As Growing Numbers Leave, the Archdiocese of Detroit Tries to Keep Young People in the Flock [CN-USA]

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For some, the numbers are sobering. Catholics in the U.S. have experienced the greatest percentage point loss of members of any major faith or denomination, according to a 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. One out of 10 Americans say they are ex-Catholic. About 32% of people raised as Catholics leave the religion.

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All one gotta do is to return to Catholic teachings and worship and the people will come.

people cant take the protestantism in the Church and they are leaving.
 
All one gotta do is to return to Catholic teachings and worship and the people will come.

people cant take the protestantism in the Church and they are leaving.
I wouldn’t say that is all but it sure will help. My Parish is very traditional in the celebration of the Mass and even offers the Latin Mass, it certainly is flourishing. Though I believe this is also in part because of the Legions of Mary that is also at the parish, which goes out and personally invites everyone in area to Mass on Sunday.
 
Unfortunately this is a major problem here in the United States. We must pray about it.

Luke 18:8 I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?
 
As the article mentioned, the numbers of Catholics in the US would be shrinking considerably if not for Hispanic immigration.

The article points out a couple reasons young people are leaving the Church: the coldness of fellow worshipers and boredom with the service.
The growing pull of nondenominational churches with their modern entertainment also lures Catholics away.
“The mega churches offer a really welcoming atmosphere,” Talbot said. “They set people on fire.”
Reese said, " You go into a Catholic Church, nobody says ‘hello’ to you. … You walk into an evangelical church, there are five people whose job it is to notice you, introduce you, show you around, tell you about the church. They are very welcoming. That makes a difference."
In contrast, Sunday mass can seem boring to young Catholics who grew up on cable TV, the Internet and video games.
The solution is to find innovative programs, but without comprising on the church’s principles.
 
If the Church must get smaller to get stronger, so be it.

If these peole are leaving Jesus and the Holy Catholic Church he founded because another Church is more “fun” or because the mortals present there are “nicer” then they probably weren’t attending mass for the right reasons anyways.
 
I would call it weak catechesis, limited knowledge of Truth in the Mass (stemming from weak catechesis) and lack of humility in society.

Just my humble opinion.
 
“Programs include everything from camping trips to fireworks, Tigers games, movie nights, as well as volunteer work in local churches and missions in the Dominican Republic and Mexico”

I need to ask; do people have a problem with fellowship, outreaches, works of mercy, and mission work? Because it seems to me that’s what they are trying to do.
 
I would call it weak catechesis, limited knowledge of Truth in the Mass (stemming from weak catechesis) and lack of humility in society.

Just my humble opinion.
I know in my case it was weak catechesis…that with the Catholics in my life not teaching me why we did certain things. People that were responsible for me. But…there is light…20+ years…I’m back to the church…oh and I brought my husband with me:D
 
If they are leaving, then where are they leaving to? Protestant churches? other faith groups? staying at home?
According to the 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which was mentioned in the article, 18% of persons raised as Catholic choose another religion. 14% become unaffiliated with any religion. 27% of persons who have no religion were raised as Catholic.

religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-chapter-2.pdf
(see pages 8-9)
 
I know in my case it was weak catechesis…that with the Catholics in my life not teaching me why we did certain things. People that were responsible for me. But…there is light…20+ years…I’m back to the church…oh and I brought my husband with me:D
good girl. for too many years the teachings of the Church has been hidden from the people. people know nothing about the CC. so they think that one Church is just as good as the other. this what has been passed on to the people. there is no certainty when they are catechised. they stay way from the traditional teachings of the Church. you like Paul VI said: the smoke of satan has entered the Church. we are now seeing what he meant.
 
I blame it partly on aging hippies who filled the church with corny-ness.

Also, the modern spirituality which asks nothing of the believer, and seeks only to make him feel mushy inside. Mushyness just isn’t enough to answer the questions we all have.
 
If they are leaving, then where are they leaving to? Protestant churches? other faith groups? staying at home?
what does it matter where they go?
outside the Church they will find themselves embracing some kind of heresies.
 
“Programs include everything from camping trips to fireworks, Tigers games, movie nights, as well as volunteer work in local churches and missions in the Dominican Republic and Mexico”

I need to ask; do people have a problem with fellowship, outreaches, works of mercy, and mission work? Because it seems to me that’s what they are trying to do.
No, I think it’s a good idea.A lot of protestant churches do these very same things, and i think that’s what atracks these young people to them.They go and do volunteer work in their community,feeding the homeless,maybe visiting the eldery in the nursing home or their own home,etc.These are things we as followers of Christ should do.
I would like to do alot, but i work two jobs and until i can retire from my main one, then it’s difficult for me to do a lot of volunteer work.
Also they weren’t taught their faith much, etc. just various reasons, but we can turn this trend around.
 
Well ive heard some pretty bad things about the Archdiocese of Detriot.

All I can say is the Catholic church around me, Georgia, is growing in Faith, Love, and numbers.

Also the ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey) indicates that among Christians the Catholic church is one of the very few Christian denominations NOT loosing vast amounts of members.
 
Also the ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey) indicates that among Christians the Catholic church is one of the very few Christian denominations NOT loosing vast amounts of members.
Yes, but only because Latino immigration has made up for the losses among native-born US Catholics. This is consistent with the data in the Pew Forum study which I previously cited.
The growth in the Latino population in the United States from 1990 through 2008 has helped the Catholic Church maintain its position as the nation’s largest religious tradition, a new study by researchers at Trinity College shows. Over the 18-year period, the influx of 9 million Latino Catholics accounted for most of the 11 million additions to the U.S. Catholic population and, as a result, Latinos comprised 32 percent of all U.S. Catholics in 2008 compared to 20 percent in 1990.
americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/
 
what does it matter where they go?
outside the Church they will find themselves embracing some kind of heresies.
If we are concerned about their spiritual well-being, where they go matters quite a bit. Knowledge of this can help determine the best strategies to prevent such losses and to win back those who have strayed.
 
If we are concerned about their spiritual well-being, where they go matters quite a bit. Knowledge of this can help determine the best strategies to prevent such losses and to win back those who have strayed.
Well put, myself and a 15 others go out and invite people to Mass. We find people who attend other parishes, fallen-away Catholics, Protestants of all kinds, and a variable mixed bag of everything but we give them all the same welcome. It has been quite charitable and has been showing improvement in the Mass attendance. My wife even goes to daily Mass and had noticed attendees doubled in number from 25 to close to 50.
 
Well, The Detroit Free Press and *The Detroit News *would be the worst source for any information about Catholicism in Detroit.

They are, both of them, especially The Detroit Free Press, but also the Detroit News, are (both papers’ offices are located in the same building in Detroit), in my opinion, some of the most Anti-Catholic and Anti-Christian newspapers I have ever read.

Both of them have done it all: cruel Anti-Catholic political cartoons, many articles criticizing both Popes JPII and Benedict; photos and stories of priests accused of having sexual relationships with minors always printed on the frontpage.

Whenever they discuss Catholic matters, both papers support Modernism being implemented in the Catholic Church (e.g., female priests; married priests); both papers are pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights (the *Detroit News *has or had [stopped reading it] an openly lesbian columnist, Deb Price, who wrote opinion columns on public affairs for a long time).

Both papers support wholeheartedly secularist Liberal Philosophical Orthodoxy and Gay Marriage.

I think recently there may have been a little bit of Divine Justice, because both papers have had plummeting readership, laid off staff, and are now no longer delivered seven days a week; I think they deliver about four times a week. I don’t like to see people laid off, but facts are facts.

There is a daily version of both papers, but they doubled the price from .50 to $1.00 for a daily, and it contains a lot less articles and sections than it once had; a lot of the articles are just verbatim, word for word, reprints of the exact same Associated Press wire stories that you can find on any internet news page.

They had some guy with a beard and glasses that was their Religion columnist and he would always do a hatchet job when reporting on matters Catholic. I haven’t seen him around since they laid everyone off.

The one columnist on their paper who openly identifies herself as Catholic, Marney Rich Keenan, always criticizes Catholic Church moral teaching about homosexuality and embryo stem-cell killing.

I’m sure if you searched the internet, you could find a similar study about young Protestant Americana leaving the Mainline Protestant Churches in droves.

I think the only growth area in Christianity are the independent Evangelical Mega Churches.

In my opinion, the *Detroit Free Press and Detroit News *have both liked to beat up on Catholicism for many a year, so I wouldn’t even bother to listen to what they have to say.

They have published similar articles like this before; they sent a reporter into former Polish neighborhoods in Detroit, which are now mostly Hispanic, in my opinion, to try and stir up ethnic tension between the two groups, and the reporter tried to get the remaining Polish-Americans to make racists or negative remarks about the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans parishioners blah blah blah.

Both papers for the most part never discuss Mainline Protestantism and the problems those churches have. I think they do target the Evangelical Christians a bit, but they both really go after the Catholic Church.

A lot of young people are leaving Detroit because the state of Michigan’s unemployment rate is 15%, about the second highest in the nation; something like 1 out of every 100(0?) homes in Michigan have been foreclosed.

The City of Detroit and Michigan both have been losing some of its population, and young people go to Chicago because there are more jobs there than in Detroit.

freep.com/article/20100711/NEWS05/7110421/As-growing-numbers-leave-the-Archdiocese-of-Detroit-tries-to-keep-young-people-in-the-flock

Yes, the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News are both rotten papers in my opinion; about the only thing they are good for is lining the Guinea Pig’s cage.😛
 
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