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PJB: An Index of Catholicism's Decline
WorldNet Daily ^
| 12/10/02
| Patrick J. Buchanan
Posted on 12/11/2002 4:58:07 AM PST by ninenot
As the Watergate scandal of 1973-1974 diverted attention from the far greater tragedy unfolding in Southeast Asia, so, too, the scandal of predator-priests now afflicting the Catholic Church may be covering up a far greater calamity.
Thirty-seven years after the end of the only church council of the 20th century, the jury has come in with its verdict: Vatican II appears to have been an unrelieved disaster for Roman Catholicism.
Liars may figure, but figures do not lie. Kenneth C. Jones of St. Louis has pulled together a slim volume of statistics he has titled Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II.
His findings make prophets of Catholic traditionalists who warned that Vatican II would prove a blunder of historic dimensions, and those same findings expose as foolish and naive those who believed a council could reconcile Catholicism and modernity. When Pope John XXIII threw open the windows of the church, all the poisonous vapors of modernity entered, along with the Devil himself.
Here are Jones' grim statistics of Catholicism's decline:
- Priests. While the number of priests in the United States more than doubled to 58,000, between 1930 and 1965, since then that number has fallen to 45,000. By 2020, there will be only 31,000 priests left, and more than half of these priests will be over 70.
- Ordinations. In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained in the United States. In 2002, the number was 450. In 1965, only 1 percent of U.S. parishes were without a priest. Today, there are 3,000 priestless parishes, 15 percent of all U.S. parishes.
- Seminarians. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700, a decline of over 90 percent. Two-thirds of the 600 seminaries that were operating in 1965 have now closed.
- Sisters. In 1965, there were 180,000 Catholic nuns. By 2002, that had fallen to 75,000 and the average age of a Catholic nun is today 68. In 1965, there were 104,000 teaching nuns. Today, there are 8,200, a decline of 94 percent since the end of Vatican II.
- Religious Orders. For religious orders in America, the end is in sight. In 1965, 3,559 young men were studying to become Jesuit priests. In 2000, the figure was 389. With the Christian Brothers, the situation is even more dire. Their number has shrunk by two-thirds, with the number of seminarians falling 99 percent. In 1965, there were 912 seminarians in the Christian Brothers. In 2000, there were only seven. The number of young men studying to become Franciscan and Redemptorist priests fell from 3,379 in 1965 to 84 in 2000.
- Catholic schools. Almost half of all Catholic high schools in the United States have closed since 1965. The student population has fallen from 700,000 to 386,000. Parochial schools suffered an even greater decline. Some 4,000 have disappeared, and the number of pupils attending has fallen below 2 million from 4.5 million.
Though the number of U.S. Catholics has risen by 20 million since 1965, Jones' statistics show that the power of Catholic belief and devotion to the Faith are not nearly what they were.
- Catholic Marriage. Catholic marriages have fallen in number by one-third since 1965, while the annual number of annulments has soared from 338 in 1968 to 50,000 in 2002.
- Attendance at Mass. A 1958 Gallup Poll reported that three in four Catholics attended church on Sundays. A recent study by the University of Notre Dame found that only one in four now attend.
- Only 10 percent of lay religious teachers now accept church teaching on contraception. Fifty-three percent believe a Catholic can have an abortion and remain a good Catholic. Sixty-five percent believe that Catholics may divorce and remarry. Seventy-seven percent believe one can be a good Catholic without going to mass on Sundays. By one New York Times poll, 70 percent of all Catholics in the age group 18 to 44 believe the Eucharist is merely a "symbolic reminder" of Jesus.
At the opening of Vatican II, reformers were all the rage. They were going to lead us out of our Catholic ghettos by altering the liturgy, rewriting the Bible and missals, abandoning the old traditions, making us more ecumenical, and engaging the world. And their legacy?
Four decades of devastation wrought upon the church, and the final disgrace of a hierarchy that lacked the moral courage of the Boy Scouts to keep the perverts out of the seminaries, and throw them out of the rectories and schools of Holy Mother Church.
Through the papacy of Pius XII, the church resisted the clamor to accommodate itself to the world and remained a moral beacon to mankind. Since Vatican II, the church has sought to meet the world halfway.
Jones' statistics tell us the price of appeasement.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: catholic; catholiclist; religion; vaticanii
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To: ThomasMore; ArrogantBustard; ninenot
Now that I think about it...
The music in the Oregon Catholic Press books is chosen by survey. If I remember right, they send a survey to music directors and that's how they determine what stays. Over the years, some of the better stuff has disappeared. Which tells us more of the mentality of the people actually doing the music - most of whom are volunteers.
Ninenot might know more about this as an organist and music director.
To: Desdemona; ThomasMore
My dear young lady, you're starting to get me wound up on one of my pet peeves. If I start ranting and raving, please don't take it personally. And in the interests of full disclosure: a) I studied classical piano for several years, but don't pretend in any way to be a professional musician. b) Mrs. Bustard is paid to do church music, so I'm somewhat plugged in.
It's the music business lingo,
Words mean things. A Church is not a Theatre, a Sanctuary is not a stage. Churches and theatres may both be wired with electrical audio equipment and have definable acoustic characteristics; that doesn't make them the same thing. I think it's a sign of, at best, sloppy thinking to use theatrical language when perfectly good eclesiastical languange exists. And yes, old Churches have great acoustical properties. Gee, I wonder why...
I've been looking at copyright notices in missalettes (and Music Issues) for many years. I've noticed the same thing. Can we say "Follow the Money"? And every few years, they revise the lyrics to advance the agenda of the feminists and the anti-God crowd. And renew the copyright.
Hypocritical indeed. ""Music ministers" are specifically told that Mass is not a performance." They sure don't act like it. And no, I'm not talking about those who make good (often, but not always "classical"1) as a "Communion Meditation". More like the ones who insist on cramming their chorus and downbeat-combo-band into the sanctuary; a poor fit both geometrically and liturgically.
AB
1) I use the term very loosely.
To: narses
Unfortuately I'm not kidding. And I'm talking about probably one of the 20 wealthiest parishes in the country (of the approx. 20,000.)
The reason no resolution to the current crises is at all in sight is that it is not just some of the bishops and cardinals who don't get it. There is a big divide. I believe the majority of the lay people active on parish councils, as CCD teachers, etc. feel that the problem is that the Church is still too uptight and rules driven -- that Vatican II didn't go far enough in dumbing down the concept of sin and loosening the rules. For example, reading between the lines, I believe they feel that something black-and-white like celibacy is a problem that Vatican II mistakenly overlooked and failed to toss out.
The only solution is for more people -- like me I guess -- to get off our rears and join parish councils and become CCD teachers, and so forth, and not just walk away from the whole scene and surrender the field to the liberals -- though they have the battle 95% won.
To: Desdemona; ThomasMore; ninenot
The music in the Oregon Catholic Press books is chosen by survey. No kidding? I've long suspected some such shenanigans, as lots of good stuff seems to disappear down the memory hole only to be replaced by dreck. And that's another one of my annoyances. The OCP/NPM cabal seems to have an absolute loathing for hardbound hymnals. The rea$on$ $hould be obviou$. In addition to incrementally altering the way their subjects sing at Mass (and one of the favourite phrases from the 1970s was "He who sings prays twice"), there's GOLD in them thar pews!
To: ArrogantBustard
Okay, okay. So what is the appropriate lingo? Nobody's ever told me.
Listen, for the record, I don't believe in cheating musically. I don't use a mike. The day I need one in an enclosed space is the day I hang it up.
I don't believe in Communion meditation songs. This time should be silent.
To: kidd
Standing for communion demonstrates our belief that Christ is risen and that the eucharistic food we share is a foretaste of the life to come. How do they come up with this nonsense? It was necessary to stand after receiving in order to get back to one's pew (or did people crawl?).
To: Aliska
I have to ask myself what kind of young man in his teens or early 20s makes a decision to forego, for life, his most basic biological impulse? Is he normal, with a calling, or is he immature, abnormal, and full of hubris as to what he can deny? My suspicion is that the kind of young men drawn to that life are not stable, well balanced individuals - and that if they were required to work in the world and be normal, productive citizens into their 30s, you'd get a sexually mature cleric who understood human life and society (this would help in the interaction with the laity as well - they'd all know how to balance a checkbook).
As to gays in cultures where Eastern Christianity is most prevalent, I know they exist, but also tend to think that they tend to be more subdued, less flamboyant, and aren't out to crush the rest of society. Why? I have no idea.
As to your comments on the gender separation in monastic societies, there isn't a real analogy between the West and the East. Superficially, they're similar, but underneath, they're quite different. In the East, it was a place of honor - a pinnacle representing a level of devotion that very few could ever reach. In the West, I always got the feeling that they were far less "choosey", and that they'd take anyone as a default position.
I do think you're getting somewhere about the overnuancing of sexual morality in the Latin West. When every activity (no matter how mundane) is a grave sin, no activity is sinful. In ther words, be careful about how many rules you make - if you make too many, all will be ignored.
As to the married couples and attraction, I can say i know some who still maintain that physical attraction - but you're right about that emotional bonding and fidelity - it maintains you even when that chemical spark isn't so bright anymore.
To: Desdemona; ArrogantBustard; ninenot
they send a survey to music directors and that's how they determine what staysIf this is true then no-wonder we have problems.
To: ArrogantBustard
Changing words is one of my pet peeves. Honestly. Because I memorize so fast, and then, WHAMO, I actually have to look at a book.
I'm glad somebody else out there noticed the copyrights. I have no problem with royalties on sheet music for composers, but it better be worth the royalty. And the OCP people have never seen hard-bound hymnals. I mean, if money's tight, why are we paying for this stuff?
To: Aliska
Hi,I know I am a little off topic but your questions were good and got me to thinking further about a thought that crosses my mind fairly often. Within my lifetime,and I'm not eligible for SS yet,the average height of females has gone from 5'2",to 5'5"" to 5'7". I wonder if it's good food,vitamins or something in the water or additives in our foods that is responsible. And, drawing on that increase in height,could it correspond with an increased sexual drive,and then could this be natural or contrived?
To: ThomasMore; ArrogantBustard
You know, you can also buy CDs of the entire OCP repertoire, so you can sing along and learn the music.
Oh, yeah. It's bad. I'd rather have the St. Gregory and St. Basil's back any day of the week. If fact, my grandmother gave me her copies. I use them all the time.
Leaflet Missal has the Liber Ursalis (sp?) for a little over $100. I was seriously thinking of buying myself a Christmas present...
To: Desdemona
appropriate lingo? That area with the Altar, the Tabernacle, the priest and altar boys' chairs, ambo/pulpit/lectern/whatever? That's called a "Sanctuary". Contra a certain Minister of Music of my acquaintance, it is not a stage. That raised platform on which the priest does the consecration? That's an Altar. He's offering a sacrifice. (Go 'way, protestant trolls!) That huge crowd of people watching (and responding to) the activity in the sanctuary is the Congregation. Contra a certain Minister of Music of my acquaintance, they are NOT the audience!!!! (Bloody Hell, that one really spiked my blood pressure when I heard it.) They sit in pews. The area in which their pews are is called the Nave. Not the House. (Bustard calms down a bit) Seriously, get thee to a library. Find a nice book on Church architecture (one with lots of pictures of the great Cathedrals of Europe might be a good start), and have a look. There are specific terms for all of the parts of a Church building. Learn them. Use them. It's a great way to subvert the dominant paradigm.1
Old churches were built with great acoustics, because microphones and electronic audio equipment didn't exist. Using a mic in an old cathedral is cheating; the place was designed so it wouldn't be necessary.
This time should be silent. I go back and forth on that one. Really. There was a time (at a different parish) I just wanted the blasted musicians just to STFU for one second. But they wouldn't. The wench even insisted on tinkling the piano during the consecration. It doesn't bother me so much, now. Different parish, better quality of music. And now that I think of it, there is some silent time.
AB
1) I just love turning the lefties pet phrases back on them.
To: ninenot
I'm currently reading
John Cardinal Krol & the Cultural Revolution, of which I found a used copy. I'm reading it because Cardinal Krol was my grandfather's cousin, close in age and from the same neighborhood. It's an interesting book and some of you on this thread might find it a good read as well.
-Eric
153
posted on
12/11/2002 1:10:55 PM PST
by
E Rocc
To: Desdemona
you can also buy CDs of the entire OCP repertoire, Ewwwww. Then I'd have to swab out my CD player. ;)
Seriously, I like to memorise the hymns. The good ones, anyway. I like to recall the words outside of Mass. And when I'm singing (well, croaking) along, and my words differ from the rest of the congregation, I know: Oops! They did it again!
To: ArrogantBustard
I use all those words...just room, live and dead differ. And audience rather than congregation ticks me off too.
To: Goodman26
"and not just walk away from the whole scene and surrender the field to the liberals -- though they have the battle 95% won. "Yep. Liberals have captured the religious field in the same way that they have captured politics, media and education. They have obtained ownership and authorship in the press.
Some time ago someone who went through RCIA 'classes' asked me for a good short source book on what Catholics believe (sad isn't it after RCIA) - not as long and scholarly as the Catechism. I asked Priests and came up empty. The closest I came was a book 'Catholicism for Dummies'. But even that was mostly what Catholics do rather than 'this is what Catholics believe'. Years ago my wife got kicked out from CCD teaching because she tried to go beyond "Jesus loves me and I love Jesus".
Still looking if anyone has a lead. thanks,
Comment #157 Removed by Moderator
To: ninenot
Very good post thank you. However, I though Pat hated Catholics?
Only 10 percent of lay religious teachers now accept church teaching on contraception. By one New York Times poll, 70 percent of all Catholics in the age group 18 to 44 believe the Eucharist is merely a "symbolic reminder" of Jesus.
-That's me. I go to Church every week. I really don't like abortion. However, I do not agree w/ the Church's position on contraception and I have a hard time believing transubstantiation. (I'm btwn 20-30 btw).
158
posted on
12/11/2002 1:20:39 PM PST
by
jjm2111
To: Desdemona
"Live" and "Dead" are acoustical terms. I'm not aware of any specifically ecclesiastical terms for those properties. Until the advent of the Modern Hideous school of church architecture, the was probably no such thing as a really acoustically dead church. By "room" do you mean the interior of the church as a whole? (Sanctuary and Nave combined?) There's probably a specific term for that, but I'd have to look it up.
Please don't take my comments as flames against you. I've suffered through some really awful "music ministries" over the years.
AB
To: bulldogs
Right on, bulldogs. Unfortunately, in light of everything that has been going on I am being forced to take a long hard look at the Catholic Church and all that it claims to be.
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