Right on time - USNews front page story on "dying" church in Europe

[stellina]

I just shouldn’t be surprised by this sort of thing anymore. I didn’t read it because the headline & the photo of a half-empty church with older people in it said enough. Same old story. It bothers me more because I have friends & family in Europe and I really don’t see how Europeans are more non-religious or secular than we are despite what a lot of Americans insist. I would be very interested to hear what the Europeans on the forum have to say.

 

[Nohome]

stellina:

I just shouldn’t be surprised by this sort of thing anymore. I didn’t read it because the headline & the photo of a half-empty church with older people in it said enough. Same old story. It bothers me more because I have friends & family in Europe and I really don’t see how Europeans are more non-religious or secular than we are despite what a lot of Americans insist. I would be very interested to hear what the Europeans on the forum have to say.

I’m not from Europe, but I work with many Europeans. In general, they are confused by the passion Americans have for religion (both for and against). They truly are quite indifferent to religion and not just Catholicism. I’m certain that there are exceptions to the rule and your family and friends may be just that.

Germany is a good measure of this because contributions to the church are deducted from your paycheck by the government. The Catholic Church loses more than 10,000 members annually as people formally declare themselves not Catholic.

Nohome