From Salon-The big decline in the number of Catholics may give progressives in the church a critical boost going into this fall’s Synod on the Family, which is part two of the historic meeting of bishops that Pope Francis called to consider reforms like allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion. For years, conservatives have pointed to the Catholic Church’s relatively stable numbers during the orthodox papacies of Popes John Paul II and Benedict as evidence that it is conservative policies that will ensure the future of the church. As New York Times columnist Ross Douthat famously warned in 2012:
[T]oday the Episcopal Church looks roughly how Roman Catholicism would look if Pope Benedict XVI suddenly adopted every reform ever urged on the Vatican by liberal pundits and theologians. It still has priests and bishops, altars and stained-glass windows. But it is flexible to the point of indifference on dogma, friendly to sexual liberation in almost every form, willing to blend Christianity with other faiths, and eager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes. Yet instead of attracting a younger, more open-minded demographic with these changes, the Episcopal Church’s dying has proceeded apace. … Practically every denomination—Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian—that has tried to adapt itself to contemporary liberal values has seen an Episcopal-style plunge in church attendance.
More here-
http://www.salon.com/2015/05/21/the_catholic_churchs_american_downfall_why_its_demographic_crisis_is_great_news_for_the_country/
1 comment:
Douthat spewing tendentious blather. The only reason that the RCC isn't losing MORE members is immigration, and the only reason there are still so many RC immigrants is the poverty that comes with (among other reasons, to be sure) overpopulation. And the reason there is so much RC overpopulation, is teaching that it is a mortal sin to use birth control. That's not winning an argument, that's use the WORST kind of coercive manipulation!
It is flat-out WRONG to use demographics to "PROVE" Truth or Righteousness or somesuch. Look at Islamist birthrates---does that make THEM "correct"? Then again, perhaps Douthat just suffers from some Sharia-Envy. Your ISIS paradise awaits, Ross (one way or another). Buh-bye!
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