How would you stop the decline in faith?

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Inquisitor85

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Across the Western World Catholicism is falling back in terms of the percentage of population that claim to be part of the faith. What would you do to arrest the decline and ultimately to increase numbers?
 
I would allow some exceptions to the rule, but generally, I would require that mostly all priests marry before ordination. Married Catholic families might then feel a stronger bond with their priest. And further, IMHO, I think that there would be fewer scandals, which are causing distress to many Catholics.
 
  1. Married men commit abuse too. Also, it is not the responsibility of women to soak up the sexually violent tendencies of men. Believe it or not, it is possible to keep it in your pants.
  2. A priest’s salary is not enough to raise a family on. A lot of dioceses are strapped for cash and probably would not be able to afford priests who need to support a family.
  3. It would be really hard to balance family life with the duties of a priest.
 
For the OP, the answer is proper catechesis and practicing Catholics who are not afraid to be openly Catholic and dispel the myths out there.
 
redbetta said:
It would be really hard to balance family life with the duties of a priest.
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How does that work in the Orthodox Church? After Divine Liturgy, and sometimes before, the wife of the priest greets everyone ( in the hall) which adds a nice personal touch after the liturgical celebration.
 
  1. I agree that married people abuse as well…BUT the RCC has an entirely celibate clergy which if I understand it correctly also includes masturbation. That’s a situation most humans (besides the Ace community) would struggle with, couple that with confessional seal and it’s a bomb waiting to go off.
As for your other points they’re fair but other churches do manage it.
 
I don’t know about the Orthodox Church, but a lot of Catholic priests are overworked.
 
I went to a Catholic state school for 12 years and I have no idea what catechise means in the context you mean it.
 
Other churches have less sacrements and less services. The Catholic Church is radically different from most denominations. What works for other churches may not work for the Church.

Also, when people complain about priestly celibacy, they act as if it is imposed on the priest. The priest of his own free will chose to become a priest and everything that comes with it. What we need is to better screen out prospective priests who cannot handle that sort of lifestyle.
 
I know. That stems from a variety of reasons. Letting married men become priests won’t lead to the increase that is needed.
 
redbetta said:
Letting married men become priests won’t lead to the increase that is needed.
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How do you know that it would not help? Further, with a married man, his wife is there to assist in many of the different things that come up from time to time.
 
The pay is low and there are many functions that a priest has to perform that only a priest can do. A wife can’t help him hear confessions, celebrate the mass, etc.
 
I’m not convinced that drawing the priesthood from only half of the Ace community is going to lead to an increase in numbers. I can’t think of any other group that would be comfortable commiting to a vow like that.
 
Ah right, I thought it was something to do with the Catechism which I also hadn’t heard of before I started to frequent this forum.
 
According to http://labs.time.com/story/catholic-population/ the Catholic faith is increasing in all parts of the world, except Europe (due to its low birth rate). Actual numbers worldwide for the last 150 years are steady at 17% of population.

Passing on the faith to our children is most important, being faithful ourselves, sharing our faith, welcoming newcomers, helping the poor, caring for the sick … everything Jesus taught us really.
 
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AlNg said:
I would require that mostly all priests marry before ordination. Married Catholic families might then feel a stronger bond with their priest
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So in order to make married families feel a better connection, you’ll require that priests be married…so that single people no longer feel a connection?
AlNg said:
And further, IMHO, I think that there would be fewer scandals, which are causing distress to many Catholics.
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Marriage doesn’t stop pedophilia or abuse of power.
Inquisitor85 said:
BUT the RCC has an entirely celibate clergy which if I understand it correctly also includes masturbation. That’s a situation most humans (besides the Ace community) would struggle with, couple that with confessional seal and it’s a bomb waiting to go off.
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But you need to show that it’s actually causing an increase in pedophilic tendencies and other sexual abuses of power. You can’t just intuit that that’s what happens and then accuse the Church of creating an environment that increases such problems.
 
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