‘Strong’ Catholic Identity at a Four-Decade Low in U.S

[gracepoole]

To me a big part of the loss of Catholic identity is the loss of tradition in the Church. We’ve moved so far away from many of the traditional practices and devotions that many people have spent their whole lives without them.

I always feel like churches (at least where I live) cater most to the elderly rather than to the younger people. I see weekday Masses at 7am, 9am, and then that’s it. Where are the weeknight Masses for those who work throughout the day? I see recitations of the rosary during the morning, Novenas in the morning, Adoration during the afternoon. etc. etc. Younger people who are actually devoted Catholics just go to church one day a week because of how churches setup everything. This is part of losing that identity.

Let’s not also forget about the loss of many truly Catholic things like chant and Latin. Again, those are part of the Catholic identity that many people are not exposed to anymore.

There are so many of these Catholic aspects that people aren’t being exposed to anymore. All it takes is for someone to get hooked on even one of these things and it builds up more and more. It’s part of why we have them!

Yes, yes! If I wanted to “blend in” with protestants, I’d join one of their churches. I like that the Church’s traditions set it apart. It’s taken a lot of research to learn about these traditions – there are so many that I never heard of while spending K-12 in Catholic schools. Around the Year with the Trapp Family blew my mind!

I think many lapsed younger Catholics appreciate the emphasis on the social justice teachings of the Church and would likely become more active if parishes got involved in the community and advertised their community service ministries.

Agreed – this would be a positive shift in many parishes.

 

[SuperLuigi]

That is incredibly sad but it doesn’t surprise me at all. To me, it seems like a lot of people here in the United States are practicing a form of heathenism. In other words, it seems more like a lot of people here are more interested in pleasing themselves rather than God and that is really sad. It also seems to have gotten worse over the years. But then again, that’s my opinion. I could be wrong. However, this article would seem to state that its true, at least as far as being Catholic goes.

There is plenty of evidence to validate your theory. Too many Catholics have become cafeteria Christians.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Many of those things don’t appeal to younger Catholics like me, outside a small subset. I went to a Catholic school and was exposed to the Rosary and Novenas, etc. I didn’t find them at all appealing. I found them boring and not spiritually fulfilling. I wasn’t involved in the Church for many years after I left school and a parish emphasizing Latin Masses, Rosaries, etc. would leave me running for the hills.

I think many lapsed younger Catholics appreciate the emphasis on the social justice teachings of the Church and would likely become more active if parishes got involved in the community and advertised their community service ministries. I also really admire certain saints. I read a great book called My Life with the Saints by James Martin which did a good job making saints relatable and putting it in the context of his journey to become a priest.

Social justice can be a scandalized. I’m a young person and I’m not impressed at all by the American youth’s dedication.

Too many of them seem to think if they take a couple of college courses relative to the subject, get up once a month or less on a weekend when there’s no football or parties to go volunteer or vote a certain way every 2 to 4 years, they are doing their part and really aren’t making that much of a personal sacrifice.

 

[manualman]

…That being said, no matter how much I like my priest and the elders of my church I still have a guarded feeling with them when it comes to my children. My husband refuses to send our kids to a Catholic camp, retreat or any other event where we ourselves are not present.

We are a devout family who attends mass weekly, confession monthly and we pray together as a family. We believe in God, and we love our Church and our Faith. However, the church is made of men (and women) and we will not let our faith make us blind.

True, one should not be blind. But one should not be misinformed either. Do you entrust you kids to park district coaches, secular camps, day care, public schools, etc? Do you think it’s rational to prevent your kids from going to a catholic overnight retreat, but allow them to go to a secular overnight camp? Have you been fooled into thinking that a child is more likely to be abused in a catholic school than a public one? I suspect that an objective look would find that the history of past abuse is worse in the secular sphere, and that today’s level of scrutiny and protection in the catholic sphere is actually far superior. One can be blind on either side, after all…

I’m all with you on scrutiny of those entrusted with kids. The key is to check people out yourself, not rely on their credentials.

 

[Roger_Buck]

Pew Research has just completed the 2013 religious survey. Even in my parish there is a great loss of Catholic identity. Only 27% of Catholics identify themselves as “strong Catholics”. Even worse only 50% of that 27% of strong Catholics attend mass at least once a week. What is the cause of this? A great lack of teaching?

Zany Catholicism.

None of the other factors would matter so much if the the temptation to zaniness were adequately resisted …

corjesusacratissimum.org/2013/05/on-zany-catholicism/

 

[fulbert4605]

I believe it’s happening worldwide, not just the United States. As nations get more industrialized, they are exposed to modern technology. Modern technology like the internet that puts them in contact with the many other faiths and cultures of the world. We’ve known the world is a large and diverse place for centuries now, but to actually see it via the internet is different. To actually be able to take a plane and travel to the other side of the world in two days is a luxury mankind did not have for so many centuries. As the sciences have advanced, so they have shed light on man’s origins and inner workings. Religion is part of culture. Culture is passed down through behavior. Acceptable behaviors are programmed into the mind at a young age. The mind can be reprogrammed we have discovered. This cheapens religion. We do mainly believe in our religion because that’s how we were raised. If you were raised in India, you’d probably believe in Buddhism. If you were raised in Iraq, Islam. Tribes of Africa, some form of what we would call deist paganism. France, Catholicism. United States, Christianity. Etc.

These advancements have been generally devastating for all the religions, not just Catholicism. Sure, you can use the internet to get in touch with your faith to an even stronger point than before possible, but so too just a touch away is exposure to other points of view from around the world. The human mind was programmed to be curious, so it will probably wander into these other areas of the internet out of curiosity. The Creator meant for us to use this mind.

 

[FloridaJoan]

THIS,

This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts
of men.

Qoheleth:

I would have to agree with your post. The "wide road " is “easier” and more popular to traverse, whereas the "narrow road " takes faith and God’s grace and requires carrying one’s cross. Why do we think we should have it easier than Our Savior ( rhetorical question !). I practice my Catholic faith and love my Catholic Church to the degree that I believe it is the One true Church instituted by Jesus Christ by which I can strive to be with Him for eternity. IF one doesn’t believe it, then, why would they practice the faith ? However, that begs another question : IF certain people do NOT believe that the Catholic Church is instituted by Christ to help save souls, then why would they want to belong to her ? They obviously want to remain but not practice … It seems to me , you can’t legitimately have it both ways. Do we live what we believe … or … believe what we live !
He is our judge; and is merciful yet just and cannot be deceived.

 

[Megan7]

Yes, yes! If I wanted to “blend in” with protestants, I’d join one of their churches. I like that the Church’s traditions set it apart. It’s taken a lot of research to learn about these traditions – there are so many that I never heard of while spending K-12 in Catholic schools. Around the Year with the Trapp Family blew my mind!

Agreed – this would be a positive shift in many parishes.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out. Is a movie included?

 

[gracepoole]

Thanks for the link, I will check it out. Is a movie included?

No. Just some really interesting reading about the real von Trapp family’s living faith.

 

[LiberalPrincess]

**These dismal stats on Catholic identity in the USA do not surprise me AT ALL. Speaking as a young 20-something, most people my age are just tired of the culture wars. We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our Churches. Rather than going to Mass, we’d much rather live our our faith by caring for the poor and oppressed and pursue reconciliation. **

 

[BettyBoop416]

It’s been demonstrated that for some, yes, the sex abuse scandal caused them to leave. But I also think the flock’s educational level shouldn’t be discounted. The more education one has, the more one tends to think from a variety of perspectives and consider new problems in different ways. This isn’t to say that only the uneducated are faithful or faith-filled – far from it. But I’m not altogether certain that the Church and apologists really know how to respond to concerns that come via education with anything other than a “take it or leave it” attitude. For example, I often hear Catholics on EWTN programs claiming that atheism requires the belief that life is essentially meaningless. But this is a straw man in that there are atheists who claim the opposite: life is imbued with more meaning because it is finite. I’m not claiming that their claim is valid, but ignoring it or simply saying it’s wrong won’t help anyone with this question to hang around. CAL still seems to be focused on apologetics as it relates to Catholicism vs. Protestantism and for younger generations, I really think that’s far less of an issue than atheism and secular humanism.

Additionally, Americans now typically have a broader sense of and appreciation for fundamental human rights. There are a number, then, who have left or will leave because of issues like same-sex marriage because they believe it to be a basic right. I don’t expect the Church to change its teaching on that subject so unless it relents on something like civil unions (again, unlikely), these folks won’t be coming back. Some of the verbiage coming from Catholics on this topic doesn’t sound welcoming either, which adds to the feeling that the Church is for hate-mongers (again, whether this is accurate or a pack of lies).

I’m not discounting bad catechesis or the perception that Mass is boring…but I really think these are more comforting reasons in some ways than facing the trickier problems.

Insightful analysis.

 

[Qoheleth]

**These dismal stats on Catholic identity in the USA do not surprise me AT ALL. Speaking as a young 20-something, most people my age are just tired of the culture wars. We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our Churches. Rather than going to Mass, we’d much rather live our our faith by caring for the poor and oppressed and pursue reconciliation. **

I think that what most everyone here needs is a dose of reality. Have you ever read what Isiah Chap 56 vs 5-6 says? Let me quote it for you. "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Every tuesday and friday the sorrowful mysteries are prayed on the rosary, lets take a look at them for a moment. In the first mystery we see Jesus sweating blood in his agony in the garden.The tremendous weight of sin of the entire world is resting on his shoulders, he alone can carry it. In the second mystery we see him being chained to a pillar and being severely beaten using a a whip with bits of metal tied to it that shreds his body into a bloody mess. imagine that happening to yourself. The third mystery you see Jesus with a crown of thorns being pressed down on his head while being mocked and spit on. The fourth mystery is next. By now our lord is being forced to carry his cross to the place of his final execution, he is so weakened by the ongoing process he is given help by another to carry his cross to Golgotha. The fifth mystery is next. The crucifixion. Try to imagine all of the preceding happening to you and now you are layed out on the ground and being stripped naked and being bodily hauled on to a cross and then men actually using a hammer and pounding nails through your wrists and feet to secure you to the wood of the cross. Finally the cross is lifted up and placed in a hole in the ground. Jesus dies a short while later with his mother Mary and his disciple John looking on.

Our Lord suffered this for you and for me because we cant pay our own price for our forgiveness and entrance to heaven. He payed the required price for us because he loves us and would do anything for us to get us safely to heaven. But the only way is to follow him and to live the life we should be living while all the instruction we need to honor and follow him is laid out clearly by His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are without excuse to do any less. To follow Jesus is not about doing what we think is correct by our following our own judgement or feelings. True conversion is laying down our own life for Him even as he did for us and following Him instead of our own inclination.

One final scripture quote: Galatians 2 vs 20. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

[J_Peterson]

These dismal stats on Catholic identity in the USA do not surprise me AT ALL. Speaking as a young 20-something, most people my age are just tired of the culture wars. We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our Churches. Rather than going to Mass, we’d much rather live our our faith by caring for the poor and oppressed and pursue reconciliation.

That’s horizontal Christianity. Without the verticle component there’s no cross. The Mass is the center of Christian life. Without the Mass and prayer you are trying to do it all on your own.

 

[Cider]

Is anyone surprised? And no I don’t blame the abuse scandal. If anything the abuse scandal is a symptom of the problem not the cause of the problem.

 

[josethomas]

There is no consistency in Catholic prayers, practices and teachings. Why the precious time be lost, people may be thinking .