Why?

[hyperdulia again]

The decline of the Catholic Church in the U.S.A.
Priests
Between 1930 and 1965, the number of priests in the United States more than doubled to 58,000.
Since then the 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.
In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained in the United States.
In 2002, the number was 450.

In 1965, only 1% of U.S. parishes were without a priest.
In 2002 this number is 15%.

Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700.
Two-thirds of the 600 seminaries that were operating in 1965 have now closed.

Religious Orders.
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, 3,559 young men were studying to become Jesuit priests.
In 2000, the figure was 38.

In 1965, 2,251 young men were studying to become Franciscan priests.
In 2000, the figure was 60.

With the Christian Brothers, the situation is even more dire.
Their number has now shrunk by two-thirds.
In 1965, there were 912 seminarians in the Christian Brothers.
In 2000, there were only 7.

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.
Catholic Marriage.
Catholic marriages have fallen in number by one-third since 1965.
The annual number of annulments has soared from 338 in 1968 to 50,000 in 2002.
Attendance at Mass.
In 1958, a Gallup Poll reported that 74% of Catholics then attended church on Sundays.
In 1965, it seems that 65% attended, according to a recent Fordham University study.
In 1994, it seems that 27% attended church, according to study by the University of Notre Dame.
In 2000, the rate was 25%, according to the Fordham study.
Indicative beliefs
70% of all Catholics in the age group 18 to 44 believe the Eucharist is a "symbolic reminder" of Jesus.
90% of lay religious teachers reject church teaching on contraception.
53% believe a Catholic can have an abortion and remain a good Catholic.
65% believe that Catholics may divorce and remarry.
75% believe one can be a good Catholic without going to mass on Sundays.

The Decline of the Catholic Church in Europe
In 1952 the Spanish Church had 7,052 seminarians. In 2002 it had 1,797.
In1980 the French Church had about 35,000 priests. In 2000 this had declined to 19,000.

In 1989 the German Church had 297 priestly ordinations. In 2002 it had 131.
In 1989 the German Church had 1,667 seminarians. In 2002 it had 1,035.

[Dreamweaver]

Birthrates in the country have drop immensely since the advent of contraceptives such as birth control pills. When families have 2 children, its harder to teach them that its OK to be called to the priesthood or religious life. When you have families with 6 or so kids, several could join the priesthood and the religious life without having to incur the guilt of not passing on the family name and having cute grandkids for grandma and grandpa.

[spathariossa]

It is quite simple I think: Today being a true Catholic is frowned upon. Being religious is frowned upon. My generation, (I'm 21 btw) thinks that religion is stupid, boring, and unnecessary. My younger brother believes in God but he says that church just isn't for him. I tried to convince him otherwise but he said that he didn't feel the need. It just isn't fashionable anymore...

[traichuoi]

i wanted so badly to answer "why not?" until i read the thread and figured it wasn't appropriate.

[spathariossa]

[quote name='traichuoi' date='Jan 4 2005, 01:58 AM'] i wanted so badly to answer "why not?" until i read the thread and figured it wasn't appropriate. [/quote]
:rotfl:

[traichuoi]

in America, you have everything you need...why would you need God? that's how my family in Vietnam thinks...and i'd have to agree with them.

[hyperdulia again]

So contraception and American fatness is the general answer? Why do so many Catholics think it's ok to contracept? Why have we become so submerged into the larger culture that we are as comfortable as they are? Why do 70% of young Catholics not believe in the Eucharist?

[cathqat]

[quote name='hyperdulia again' date='Jan 4 2005, 02:08 AM']So contraception and American fatness is the general answer?[/quote]

Part of it, at least.

[quote]Why do so many Catholics think it's ok to contracept?[/quote]

Bad education is a huge factor.

[quote]Why have we become so submerged into the larger culture that we are as comfortable as they are?[/quote]

Loss of faith.

[M.SIGGA]

Maintaining purity is extremely important for someone reponding to a call to the priesthood. There are true calls to the priesthood all the time in the West, but once a young man has become consumed with impurity, whether in lust or vulgarity or pride or vanity, the ability to properly respond to God's call becomes blocked, ignored, forgotten and worst of all damaged to the point that repair of one's soul seems impossible. Small sin spirals deeper and deeper into grave sin; so a young man once called to the priesthood often no longer has the ability to seek or become a pure and holy priest.

[M.SIGGA]

[quote]90% of lay religious teachers reject church teaching on contraception. [/quote]
This is the most disgusting. The same teachers with this point-of-view in my experience at Catholic school are the same ones who perverted all the other teachings. Since the average Catholic child is educated and introduced to the Christian faith by these people instead of a priest or religious, here's the answer to all those other percentages.

[b]1 Timothy 4:12 (a command to ministers)
"Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity."[/b]

[M.SIGGA]

[quote name='hyperdulia again' date='Jan 4 2005, 01:08 AM'] Why do 70% of young Catholics not believe in the Eucharist? [/quote]
I'm on a retreat team for Confirmation candidates and at one church this fall, more than half the kids (16-18 yr olds) in my classroom group couldn't define the Trinity. They need to expand the surveys to more basic questions about traditional Christianity.

[hyperdulia again]

What should be done then? Besides the inevitable and urgently necessary evangelization of the West by priests from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

I don't believe the majority of Catholics at ay point in time in any place were as blatantly rebellious as we overstuffed North Americans and Western Europeans are. (open rebellion scares me much more than private dissent/sin, 50 years ago [b]most[/b] Catholics used some form of contraception at some point in their married life, but I doubt their were five who actually thought it was ok, and of that five I don't believe any of them would have told their children it was ok)

Edited January 4, 2005 by hyperdulia again

[Phatmasser777]

Alot of it has to do with Vatican 2.

[Guest Aluigi]

i could agree with saying the poor implementation of Vatican II and the liberal hijacking of Vatican II... that does factor in with the contraceptive and bad education..

[cmotherofpirl]

No. It is the result of birth control which was firmly entrenched in the culture [i]before[/i] Vatican II and the proliferation of liberals in academia. Vatican II era brought the expectation that the Church would liberalize, and when it DIDN"T that is when people left. The culture no longer supported the Church.

The liberals who didn't leave the Church tried their best to change it. The proliferation of books by dubious theologians who followed the german minimalist lead further confused the basic catholic.
It was not ONE thing, but a plethora.