Catholic leaders gather to counter decline of faith

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From International News.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday opened a meeting of Roman Catholic Church leaders from around the world to debate how to counter rising secularism on the 50th anniversary of the momentous Second Vatican Council.

The synod of 262 archbishops, bishops and other senior clerics heard a call from the pope for a “new evangelism” for the Catholic Church, which is fast losing followers in Europe and feels increasingly discriminated against in many parts of the world. The three-week synod coincides with the announcement on October 11 of a “Year of Faith” to mark the anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which changed the face of Catholicism. In Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, Benedict said the Council had been “the most universal expression” of the spiritual dynamic of the 20th century. He shunned any reference to the latest scandal to rock the 2,000-year-old institution, the trial of his butler Paolo Gabriele who was convicted on Saturday of stealing secret papers from…
 
Dubay said:
From International News.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday opened a meeting of Roman Catholic Church leaders from around the world to debate how to counter rising secularism on the 50th anniversary of the momentous Second Vatican Council.

The synod of 262 archbishops, bishops and other senior clerics heard a call from the pope for a “new evangelism” for the Catholic Church, which is fast losing followers in Europe and feels increasingly discriminated against in many parts of the world. The three-week synod coincides with the announcement on October 11 of a “Year of Faith” to mark the anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which changed the face of Catholicism. In Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, Benedict said the Council had been “the most universal expression” of the spiritual dynamic of the 20th century. He shunned any reference to the latest scandal to rock the 2,000-year-old institution, the trial of his butler Paolo Gabriele who was convicted on Saturday of stealing secret papers from…
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Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
 
My suggestion to the Pope is that if the leadership of the church enforces and LIVES the faith it will grow.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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As far as homosexuality Catholics , most Protestants, Judism and Muslims agree
 
Haven’t they been holding similar get-togethers to discuss this since John Paul II was Pope? If they haven’t figured it out by now I don’t know that they ever will.
 
Haven’t they been holding similar get-togethers to discuss this since John Paul II was Pope? If they haven’t figured it out by now I don’t know that they ever will.
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It’s worse now and maybe they think this will help to inform the bishops of the world that this is a serious problem that must be addressed. I don’t think it’s all about trying to fix it as much as it is to make the church more informed of the issue.
 
It’s terrible to say, but sometimes I truly do wonder how much they actually care about this. The Year of Faith is imminent! The Synod is open! Doctors of the Church were declared today! You’d think the Church would pay to have that Mass broadcast on primetime television. Expensive, yes, but worth it. I’m sure we could afford it.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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You realize that we don’t care, right? We will bleed members to the last man without changing Church doctrine. Though I don’t believe for a second it will come to that. Empires have tried to wipe us out repeatedly. We have gone underground for centuries and come out of it with just as much faith as before. Secularism thinks it is winning and we simply chuckle at the naivety.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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I can assure you,the Catholic Church,unlike those that followed,will not bend to the culteral whims of a secular society.Which is why after over 2,000 years it still exists.This isn’t the first trial,nor will it be the last.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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I honestly think a Church that holds to the Truth will ultimately be much more fruitful then one that gives into social pressures just to be accepted. It’s just like having family member “A” who always gives you the advice that you want to hear in order to keep the peace versus the family member “B” who tells you truth even when it upsets you. When times are good you might prefer to have family member “A” around, but when the going gets tough which one are you going to turn to?

In fact, I actually credit much of the Church’s decline to a laity and clergy who are afraid of talking about the evils of contraception, pre-marital sex and possibility of damnation out of fear of being socially unaccepted. When people are coming to hear the Truth and they are given something that is less then the Truth, then they naturally look elsewhere… 😦

I just think about all the trouble and hardship that I could have avoided in my life if I had gone to a Catholic Church, as a teen, that preached on the evils of pre-marital sex and struck terror into my heart by talking about the possibility of damnation… Unfortunately, It wasn’t until I made some big mistakes in my life and found the true Catholic faith on the internet that I had a conversion of heart to the faith.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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Our view of birth control and homosexuality isn’t the main problem. Just look at the Episopalians - they’ve become so “liberal” and “progressive” and yet they’re in much worse shape than Catholics. The Episopalians will be gone within the turn of the century, if they continue to decline like this.
 
The_Scott said:
Our view of birth control and homosexuality isn’t the main problem. Just look at the Episopalians - they’ve become so “liberal” and “progressive” and yet they’re in much worse shape than Catholics. The Episopalians will be gone within the turn of the century, if they continue to decline like this.
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I’m not so sure about that. The vast majority of self-identified Catholics don’t even attend mass so how many Catholics are really out there?
 
EmperorNapoleon said:
I’m not so sure about that. The vast majority of self-identified Catholics don’t even attend mass so how many Catholics are really out there?
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My point wasn’t necessarily Mass attendance. We all know that’s very low for all Christian denominations (at least in the West; not sure about Asia or Africa). But my point was saying that changing the doctrine of abortion, homosexuality, or birth control isn’t going to help any. I only used the Episcopalians as an example of an officially “liberal” church that is rapidly losing the battle.
 
MidnightSun12 said:
I just think about all the trouble and hardship that I could have avoided in my life if I had gone to a Catholic Church, as a teen, that preached on the evils of pre-marital sex and struck terror into my heart by talking about the possibility of damnation… Unfortunately, It wasn’t until I made some big mistakes in my life and found the true Catholic faith on the internet that I had a conversion of heart to the faith.
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I went to a Catholic high school. Trust me, this didn’t work.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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You mean like the anglican church? Or the even more liberal protestant denominations?
 
Interestedman, you say if we don’t change our teachings then we will lose everything, correct?

But if we change our teachings, we already have.

Faith isn’t a popularity contest. People will gravitate to the easiest answer, not the right one. People will realize nothing that is not eternal can satisfy our eternal longings. Then the world shall know God.
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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Yes, and if Jesus had changed his teaching that he was God he would not have been crucified. If the martyrs had renounced the faith and caved in to taking the safe route, they would not have died. If Catholicism changes its views it will simply become secularism and no longer exist, which won’t happen because Catholicism is not empowered by some fad mongering, vacillating human spirit.

*Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”*

I believe in the power of the one who knew that secularism would always be an easy option, but recall that: we need to "…enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the way and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."
 
interestedman said:
Unless Catholicism changes its views on birth control and gay marriage it will keep losing members to secularism. And since that won’t happen, nothing will change.
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Re the opinion above, there is this…

nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/douthat-can-liberal-christianity-be-saved.html?_r=0

IN 1998, John Shelby Spong, then the reliably controversial Episcopal bishop of Newark, published a book entitled “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” Spong was a uniquely radical figure — during his career, he dismissed almost every element of traditional Christian faith as so much superstition — but most recent leaders of the Episcopal Church have shared his premise. Thus their church has spent the last several decades changing and then changing some more, from a sedate pillar of the WASP establishment into one of the most self-consciously progressive Christian bodies in the United States.
As a result, today 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. Last week, while the church’s House of Bishops was approving a rite to bless same-sex unions, Episcopalian church attendance figures for 2000-10 circulated in the religion blogosphere. They showed something between a decline and a collapse: In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase [see link for more]
 
trapper1 said:
In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase[/INDENT]
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[see link for more]

Perhaps, but the vast majority of Catholics aren’t church goers either. So, looks like both extremes are ineffective when it comes to filling the pews. The big difference is that Catholic doctrine requires Catholics to attend mass while Episcopalians do not have that obligation so it would seem that the Catholic Church is actually in a bigger rut. The most popular churches seem to be those like World Harvest and The Vineyard which have modern services and congregations with a grab-bag of beliefs in terms of what it means to be Christian.
 
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