Future of the Catholic Church in members?

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souldiver

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I find recent Protestants such as those that originated from the 20th century are fierce attackers of the Catholic Church. They say it’s okay because they are just telling truth that Catholics doesn’t follow the Bible or demons or false prophets, a political tool of Constantine, merged with paganism, the Whore of Babylon, Pope is the anti-Christ, the usual. It’s very shocking, I guess that their strength.

[BDoes anyone here predicts that the Catholic Church’s members will dwindle? And they will join radical Protestants.** People that interacts with me here has good views of mainstream Protestants, maybe such as the Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans even they attack each other in the past. But it’s the noisy, boastful and aggressive newer Protestants from the 20th century seems to be gaining upper hand here. They’re so convinced of Sola Scriptura while seem to have no idea how the Catholic Church made, compiled and preserved it.
 
I think it varies by region but my diocese has undergone some mergers and we are facing another one next year due to low numbers and an aging congregation. I hope things are better in other areas otherwise it’s rather worrying.
 
Raw numbers may go down. The Catholic Church counts all those baptized or received into the Church as Catholic whether they are active or lapsed or gone Protestant, so in that sense, I expect numbers to decrease. That, and we’re facing a very secularized culture still moving in that direction.

On the positive side, there seems to be a revival in Catholic resources for the laity and an increased emphasis on Biblical literacy. Even as we dwindle in some areas, I feel like the Church is being renewed in others. I think secularization will be a bigger threat than evangelical Protestantism. I suspect that Catholicism will acquit itself well against the “traditional” arguments of other denominations going forward. If there’s a loss it will be for those who refuse to accept Church moral teaching leaving for denominations more in line with their views and secular society.
 
souldiver said:
I find recent Protestants such as those that originated from the 20th century are fierce attackers of the Catholic Church. They say it’s okay because they are just telling truth that Catholics doesn’t follow the Bible or demons or false prophets, a political tool of Constantine, merged with paganism, the Whore of Babylon, Pope is the anti-Christ, the usual. It’s very shocking, I guess that their strength.

[BDoes anyone here predicts that the Catholic Church’s members will dwindle? And they will join radical Protestants.** People that interacts with me here has good views of mainstream Protestants, maybe such as the Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans even they attack each other in the past. But it’s the noisy, boastful and aggressive newer Protestants from the 20th century seems to be gaining upper hand here. They’re so convinced of Sola Scriptura while seem to have no idea how the Catholic Church made, compiled and preserved it.
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The Catholic Church is growing, and not dwindling. There has been particularly very strong growth in Africa and Asia.
 
souldiver said:
I find recent Protestants such as those that originated from the 20th century are fierce attackers of the Catholic Church. They say it’s okay because they are just telling truth that Catholics doesn’t follow the Bible or demons or false prophets, a political tool of Constantine, merged with paganism, the Whore of Babylon, Pope is the anti-Christ, the usual. It’s very shocking, I guess that their strength.
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Do you encounter such people in real life, or mostly online?

On the Internet, you can find anything and everything, and there is a lot of junk, disorder, and trollishness out there. Search engines (like Google) tend to favor sites that get a lot of clicks, which sometimes places sensational sites at the top of the page while more reasoned sites get pushed down the page. It’s up to you to separate the grain from the chaff.

In real-life encounters, it is difficult to get anywhere with such people. I have tried arguing, but it doesn’t do any good that I can see. It might be more effective to preach by example rather than words.
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
As far as I know, the Church is declining in North America and Europe but is enjoying rapid growth in the Global South. An interesting book that discusses this somewhat is John Allen’s The Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church
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Depends what you mean by the Global South. The African Church has seen huge growth. In Latin America, Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism are growing like wildfire- every day their missionaries put all of their efforts into stealing as many Catholics as possible…and they’ve been incredibly successful. Brazil, a traditionally Catholic country, is now 40% or so Evangelical I think? And that happened almost over night. It doesn’t help that in many of these Latin American nations you have one priest per 10 000+ faithful, yet other denominations have ministers coming out of their ears. Americans complain of a priest shortage.
 
twf said:
Depends what you mean by the Global South. The African Church has seen huge growth. In Latin America, Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism are growing like wildfire- every day their missionaries put all of their efforts into stealing as many Catholics as possible…and they’ve been incredibly successful. Brazil, a traditionally Catholic country, is now 40% or so Evangelical I think? And that happened almost over night. It doesn’t help that in many of these Latin American nations you have one priest per 10 000+ faithful, yet other denominations have ministers coming out of their ears. Americans complain of a priest shortage.
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I’m not sure where you’re getting your information.

catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/mission-dioceses-minister-to-catholics-scattered-over-great-distances.cfm

Ed
 
edwest2 said:
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information.

catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/mission-dioceses-minister-to-catholics-scattered-over-great-distances.cfm

Ed
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I don’t understand what that article has to do with the rise of Pentecostalism in Latin America or the severe priest shortages Latin American countries face?
Statistically, no US diocese has the one priest to 10 000+ faithful that many Latin American dioceses deal with. It might be one priest per 3000 faithful in some cases. No comparison.
 
Sy_Noe said:
What is strange and worrying to you? Catholic teaching? OCAC is what the Catholic Church teaches and determines who is claimed/counted.
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Well I doubt many of the non-practising Catholics are going to baptize their children or encourage a friend to go to mass. Churches with declining mass attendance can’t stay open because of baptized people in the area who have no intention of going to a mass.
 
Sy_Noe said:
What is strange and worrying to you? Catholic teaching? OCAC is what the Catholic Church teaches and determines who is claimed/counted.
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That s cult talk simply

IF I decide to leave the Catholic Church then that is what I will do;period, and at that point all her teachings become null and void to me.

So no you cannot count those who have left of their free will and choice,

We have those here on CAF of course, former Catholics,strong Christians.

It is worrying that you can even think else. The Church does not own my soul or my free will.
 
ConfusedLucy said:
Well I doubt many of the non-practising Catholics are going to baptize their children or encourage a friend to go to mass. Churches with declining mass attendance can’t stay open because of baptized people in the area who have no intention of going to a mass.
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Have you never heard of those who are called “Cultural Catholics”? They may baptize their children in a Catholic Church. My parents did not regularly attend Mass or practice and baptized us. Later on after my father’s death when I was very young, my mother then began to more so and raised me in the faith. We were there every Sunday for 8 am Mass. And as the yrs went by, she became more involved in her the parish.
 
Rosebud77 said:
That s cult talk simply

IF I decide to leave the Catholic Church then that is what I will do;period, and at that point all her teachings become null and void to me.

So no you cannot count those who have left of their free will and choice,

We have those here on CAF of course, former Catholics,strong Christians.

It is worrying that you can even think else. The Church does not own my soul or my free will.
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Oh it’s not that I disagree. I was just stating Catholic teaching.
 
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