PJB: An Index of Catholicism's Decline

WorldNet Daily ^ | 12/10/02 | Patrick J. Buchanan

[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.

[k omalley]

I have been attending Mass since 1960, became a Catholic in 1983. I am going to spend a couple of years praying for guidance from Our Lord Jesus and reading everything I can to shed light on the claims of the Church. I might end up staying, I might face East, who knows. Also, To be honest, I am really wondering if requiring celibacy of our priests isn't a potentially unhealthy situation.

[TotusTuus]

Well, yeah, since they write it and can make money on the royalties.

No small point. Paper (with the little recycle symbol on them no less) "missalettes". It is not enough to just put the music there, OCP is unofficially taking control of the liturgy by putting their music in with the Mass in disposable missalettes! Many, many Protestant converts I know absolutely hate this! The Word of God in a disposable package to be renewed every several months via a subscription. Profit motives are definitely in play here.

I also understand that OCP has a team traveling the country leading "classes" for "planners of Liturgy" or whatever they are called, and thereby affecting the Holy Liturgy in many parishes throughout many dioceses throughout the country. Why are the Bishops allowing this to happen? The Holy Liturgy "performances" are being planned by untrained (theologically speaking) "esperts" who have never even read the GIRM, which is the official plan for the Holy Liturgy in the Latin Rite of the Church.

[bulldogs]

Thanks for the reply, I respect your opinion.

[Desdemona]

I also understand that OCP has a team traveling the country leading "classes" for "planners of Liturgy" or whatever they are called, and thereby affecting the Holy Liturgy in many parishes throughout many dioceses throughout the country.

This does ring a bell. But, I've been so verbose against the whole concept of the "LIturgy Planning" that I'm a pariah. The GRIM guidelines can't be too hard to get a hold of (?).

Hey, I'm all for the Missals making a come-back.

[ex-snook]

For a guy who has his head on straight, I don't see how you don't like Buchanan because he seems divisive.

Prophets are always warning us and telling us what we don't want to hear. We ignore them to our peril. Pat is the best political and social analyst today. Pat was right about illegal immigration, stock market bubble, unbalanced trade destroying jobs, homosexual practices are a no-no (Catholic Church already devastated), foreign entanglements will bring war to our shores, abortion is an evil practice and THE CHURCH IS IN TROUBLE.

Republicans and Democrats saw budget surplus, tax cuts and unlimited spending for as far as the eye could see. Pat did not fake the public.

Pat's forecasting record is outstanding. He best articulates Conservatism for Americans first.

[stuartcr]

I was reading Hermann the Cheruskers Dogmatic Creed, which I believe was written by men. I then asked if all faiths are defined/interpreted by men, which I think you would have to agree, since we are all men, and that is all that there is on earth. He responded by saying that the Catholic faith existed prior to the bible, and is based on the teachings of the Apostles, which I believe were also men, and it has been handed down unchanged since then. I asked if that could be validated, or if it was a faith-based belief. You then responded to my #98 by saying no, I'm not the center of the universe....I then asked where did these beliefs originate, if not on earth, by men. You then answered that most of the religions are based on Biblical Christianity. This brings me back to the question of the Dogmatic Creed and it being written by men, handed down by men, and believed in by men, as is the bible. It certainly seems to be man interpreting the word of God and writing it down. How does this differ from what I said about faiths being defined by man. Man is all we have here on earth, man wrote the doctrines and the religious tomes.

[yendu bwam]

I agree with you that WE, the parents, are the first source of catechesis. We are putting some trust in the Catholic schools here currently, as they have been through the sexual abuse wringer. If our trust is broken, we will follow the path you suggest. Perhaps I am whining - or perhaps I'm just sad at what our Church has become. But most whiners don't fight. I will.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

The consideration that it existed prior to the Bible and then was written down, this can be validated, or is it a matter of faith as interpreted from the Apostles?

There are historical references and archaeologial proofs from times contemporary to the compostion of the Bible. For example, the inscriptions in the Roman Catacombs, references to the Neronian persecution in Roman Historians like Tacitus and Trajan, and contemporary Christian historical documents like the Letters of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, the Didache called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and the Epistle of Barnabas. When we come upon the first prolific writer of Christianity - St. Ignatius of Antioch, we find all of the marks of Catholicism already in his letters - the ministry of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons governed by Church laws, the terming of the Church as Catholic, the real presence, the veneration of Rome's teachings, and so on.

How does one know that it was handed down intact, say in 875 or 1312AD?

Because the practices of the people termed Catholic Christians at those times as shown in historical documents, manuscripts and archaeological history are identical to the practices of the Roman Catholics in the west and the Eastern Orthodox in the East which are peculiar to them and not held by Protestants - the threefold ministry (Bishops, Priests, Deacons) and the subministers (Subdeacons, Acolytes, Exorcists, Lectors, Doorkeepers), the holding of General councils of Bishops presided over by the Legates of Rome, veneration of icons and images and relics, belief in transubstantiation and purgatory, etc.

[saradippity]

Why don't you write Cardinal George,I think he is the American prelate on some committee that involves liturgy.I really think good,well intentioned men can get buried with controversy and,absent any input from good Catholics,who care,let too much lapse. The enemy has many and diverse ways of demanding and capturing their attention.

I also think the disposable missalettes are terrible.I have found the most effective way to get rid of them is a letter to the parish council lamenting the destruction of natural resources,in order to provide the paper,for the ever forthcoming new missals. If you are not known as an orthodox Catholic,they usually think you are a PC tree hugger and may get scared into doing the right thing for the wrong reason. But as long as you present objectively and don't lie,I can't see the harm.

[stuartcr]

Thank you for the in-depth answer.

[saradippity]

eeks.Missals ='s missalettes

[bulldogs]

Please everyone say a prayer for Browningbar's wife after her surgery, he's a good man.

[bulldogs]

God is with you, I know it for sure. He is watching over your wife.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Pat Buchanan was a hero of mine when I was in high school back in the mid 1980's. I greatly admired his objective viewpoint and unapologetic conservatism. I supported his run for the Republican primary in 1992 based on the constancy and clarity of his vision for America. After he lost, he was very gracious and ultimately contributed to the reelection effort of the first President Bush. Although his speech at the Republican National Convention didn't do the party any favors with the general public, overall he helped his cause.

I was one of the first on board when he ran again in 1995. I read every one of Bay Buchanan's daily updates and volunteered ahead of time for when the campaign was to hit my state. Sadly, I never got the chance. After finding that he didn't have a plurality of the conservative vote, he chose to work against those who most closely represented his views and ultimately hurt the ideals he had once defended. Just like when Senator Bob Smith declared himself a renegade in 2000, the effort ended up leaving him politically marginalized and was an overall embarrassment to conservatism. Pat did less damage when he ran again as an independent in 2000, but only because he had already lost almost all of his credibility.

Mr. Buchanan's behavior is even more reckless now that he is repeating the same mistake with his religion. He is a truly inspiring speaker, and his ability to foment decent among conservatives is almost without equal. The problem is that Catholics don't get to vote for their religious leaders like we American's do our political leaders. He is amplifying frustration that, for Catholics, has no viable non-schismatic outlet. Catholics are not permitted to demand their religious leader's ouster. Doing so undermines the apostolic authority and only backs the Pope into a corner. I too would like an end to these liturgical abuses but public protest is not part of the answer. Whether he admits it or not, Pat knows this.

When it became clear that Pat Buchanan had no chance of winning his party's nomination, he decided to leave the party and take his followers with him. He is now committing himself to the same course in this confrontation with the leaders of his religion, a contest he is even less likely to win. I believe that he will again choose himself over his cause, and his followers.

(P.S. I don't want to reignite the debate about whether Buchanan's runs as an independent were heroic or stupid, I am merely relaying why I am not giving him the benefit of the doubt in his attack on my Church.)

[TotusTuus]

I have been catholic for 45 years.

Our Faith is all about Eternity! Please remember this to help place things, aka reality, into perspective.

I think I am done.

Please, keep thinking. May I give you some things to think about? And also keep praying - nothing less than offering in sacrific to God that same mind used in thinking.

I think I am ready for a fire and brimstone church that is going to hold to the truth.

That's it? Why not be fire and brimstone in the Church Who is the Bride and Mystical Body of Him Who founded Her and is the Truth, and the Way, and the Life? You have that right, rather you have that duty! Have you never been told that your membership in Christ's mystical body conforms you to Christ in your unique role which is every bit as important as Priests, Bishops, and the Pope? And if you are to say you don't want to, then I'd ask if Christ wants it of you. From a previous Post:

My so called catholic church has a very feminine priest. He once explained how that it is ok to think about being attracted to the same sex, but not to act.

Either your local Church is Catholic or it is not. Your Priest is definitely wrong. Let him know! Let your Bishop know! If the battle cannot be won (though the war is), then find another local Church with a more orthodox Priest. I'm Eastern Rite, you are free to celebrate the Sacraments in these Rites as a Catholic in good standing if you wish. Other thoughts:

There is a tendency, especially on a Forum such as this, to see the Church merely in political terms. You will always run into problems with this way of thinking no matter what church or ecclesial communion you think you want to join - or invent for yourself. This is not the purpose of God freely revealing Himself to us in the Incarnation of His only begotten Son. Our Lord was crucified for a reason, and being a Christian I'm sure you know the answer as to why. But contemplate His words, "Unless you pick up your cross and follow me...", "No servant is greater than his Master...". Listen, there are problems in the Church in America today, as well in each part of the world with their unique and local problems, but when was there not? Do you read Scripture?

The original sin of Adam and Eve? The bloodshed of Abel by his brother Cain? Noah and the flood? Ham's rape of his own mother leading to the people's of Canaan? God's peculiar way of dealing with Abraham to be a great father in faith of many nations? Isaac? Jacob? The selling of Joseph into slavery by his own brothers? Moses establishing the covenant with God after God lead the people out of Egypt while they were already building a false god to worship? How Moses had to intervene for them...and again ... and again ... and again ... etc. since they were essentially 2 million babies always complaining and always breaking God's covenant and Laws? The wandering in the desert for 40 years so that that generation could die out for punishment for their sins only to have the 2nd generation blow it from the beginning in taking the promised land? And great King David? What about his sin of adultery-rape/murder? Yet God could forgive even him though there was a price to pay?

What about the infant Church? Why did St. Paul have to write so many epistles to begin with? Would you say those Christians were acting Christian? You think our sex scandals are something? What about the early Church in Corinth? What did our Lord mean by the tares in the wheat? In the Apocalypse, does not our Lord promise a struggle for His Church in the world to the end of time when He shall come in glory? And is not His glory fully revealed while hanging on the Cross, the axis mundi?

Listen, get a hold of yourself, in terms of Church history we have a minor crisis going on here in America. The Church has survived much, much worse in the past and still continues to preach the Truth in it's fullness and entirety even today. So there are sinful and wicked Priests and Bishops in America today. Well there has been an outstanding crisis in Faith here in the Church in America ongoing for the past 35-40 years. We, as a Church, have been lazy and have been compromising with the wealth of this world. So, we need to repent and start growing in our Faith again - not leaving it. That's just spiritual suicide - and it is not God's solution as per above. There are abuses occurring, we need to correct them.

The good news is - is that a younger generation is coming up and they are considerably orthodox and "conservative". They are also the future leaders and Bishops of our Church. Go to them, support them. The 60's generation of gay friendly Priests and "experts" of the "spirit of Vatican II" are grey haired old men and women today who have no following or message. Their agendas and ideas will die out when they do.

Jesus did not run away from His cross, don't run away from yours! If you truly love Jesus, you would defend and fight for His Church - not leave it! Concerning your decision I recommend the Sacraments and Prayer. Did you know that in a time gone by, when the Church was experiencing explosive growth (by the way, She is still the fastest growing Church/Religion in America and around the world in terms of total people, today, despite the scandals), the average Joe Blow, hoi polloi layman (or woman) spent, on average, 4 hours in prayer on a daily basis? How many Christians, Catholic or otherwise, are doing that today in America? What does that say about our love for Jesus? Why do we complain when we suddenly realize we have problems after shutting Jesus out of our lives on a daily basis? The Crisis in the Church today is one of lack of Holiness. Only through Prayer, the Sacraments, and fasting will we solve them.

[ex-snook]

"When it became clear that Pat Buchanan had no chance of winning his party's nomination, he decided to leave the party and take his followers with him. "

Thank you for your well presented thoughts. You may be putting party above principle. Pat had issues on which he opposed the GOP party on immigration, foreign interventions and unbalanced trade. He wanted these issues discussed and he felt the only avenue was as a member of another party in the 2000 debates. As you know by excluding Buchanan, the public was denied a debate on these issues. Subsequent events indicated the country would have benefited.

Also, as one who went along the same tracks as you, I concluded that Pat's views were in reality kicked out of the GOP and he was blamed for the 1992 defeat.

I think Pat wants what is best for the Catholic Church, as you do. He thinks that being in denial is not the way to help the Church recover the trust it deserves. I don't think you do either. There are many people who believe that Vatican II did not achieve what it aimed for and needs to be revisted to find out where it left the tracks. Sort of an examination of conscience. Regards,

[livius]

Just a thought, but perhaps the brothers padding around at nite, were not really evil?

No, just corrupted.

[livius]

I don't recall his Shanley's 1950s track record, although I am certainly not an expert on his life. He may well have been a pervert who managed to get away with it for some time. But I doubt that he would have gotten away with the NAMBLA stuff or any of his flagrant, repeated and virtually public homosexual pederasty prior to VatII.

There have always been bad individuals in the Church, and there have always been people who covered up for them. But I don't think you could have had the wrong doing on that scale at the lower levels or the failure to act and actual cover-ups at the higher levels until Vatican II.

[Loyalist]

The answers to the Church's problems lie in a vigorous re-affirmation of the Church's opposition to the philosophies of the secular world, as set out in Ven. Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors.