Catholic Exodus
A recent editorial in NCR asks that we begin to examine the "Catholic exodus" reported in the recent Pew survey.
True to form, the editors of NCR put forth their own explanations: "the sex abuse crisis, particularly the cover-up by bishops; rules prohibiting birth control; rules forbidding Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics; lack of accountability on financial matters; the second-class status of women in the church; rejection of gays and lesbians."
Perhaps. But I would like to suggest that things are much more complicated:
1) The sex abuse crisis, with all its horror, probably made some leave. But this trend is much larger than 5 years. It has been going on for decades according to the GSS and other social science data sets.
2) If the problem is that the Church isn't "progressive" enough, then why did the Pew survey also find that, "the population identifying with the large mainline Protestant denominations has declined significantly in recent decades, while the proportion of Protestants identifying with the large evangelical denominations has increased"? Mainline Protestant denominations, after all, are already very "progressive." How come progressive reforms in those denominations haven't helped stop their exodus?
3) If you read the fine print, the Pew survey only asked people what religion they identify with. It did NOT take into account whether the people are actually practicing that faith. This raises the question, "is this exodus really an exodus"? That is, if someone never goes to Church except for weddings and funerals but says he is a Catholic on a survey, and then ten years later says he is not Catholic on a survey, can we really say that he "left the Church"? The more interesting question, it seems to me, is whether people have stopped attending Catholic Church.
4) According to Naomi Schaefer Riley of the Wall Street Journal (herself not a Catholic), when she was reporting on the Pew survey said that the big loser in Catholicism in terms of numbers is liberal Catholicism. Why is this?
5) Similarly, Finke and Stark (again, non-Catholics) in "The Churching of America, 1776-2007" find on pages 270-4 that the most traditional dioceses in the United States are also the ones with the most vocations to the priesthood and the most vibrant parish life. Again, why?
Now I am not some "Trady" who thinks that everything was fine and dandy prior to Vatican II. There were obviously problems in the Church then just as their are problems now. However, I want to suggest that the story is much more complicated than NCR would like to think. It is not enough just to report one statistic and then blindly argue for one's preconceived notions about why the Church in America has declined in numbers. Instead, let's suspend our biases and actually look at the Pew, GSS, etc. data available.
There is a serious morale
There is a serious morale problem among the clergy. There is no 'all manner of things will be right' in the church. There is no 'we are proud to be catholic' attitude.
There are needs in the world around us and among those needs are acceptance,appreciation of beauty, understanding of problems, confidence in the abilities of man, awareness of the unchurched and of youth. What I hear in church is negative, authoritative and defeatist. Most people coming out of Mass get in their cars and 'see ya next Sunday'. If people are happy they tend to stick around a little and they are happy if they are confident,not chastised,accepted and not made to feel inferior. If there is a 'not quite good enough' feeling that is small reason to spread the W[or w]ord.
The growth of other denominations is nothing to brag about either. You have heard the saying 'What is good for GM is good for the country well there might be a better statement 'What is good for Catholicism is good for Christianity' Christianity is the more important message though, and I have yet to hear priests to pray for the well being of other denominations especially the local ones [and I don't mean pray for their conversion] They are Christian brothers not competitors.[Catholicism needs to act like the mall rather than the individual store.] I mentioned here monthes ago that it would be healthy if Christian leaders were to sit down to a meal together and possibly work together. It will never happen as long as Catholics run scared of doctrinal questions,as long as Episcopalians are into comparisons,and as long as fundamentalists base their message on a false interpretation of the Bible by rejecting the world of science that debunks the story of creation. Christianity will grow like crazy when it is treated as the actionable message that it is.
I am frustrated by the fact that the bishops, when they read this Pew study will either appoint a few bishops to come up with recommendations, appoint a few church 'yesmen' to advise the bishops or hire the Pew people [or others] to study those who left Catholicism and really analyze the true reasons for leaving. I hope that the people in the pews [no pun intended] know a lot more than those in the pulpit about how the message is received.
I am not mistaken about the malaise or am I?
Catholics going to church
Catholics going to church seems to be the primary criteria for defining a "practicing catholic" which I believe is part of the problem. Many people are not "going to church" obviously for a wide variety of reasons, one of which would be the lack of availability and convenience to participate in Eucharistic Liturgy due to lack of available clergy....etc. In the mind of the institutional Church, apparently, having Eucharistic celebration available isn't all that important in the hierarchy of "faith identity", otherwise, it would do much more to make Eucharistic celebration available to match its teaching that "Eucharist is the source and summit of our Faith". My question then would be, absent the 'regular-practice' of church-going, what identifies a "practicing catholic". Not only would this help re-focus our Catholic Identity, it might also energize discussion on looking more closely on the Scriptures as a guide to what makes one Catholic.
DJS
The National Catholic
The National Catholic Reporter editorial 3/7/08, “Examine the Catholic Exodus,� reminds us of the usual reasons why people might leave the Church. But are there other even more fundamental reasons? We are witnessing the beginning of a longstanding problem coming to a head. The cavalier attitude of those disdainful of what they perceive as infidelity to the Church, is not the intellectual humility that is necessary for a church wide discussion.
According to critical thinking experts ("The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking / Concepts & Tools� by Dr Richard Paul and Dr Linda Elder), intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs. From my observation, the average Catholic, coming from years of indoctrination and an authoritarian structure, initially has to learn critical thinking skills for a church wide discussion to be productive.
Preferably, and primarily, we must adequately pursue scientific knowledge. The ancient world where Christianity originated had a very limited understanding of our scientific worldview. Then we must pay attention to the many who have taken the road called the ‘Catholic Exodus’ and who find the foundation of Catholicism (or Christianity), including the age of myth the early Church experienced, to be in need of strong scrutiny by way of biblical/historical research, a scrutiny which the Church itself has strongly urged. Next, philosophical, especially epistemological (theory of knowledge) and logical examination is required.
Human knowledge has evolved well over the two millennia of Christendom. Evolution is our past base and our future legacy. Unless we take this fact of our human condition seriously, church wide discussion will go nowhere.
Fr. Andrew Greeley has
Fr. Andrew Greeley has persistently addressed this issue and has recommended a return to the sponsorship of Beauty as the key to persuasive allure. On his website, agreeley.com, he posts an illuminating article entitled ' The Apologetics of Beauty'. In addition , he posts a weekly homily specifically designed to be endearingly persuasive just as our Creator has cast our awe inspiring universe and its evolving history. The allure of the traditional mass is rooted in the unstinting sponsorship of the arts by such as the Medici Family. The transformation of tradition by either the Reformation or Vatican II has fallen short chiefly in the follow through on devotion to Beauty. The Holy Spirit absolutely refuses to be held to the conditions of human design. We can do wonderful things in partnership though. Greeley also posts a revealing article about ' Catholics and the Fine Arts ' in which he highlights the special relationship of the artist with the transcendant and their ability to help us to move into the time and space of the gods and their message of hope.
Beauty is not opposed to truth. It is simply truth in its most attractive form.
Thank you JRock. So glad
Thank you JRock. So glad things are begining to come to a head. But they are not there yet! How many of those who have taken the road called the "Catholic Exodus" find the foundation of Catholicism (or Christianity) in need of strong scrutiny by way of biblical/historical research results (which the Church itself has strongly urged) and (including the influence of the age of myth that the early Church experienced), philosophical especially epistemological examination, and contemporary scientific knowledge of which the ancient world had a very limited understanding. Human knowledge has evolved over two millennia. Evolution is our past and our future.
When the Church lost the
When the Church lost the nuns,the schools were lost. When the schools were lost the following generations were lost. When those generations were lost all thoughts of vocations were lost.
Once again our all male hierarchy ignored and continues to ignore women.
This is one old boys'club that just doesn't get it!