestless parishes, nuns, Mass attendance, converts and annulments – the “process of decadence” is undeniable.

Do you find any of the statistics particularly striking?
The crisis in the priesthood is obviously of supreme concern for all Catholics, since a lack of priests diminishes our access to the sacraments. One little statistic that encapsulates the crisis is this - there are more priests age 80 to 84 than there are age 30 to 34. Looking at it from a strictly secular point of view, there’s not much of a future for any organization that has more front-line workers in their 80's than in their 30's. The handwriting is on the wall. By 2020 there will be only about 15,000 priests below the age of 70.

The shortage of priests has created a problem unknown to modern Catholics – the priestless parish. Parishes without a resident priest were virtually unknown at the time of the Council; only 3 percent of them, 549, were without a priest in 1965. In 2002 there were 2,928 priestless parishes, about 15 percent of U.S. parishes. By 2020, a quarter of all parishes, 4,656, will have no priest.

As one would expect, the priest dearth has been fueled by a collapse in the seminarian population. There were 49,000 seminarians in 1965. By 2002 the number had plunged to 4,700 - a 90 percent decrease. Without any students, countless seminaries across the country have been sold or shuttered. There were 596 seminaries in 1965, and only 200 in 2002.

The devastation of religious orders of women since Vatican II can only be described as shocking. In 1965 there were almost 180,000 nuns in the United States. Today there are 75,000, with an average age of 69. By 2020 we have projected that there will be 21,000 below age 70. It is not being an alarmist to say that within our lifetime, there will be virtually no nuns in the United States - a stunning turn of events since 1965.

Do the statistics show anything about the ordinary life of Catholics?
Again, in all areas there has been a dramatic decline. In 1965 there were 1.3 million infant baptisms, in 2002 there were 1 million. (In the same period the number of Catholics in the United States rose from 45 million to 65 million.) In 1965 there were 126,000 adult baptisms - converts - in 2002 there were 80,000. In 1965 there were 352,000 Catholic marriages, in 2002 there were 256,000. In 1968 there were 338 annulments, in 2002 there were 50,000.

Attendance at Mass has also plummeted. A 1958 Gallup poll reported that 74 percent of Catholics went to Sunday Mass in 1958. A 1994 University of Notre Dame study found that the attendance rate was 26.6 percent. A more recent study by Fordham University professor James Lothian concluded that 65 percent of Catholics went to Sunday Mass in 1965, while the rate dropped to 25 percent in 2000.

What about Catholic education?
This is one area that particularly surprised me, because I was not aware of how dramatically enrollment has declined at Catholic schools since the Council. For example, between 1965 and 2002 the number of diocesan high schools fell from 1,566 to 786, and the number of students dropped from almost 700,000 to 386,000. At the grade school level, there were 10,503 parochial schools in 1965 and 6,623 in 2002. The number of students went from 4.5 million to 1.9 million.

Some people say, “We know the numbers have declined since the Council, but the downward trend started before the Council.” How do you respond?
I respond by saying it’s simply not true. An especially helpful feature to my book is that my statistical analysis starts in the 1920s and 1930s, so trends can be discovered. For example, look at the number of total seminarians. There were about 9,000 in 1920, 17,000 in 1940, 25,000 in 1950, almost 40,000 in 1960, and 49,000 in 1965 - a consistent trend upward. In 1970 there were 28,000 seminarians - a decline of over 41 percent in just five years. In 2002 there were 4,700. This pattern is reflected in every area - a steady increase until the Council, and a dramatic decline afterwards.

Here’s another objection. Some people might say that you’re making a post hoc, ergo propter hoc argument - just because something happened after the Council doesn’t mean it was caused by the Council. Do you have an answer to that?
My response is this. For several decades before the Council, the Church in America was in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth. Immediately after the Council, which was called to renew the Church - to make the numbers even better, really - we were hit with a tremendous decline in every area. The correlation is just too striking to deny.

In the end, though, my purpose in writing the Index of Leading Catholic Indicators is not to make any argument at all - it’s simply to present the facts to people so they can come to their own conclusions.



TOPICS: Current Events; History; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: catastrophe; statistics; vaticanii
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last
To: sitetest
LOL. I may have a solution for you. They are nearly 9 and 6, respectively. The older wants a smaller family. Under 10: the younger doesn't understand why the older is so limited in his imagination.

8 and 5. Hmmmm....

My oldest wants six kids. She's pretty set on it. No more, no less. The youngest said, "You can have twenty babies and I'll have ten babies, then we'll have thirty babies!" I couldn't get a straight answer out of her though as to why her sister was going to have ten more babies than her, although I think she's figured out that twenty babies might require some work. 8-)

21 posted on 06/10/2003 5:56:08 AM PDT by Aquinasfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: OpusatFR
Got any in the 10-15 range? I have a 10 year old and her options are Convent or REAL Catholic Marriage and she agrees wholeheartedly.
22 posted on 06/10/2003 7:27:29 AM PDT by Truelove (What's wrong with barefoot and in the kitchen?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Maximilian
Again, in all areas there has been a dramatic decline. In 1965 there were 1.3 million infant baptisms, in 2002 there were 1 million. (In the same period the number of Catholics in the United States rose from 45 million to 65 million.) In 1965 there were 126,000 adult baptisms - converts - in 2002 there were 80,000. In 1965 there were 352,000 Catholic marriages, in 2002 there were 256,000. In 1968 there were 338 annulments, in 2002 there were 50,000.

The numbers of Infant Baptism divided by the number of Marriages imply a long term trend of ~4 children per Catholic family. I find the steadiness of that figure interesting with respect to the use of Birth Control by Catholics. Traditionally moralists used to set 4 children as a minimum number to strive towards in marriage.

23 posted on 06/10/2003 7:28:24 AM PDT by Hermann the Cherusker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diva
What do ya think?

I think that Vatican II was the work of "liberals" in the worst sense of the word who were embarrassed to be part of a medieval institution like the Catholic Church when they got together with their liberal protestant and Jewish friends at the university. They were determined to remake the Church in their own image, what we see today in the Anglican communion, which is generally just one step ahead of the liberal Catholics, but the liberal Catholics are always determined to catch up.

They succeeded in setting in place a never-ending "process" by which, like a river, you never set foot in the same church twice. This process is still going on, and it is supported by 100% of the hierarchy including the pope most of all. As Catholics who wish to defend the faith, our job is to remind fellow Catholics again and again of the reality of the true unchanging faith which was handed down by the apostles and preserved for almost 2000 years.

The "Index of Leading Catholic Indicators" reported on in this article proves statistically the manifest and undeniable fact that the Church is suffering from a terminal illness and that it can never improve as long as this "process" continues.

24 posted on 06/10/2003 9:28:48 AM PDT by Maximilian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: OpusatFR
If they are not too old, they should try going to a real Catholic college. How about Franciscan University at Steubenville, Ohio or Thomas Aquinas College in Ojai, CA, or try Christendom College in Virginia.
25 posted on 06/10/2003 9:44:49 AM PDT by It's me
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Maximilian
Excellent article provides the statistical documentation regarding the true situation in the Church.

A person would have to be a moron not to comprehend....with first hand observation....the "true (and uncorrectable) situation in the Church."

26 posted on 06/10/2003 6:48:03 PM PDT by rmvh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson