Poll Finds Rift Between U.S. Catholics and Church

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rfournier103 said:
As another poster said; people keep baptizing their babies in Catholic Churches, and the media keeps talking about the Church. We’re relavent; and I laugh because so many people whine about the Church’s social doctrines, yet they crave the Church’s approval at the same time. Someone should write a paper about it…
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This is brilliant! I get the feeling they doth protest too much! What hypocrisy to slam the Church and say I won’t accept her teachings, to belittle her in every way, do everything to bring her down but then continue to identify as Catholic. If Holy Mother Church is wrong, then leave us in peace! We’ll never convince you anyway as your subjectivism rules, and you state by your very verbal refutation of all things Catholic that you no longer need the Church!
 
Lucky7 said:
Yes, that is what the statistics show. Do you have a point to make?
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Only that I’ve heard it’s a relatively small percentage of Baptized Catholics who attend weekly Mass. They would be more practicing than those who don’t. And those numbers sounded as if even a lot of those regular weekly Mass goers in the pews support women priests and married priests. So numbers appear to suggest there must be very few Catholics who adhere to everything then. Even less than the percentage who attend Mass every wk.
 
Those in favor of same-sex marriage are a part of the 70% of self-idenitifed Catholics that do not attend Mass on a regular basis. This poll does not represent faithful Catholics.
 
CMatt25 said:
Only that I’ve heard it’s a relatively small percentage of Baptized Catholics who attend weekly Mass. They would be more practicing than those who don’t. And those numbers sounded as if even a lot of those regular weekly Mass goers in the pews support women priests and married priests. So numbers appear to suggest there must be very few Catholics who adhere to everything then. Even less than the percentage who attend Mass every wk.
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The numbers suggest that 22-28% of U.S. Catholics are in full communion with Rome. (Assent with their will to the defined doctrines as stated absolutely.) Some of that portion attend Mass regularly or sometimes, some of that portion do not attend. So you can’t infer anything from Mass attendance, because essentially 100% of those in full communion with Rome do attend Mass regularly.

That is of course a separate matter than the “10” (some say 12, depends on how they’re divided) Commandments followed by the general Judeo-Christian world and even many who no longer affiliate with any Jewish or Christian institution but who “confess” the Commandments as part of a belief. When referring to numbers, no one’s talking about Catholic success in either meeting the Commandments or in meeting all of the defined Catholic doctrines, merely that obedience of mind and will (effort and full cooperation) has been committed to.
 
Exordium1003 said:
The poll appears to reflect the opinion of most of the Catholics that I know.
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Agreed, a Catholic deacon friend of mine and his wife believe that soon, the Catholic church in the USA will form to reflect more American beliefs and practice…as a deacon he would I think be a good source of information that there indeed is a “rift” between US Catholics and the Vatican…I guess time will tell.🙂
 
Publisher said:
Agreed, a Catholic deacon friend of mine and his wife believe that soon, the Catholic church in the USA will form to reflect more American beliefs and practice…as a deacon he would I think be a good source of information that there indeed is a “rift” between US Catholics and the Vatican…I guess time will tell.🙂
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It is not the Vatican that those who want to change Church teaching are at odds with, they are odds with the Catholic Church as a whole

If people are staying in the Church even though they disagree with doctrine on a variety of issues and can not find a way to reconcile with the Church, but are waiting in hope that doctrine is going to change, they will be waiting forever because it is not going to happen

If female clergy, accepting views on use of contraception, allowing homosexual blessings or ‘marriage,’ abortion, divorce are so accepted among Americans, then why are denominations with such views losing members such as the Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians?
 
Poll shows U.S. Catholics give Pope Benedict high marks for ministry
A telephone survey commissioned by the Knights of Columbus found that U.S. Catholics think favorably of Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in February.
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The Marist poll, taken March 2-5 – the week after Pope Benedict’s Feb. 28 retirement took effect – found that Catholics held favorable impressions of the retired pontiff’s tenure, his impact on their lives and the direction of both the church and the world.
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In the poll, 77 percent of all U.S. Catholics, and 82 percent of practicing Catholics, said they had ether a “positive” or “very positive” impression of the retired pope’s pontificate. Asked about the outgoing pope himself, 69 percent of Catholics and 75 percent of practicing Catholics had a “positive” or “very positive” view of him.
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Similarly, 68 percent of Catholics and 77 percent of practicing Catholics said he had a “positive” or “very positive” impact on their life.
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Seventy percent of Catholics and 75 percent of practicing Catholics said the pope had a “positive” or “very positive” impact on the church’s direction, while 65 percent of Catholics and 69 percent of practicing Catholics said in the poll he had a “positive” or “very positive” impact on the moral direction of the world.
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Poll respondents were asked, “Pope Benedict XVI served as pope during the social media age and used Twitter to communicate. Do you like the idea or not like the idea of the pope tweeting to communicate?” In their responses, 67 percent of Catholics and 66 percent of practicing Catholics said they liked the idea, while 25 percent of each group said they did not – the highest negative marks given to any question in the poll.
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“The data indicates clearly that American Catholics have a deep respect for Pope Benedict XVI and a great appreciation for his pontificate,” said a March 6 statement by Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus. “That so many felt he had a positive impact on their lives, their church and their world speaks volumes to the good that he was able to do as pope.”
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The poll, conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., interviewed 2,000 American adults on both land lines and cellphones. Among that number were 515 Catholics. The margin of error for Catholics’ answers is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
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chnonline.org/news/nation-world/12019-poll-shows-us-catholics-give-pope-benedict-high-marks-for-ministry.html
 
_Abyssinia said:
If female clergy, accepting views on use of contraception, allowing homosexual blessings or ‘marriage,’ abortion, divorce are so accepted among Americans, then why are denominations with such views losing members such as the Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians?
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Excellent question. Are people leaving these churches because of their “positions” on these issues? If not, why else might they be leaving?

Allow me to offer one perspective. I’ve visited many Protestant churches over the years. The ones that are growing are the ones that focus on people making a shift from religion that focuses on “positions” to living faith that invites people to embrace their identity as loved children of God and, by extension, to accept others likewise. This doesn’t mean endorsing everything in their own or each others’ lives but rather to see others as companions on the journey who need (and access to through Christ) the grace of God just as they do themselves. I’ve met many people who identify themselves as, “I used to be Catholic”, who told me they now attend these churches for precisely this reason.

This leads me to ask if we’re focusing on the grace-filled transformation we experience in the living Christ or simply telling people they need to get in line behind our agenda? (one of these demands more than the other). I think the Church would gain far more loyalty from people if those of us who are Catholic made our starting point the living and speaking of grace-filled transformation rather laying-down-the-law and seeking to purge the Church of those we see as the infidels.
 
Contrary I see the exodus towards Catholicism/Orthodoxy already started. I see the glass already half full. The numbers are increasing with Pro-Life, the Vatican has been on the news and media for weeks now and continuing into the Easter Vigil. There’s a new leader and new life coming to the Church. I see God at work.
 
BackToTheRock said:
Excellent question. Are people leaving these churches because of their “positions” on these issues? If not, why else might they be leaving?

Allow me to offer one perspective. I’ve visited many Protestant churches over the years. The ones that are growing are the ones that focus on people making a shift from religion that focuses on “positions” to living faith that invites people to embrace their identity as loved children of God and, by extension, to accept others likewise. This doesn’t mean endorsing everything in their own or each others’ lives but rather to see others as companions on the journey who need (and access to through Christ) the grace of God just as they do themselves. I’ve met many people who identify themselves as, “I used to be Catholic”, who told me they now attend these churches for precisely this reason.

This leads me to ask if we’re focusing on the grace-filled transformation we experience in the living Christ or simply telling people they need to get in line behind our agenda? (one of these demands more than the other). I think the Church would gain far more loyalty from people if those of us who are Catholic made our starting point the living and speaking of grace-filled transformation rather laying-down-the-law and seeking to purge the Church of those we see as the infidels.
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It’s my understanding that the Protestant churches that are growing are actually the ones that agree with the church on many of these matters (evangelical, baptist). So something else is at work. I would argue it’s because those churches are teaching these things on a regular basis whereas many Catholic parishes are not doing so.
 
Elizabeth502 said:
When referring to numbers, no one’s talking about Catholic success in either meeting the Commandments or in meeting all of the defined Catholic doctrines, merely that obedience of mind and will (effort and full cooperation) has been committed to.
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Exactly. I can assure you that assenting does not equal succeeding. 😉
 
BackToTheRock said:
Excellent question. Are people leaving these churches because of their “positions” on these issues? If not, why else might they be leaving?

Allow me to offer one perspective. I’ve visited many Protestant churches over the years. The ones that are growing are the ones that focus on people making a shift from religion that focuses on “positions” to living faith that invites people to embrace their identity as loved children of God and, by extension, to accept others likewise. This doesn’t mean endorsing everything in their own or each others’ lives but rather to see others as companions on the journey who need (and access to through Christ) the grace of God just as they do themselves. I’ve met many people who identify themselves as, “I used to be Catholic”, who told me they now attend these churches for precisely this reason.

This leads me to ask if we’re focusing on the grace-filled transformation we experience in the living Christ or simply telling people they need to get in line behind our agenda? (one of these demands more than the other). I think the Church would gain far more loyalty from people if those of us who are Catholic made our starting point the living and speaking of grace-filled transformation rather laying-down-the-law and seeking to purge the Church of those we see as the infidels.
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I see a similar trend in my area. The fastest growing churches are not the traditional denominations-they are non-denominalization churches that preach relationship with God and others, and a heavy dose of “whatever you’ve done in your life, God can forgive you and help you grow” There’s a church in my area that has grown from one small church to FIVE locations-two of them in movie theaters because of the size of the crowds. And before you say that the doctrine is easy-it’s not. They believe the SAME things we do about abortion and gay marriage. If anything, they demand more of their members-tithing, volunteering…but people WANT to do those things because they are excited about being a part of that group.

Now we all know that the Catholic church says exactly the same thing and has much, much more to offer-but that’s not the message the world is hearing, or they’d be beating a path to our door.

When I see a poll like this, my first question is how can we get the truth across to bring those folks back? What are we doing wrong in our approach? There is no closer relationship with Jesus than to receive Him in the Eucharist, why do people who have left the Church continually say they were “seeking a relationship with Jesus” 🤷

Sure, there are people who are just rebellious, and we’re not going to win them over-but I really don’t think everyone is that way. I think they just aren’t getting the true message and that’s something that we who are in the Church can work on and improve.
 
Nothing new, it was a rough 50-years. And the powers of evil have grown, there were decades of non catechized souls, unheard of 50-years ago. Here’s the Good News, the Light has the final say.
 
CMatt25 said:
Only that I’ve heard it’s a relatively small percentage of Baptized Catholics who attend weekly Mass. They would be more practicing than those who don’t. And those numbers sounded as if even a lot of those regular weekly Mass goers in the pews support women priests and married priests. So numbers appear to suggest there must be very few Catholics who adhere to everything then. Even less than the percentage who attend Mass every wk.
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sounds like there might be a broad road
and a narrow road that few find
 
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