Poll: Majority of Australian Catholics back same sex marriage

[reggieM]

Only a small minority of Australian Catholics attend weekly mass…many don’t attend at all…so why would anyone expect the majority to follow church teaching on SSM…and this is not just an Australian problem…the whole of western Catholicism (and Christianity in general) seems to be suffering the same fate…

True.

and SSM is just part of the problem facing the Catholic church…the divorce rate among Catholics…those divorced who live together without an annulment…or those who just live together without ever getting married…

Lack of fidelity to the teaching of Christ - yes.

so marriage is not a shining example to hold up among Catholics or Christians of other denominations who are against SSM…

I’ve heard this argument before and I doesn’t make sense to me. Marriage is a shining example because it is a Sacrament that comes from God. Because Catholics sin against marriage does not make SSM any less of a sin. But the fact is, SSM is more destructive than fornication - although both have hell as their final destination.

many might have already hardened their hearts against God…just as Pharaoh ignored the warning signs.

I agree that many have hardened their hearts against God. We pray for a miracle for them and hope they can convert.

 

[ATraveller]

I think the Church will lose this fight and the Kingdom of God will continue unabated.

The Christian Church has lost this fight, at least for the next century or so because a significant demographic shift across the West will likely occur after that and much of the Cultural Revolution that has happened since the 1920s will be undone.

 

[Sy_Noe]

It was reported in 2013 that as of 2011, only 12.2% of Catholics went to Church weekly in Australia: theage.com.au/victoria/a-thinning-flock-of-catholics-at-alltime-low-20130922-2u81i.html

I think in most cases if a Catholic attends Church weekly they are probably more likely to have views in line with Church teaching on same-sex marriage etc. than those who do not, and weekly Church attendance is quite low in Australia.

But to Peebo’s point that it’s the whole of western Catholicism and not just an Australian problem, attendance isn’t much better in the US. A poll last year which revisited one from 2008 to look for changes, showed only 22% of US Catholics attend weekly.

americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/drop-faith-participation-reported-younger-catholics

And a 2015 poll showed for every one Catholic convert, more than six Catholics leave the church. Taken a step further, Catholicism loses more members than it gains at a higher rate than any other denomination, with nearly 13 percent of all Americans describing themselves as “former Catholics.”

cruxnow.com/church/2015/05/12/pew-survey-percentage-of-us-catholics-drops-and-catholicism-is-losing-members-faster-than-any-denomination/

 

[Catholic13]

But to Peebo’s point that it’s the whole of western Catholicism and not just an Australian problem, attendance isn’t much better in the US. A poll last year which revisited one from 2008 to look for changes, showed only 22% of US Catholics attend weekly.

americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/drop-faith-participation-reported-younger-catholics

And a 2015 poll showed for every one Catholic convert, more than six Catholics leave the church. Taken a step further, Catholicism loses more members than it gains at a higher rate than any other denomination, with nearly 13 percent of all Americans describing themselves as “former Catholics.”

cruxnow.com/church/2015/05/12/pew-survey-percentage-of-us-catholics-drops-and-catholicism-is-losing-members-faster-than-any-denomination/

What point are you trying to make here? You don’t even follow Church teaching.

 

[Sy_Noe]

What point are you trying to make here? You don’t even follow Church teaching.

Only that in both Australia and the US, very small minorities of those whom the Catholic Church claims to be Catholics attend Mass regularly. In Australia it apparently is even less than in the US. They are walking and rejecting Catholic Church teaching for a reason. And maybe the issue of this thread SSM is one of any number of reasons as to why they have lost faith in the teaching authority.

 

[Catholic13]

Only that in both Australia and the US, very small minorities of those whom the Catholic Church claims to be Catholics attend Mass regularly. In Australia it apparently is even less than in the US.

Are you suggesting that they should be applauded? People turning away from God is not a good thing whether you think it’s “refreshing” or not.

 

[Sy_Noe]

Are you suggesting that they should be applauded? People turning away from God is not a good thing whether you think it’s “refreshing” or not.

I’m suggesting they are walking and have lost faith in Catholic teaching authority for a reason.

 

[Catholic13]

I’m suggesting they are walking and have lost faith in Catholic teaching authority for a reason.

Why do you find people turning away from God “refreshing”?

[please don’t claim you never said that either]

 

[Sy_Noe]

Why do you find people turning away from God “refreshing”?

[please don’t claim you never said that either]

You are referring to another thread on which I found refreshing a professed faithful Catholic who does not cringe about SSM, considering all the other issues in the world. And another who said he manages just fine being religious while supporting SSM.

 

[Catholic13]

You are referring to another thread on which I found refreshing a professed faithful Catholic who does not cringe about SSM, considering all the other issues in the world. And another who said he manages just fine being religious while supporting SSM.

Which is turning away from God, and you find it refreshing. Shameful. I’m sure Christ is proud of you.

 

[Nelka]

:nope:

 

[Sy_Noe]

Which is turning away from God, and you find it refreshing. Shameful. I’m sure Christ is proud of you.

I’m humble enough to admit that I, a human with a finite mind, can not know with certainty if it is or if he is.

 

[Catholic13]

I’m humble enough to admit that I, a human with a finite mind, can not know with certainty if it is or if he is.

So now you’re attempting deceit? wow

Because we know God is against homosexual acts, it says so right in the bible. So supporting homosexual marriage would be going directly against God’s law that denounces homosexual acts. Your hole is getting pretty deep at this point.

 

[Sy_Noe]

So now you’re attempting deceit? wow

Because we know God is against homosexual acts, it says so right in the bible. So supporting homosexual marriage would be going directly against God’s law that denounces homosexual acts. Your hole is getting pretty deep at this point.

I don’t know that. But then I don’t take the Bible literally. If I did, women would not be speaking in churches. All of creation would have been fully completed in just six 24 hour days with the evening and the morning being a day. We wouldn’t eat shellfish or wear garments of mixed fabrics and a whole host of other things. Yes I know the Catholic Church for instance divides such laws into ceremonial vs moral. The Bible was written by humans and from my perspective that does not necessarily mean it was inerrant even if inspired. Humans can still bring their own prejudices and the times in which they write into their writings. And also, there are different faith interpretations of passages as I am sure you know in other faiths outside of the Catholic Church’s. You speak from the Catholic perspective though. I do understand. Peace.

 

[I_trust]

Only that in both Australia and the US, very small minorities of those whom the Catholic Church claims to be Catholics attend Mass regularly. In Australia it apparently is even less than in the US. They are walking and rejecting Catholic Church teaching for a reason. And maybe the issue of this thread SSM is one of any number of reasons as to why they have lost faith in the teaching authority.

I’m suggesting they are walking and have lost faith in Catholic teaching authority for a reason.

You are advocating, in a not so indirect way, that Catholics reject the Church’s teaching authority. This is against forum rules, and truly offensive.

 

[Sy_Noe]

You are advocating, in a not so indirect way, that Catholics reject the Church’s teaching authority. This is against forum rules, and truly offensive.

I truly don’t mean any offense. But how else do you explain the number of Catholics who dissent from Catholic teachings and do not confess to a priest?

 

[I_trust]

I truly don’t mean any offense. But how else do you explain the number of Catholics who dissent from Catholic teachings such as by nor attending Mass weekly?

How do I explain them rejecting the teaching of Christ and his Church?

Sin.

And your posts are offensive, and contrary to the rules of this forum.

 

[Sy_Noe]

How do I explain them rejecting the teaching of Christ and his Church?

Sin.

And your posts are offensive, and contrary to the rules of this forum.

I understand we all sin. But if a Catholic accepts Catholic teaching authority, wouldn’t they confess to a priest when they do? Certainly for the ones who do, they do not reject the teaching authority. I apologize if you misunderstood me.

 

[I_trust]

People love their sin more than they love God.
This is why they reject Christ, and his Church’s teachings.
I will leave it to someone much brighter then me to sum it up…

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried. Gilbert K. Chesterton

 

[Catholic13]

How do I explain them rejecting the teaching of Christ and his Church?

Sin.

And your posts are offensive, and contrary to the rules of this forum.

She even said it was refreshing that a Christian was turning away from God… by supporting same sex “marriage” You don’t need to ask which side she is on. If you’re against God then you support evil. This isn’t rocket science.