Study: Christian Population Shifts from Europe

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Well 63% of total Christian population still lives in the “West” (Europe,United States,Canada etc) … Christianity has increased dramatically in the pagan Africa (central/Southern) which has maintained Christianity as “stable” …In the West,Christianity is effectively dead and plays absolutely no role in the society. I know bible more than many Christians do 😛 …But in Kenya/Uganda…People are very religious…
 
Some mystics say that the Christian faith will grow in the Western Hemisphere…young American Catholics are on fire for their faith…

Yes, Africa is witnessing many turning to Christ…
 
Auzer said:
Well 63% of total Christian population still lives in the “West” (Europe,United States,Canada etc) … Christianity has increased dramatically in the pagan Africa (central/Southern) which has maintained Christianity as “stable” …In the West,Christianity is effectively dead and plays absolutely no role in the society. I know bible more than many Christians do 😛 …But in Kenya/Uganda…People are very religious…
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As a Catholic I don’t agree with Islam obviously, but I think you’re correct in your assessment of Christianity in the West. We go through the motions, and pay lip service to it, but these days most Westerners wouldn’t know the first thing about the Church. They get married outside the church taking “private vows” or don’t get married at all, don’t get their kids baptised, and ensure their children get no religious training whatsoever. We kill unborn children by the million, and if there’s anything that gets up God’s nose, that does.

And many politicians only heed the Church as far as they think their voting public will allow them to.

It reminds me of my old Protestant pastor saying that he thought God was using the Moslems because they “take Him seriously”. This might seem like a dangerous thing to say in view of the Moslem violence and persecution of Christians whenever they get the upper hand, but I think God wants to issue a wake-up call to the West, and He’s using the Moslems to do it.

I also don’t think God has much time for the doctrine of the division of church and state, and I suspect He’s going to use Islam to somehow get that pushed into the background, as it has no division of religion and state.

On the other hand, there is enormous growth in Christianity in some areas particularly in China and parts of Africa. I think there may be a demographic shift for Christianity from West to East.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
As a Catholic I don’t agree with Islam obviously, but I think you’re correct in your assessment of Christianity in the West. We go through the motions, and pay lip service to it, but these days most Westerners wouldn’t know the first thing about the Church. They get married outside the church taking “private vows” or don’t get married at all, don’t get their kids baptised, and ensure their children get no religious training whatsoever. We kill unborn children by the million, and if there’s anything that gets up God’s nose, that does.

And many politicians only heed the Church as far as they think their voting public will allow them to.

It reminds me of my old Protestant pastor saying that he thought God was using the Moslems because they “take Him seriously”. This might seem like a dangerous thing to say in view of the Moslem violence and persecution of Christians whenever they get the upper hand, but I think God wants to issue a wake-up call to the West, and He’s using the Moslems to do it.

I also don’t think God has much time for the doctrine of the division of church and state, and I suspect He’s going to use Islam to somehow get that pushed into the background, as it has no division of religion and state.

On the other hand, there is enormous growth in Christianity in some areas particularly in China and parts of Africa. I think there may be a demographic shift for Christianity from West to East.
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Hmm, good points. I agree somewhat, but I also think that there is and will be a Christian revival in the US, especially among the younger generation. Of course, I base this off of my experiences and knowledge, so I might be way off. The shift from West to East might certainly be the case, as it seems to be the case with other things than just religion these days too, and the world always goes through cycles of up and down in every area of society in land.
 
Amer…you are correct in your observations…a Catholic prelate said the most devout and vibrant faith is being witnessed by the Church here in America, where anti-Catholicism is still tolerated.

I see alot of good a minority of Catholics do here in a mostly secular state, whose history makes it the most hostile to religion in general. The health and education system excelling here is Catholic, the only hospital to make the top national 10 is Catholic. But the natives here do not want to repeat their anti-Catholic past, and I have seldom seen any hostility towards my faith since coming here. In fact, I find people very nice.

We are working to uphold the sanctity of human life, restore the sacredness of our church environment…my daughter left the church, and this Christmas returned…When she was in secular high school, she spoke out to her class for the dignity of human life. All my kids…I teach them to be chaste and to only be with their future spouses, and to live more simply. Many other Catholic parents are like me; there are others who see education more as means to more economic life…but for myself…we see Catholic schools as an extension of the faith of home…religion, 'rithmetic, reading…in that order.

Our children went to a parochial school in north Seattle. It was working to middle class, many coming from small, project style houses…The parish had daily Mass, and 170 students out of 225 went freely to daily Mass. We had an excellent reading instructor…anyway, this school ended up ranking number one academically in the archdiocese.

Put God first, and live simple…praying constantly…is best lifestyle.
 
Auzer said:
Well 63% of total Christian population still lives in the “West” (Europe,United States,Canada etc) … Christianity has increased dramatically in the pagan Africa (central/Southern) which has maintained Christianity as “stable” …In the West,Christianity is effectively dead and plays absolutely no role in the society. I know bible more than many Christians do 😛 …But in Kenya/Uganda…People are very religious…
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I was going for the smart aleck post, “says the muslim”, because you sounded so sure of yourself when it fact you’re wrong. Look, no one’s denying that Christianity is dying in Europe but it isn’t EFFECTIVELY DEAD nor does it play ABSOLUTELY no role in society. You may have had good intentions but your post is something that’s going to tick a lot of people off. As for Catholicism being dead in the west, that statement is wrong. There are still a good number of places in Europe that hold dear to their Catholic roots, Poland to name one. Besides, just because Catholicism is dying in European countries such as Ireland or Germany, doesn’t mean there aren’t Catholics anymore. Ireland still has a lot of Catholics, same goes for Spain. The Pope received a great reception in Germany and believed that the Catholic Church had a future there. But of course, Catholicism is no where as popular or widespread as it used to be in European countries and it is on a sharp decline. In fact, most Catholics over there are only Catholic in name.

However, Catholicism is experiencing robust growth in America, especially in the south! Mexicans are very strong in their faith as well and outside of Europe, I don’t think Catholicism is declining in the west at a noticeable rate as you claim (except for Brazil).
 
I read through your post again and I’d like to apologize. I blew up, this doesn’t normally happen to me but I’m pretty passionate in my faith. Going through your post a second time, you seem to have solely good intentions and didn’t mean to p*ss anyone off. My stance remains firm though, I believe you’re mistaken. Either that or you had a common had a case of bad wording. Also, I don’t exactly have a good history with muslims. It’s a bad way of thinking that I’m trying to remove. Sorry.
 
Africa , Asia, and South America are the hope for Christianity , and like Mark steyn have said , Europe is heading to a New Dark Ages
 
I did find the Catholic faith in Southern Italy strong and robust and enthusiastic youth…

But it is the secularization of Europe…to the point now…people losing their faith in God in time also lose their faith in life.

What is lacking in faith is the Christian brotherhood…in ancient times, the Christians laid down their lives for victims of the plague…the point they would die to…the pagans would throw half living plague victims out on the roads with no burial…The Christians would care for them and bury them…even those who beforehand had persecuted them.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and justice, and all will be given you…today people are caught up in materialism…and are not strident about insuring the faith is passed down. We live too fast and are involved with too many things when we should be spending time in Adoration before God Who lives among us.

They talk about the economy, etc…but if we can pull together as Christians, study Christianity of the past and returning to the welfare of our neighbor…you are already seeing it in those who are volunteering here in the USA who have lost their jobs…families who are now poor and being asked to give away any extra toys in their homes for those who have absolutely nothing…like I saw last night on 60 Minutes in Ohio…this is so hard…but it is working and creating a great grace of God’s presence among us…that may be if we did have some kind of crash…it could work to help us return to God in the ways we were taught…

Consider the Angelus prayed at noon time…that was a custom of the past…Saturday being Mary’s day…there are books out for families on Catholic customs…and living out the liturgical year through the Mass…
 
Auzer said:
Why would I “lie” ? I just wrote my observations.
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I won’t get into why you would lie.

But you didn’t say you were posting your opinion. You made a statement and offered no proof. Therefore I’m going to treat is as the lie that it is until you do.
 
Most of these shifts seem to be more from population decline in Europe and population increases in the areas mentioned than it is from “mass conversions” as the title misleadingly suggests.
 
Calgar said:
I won’t get into why you would lie.

But you didn’t say you were posting your opinion. You made a statement and offered no proof. Therefore I’m going to treat is as the lie that it is until you do.
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I think what he offered was an opinion. You have no right to call him a liar.
 
Yes…we are aware that many Muslim women can have up to 10 children, and I remember Libya’s former leader Qaddafi declaring that Islam will take over the world through the womb of their women…

I would also like to see these same women hear the authentic gospel and practice (Church) of Jesus Christ and see their response. Muslims face death if they leave their religion.
 
KathleenGee said:
Amer…you are correct in your observations…a Catholic prelate said the most devout and vibrant faith is being witnessed by the Church here in America, where anti-Catholicism is still tolerated.

I see alot of good a minority of Catholics do here in a mostly secular state, whose history makes it the most hostile to religion in general. The health and education system excelling here is Catholic, the only hospital to make the top national 10 is Catholic. But the natives here do not want to repeat their anti-Catholic past, and I have seldom seen any hostility towards my faith since coming here. In fact, I find people very nice.

We are working to uphold the sanctity of human life, restore the sacredness of our church environment…my daughter left the church, and this Christmas returned…When she was in secular high school, she spoke out to her class for the dignity of human life. All my kids…I teach them to be chaste and to only be with their future spouses, and to live more simply. Many other Catholic parents are like me; there are others who see education more as means to more economic life…but for myself…we see Catholic schools as an extension of the faith of home…religion, 'rithmetic, reading…in that order.

Our children went to a parochial school in north Seattle. It was working to middle class, many coming from small, project style houses…The parish had daily Mass, and 170 students out of 225 went freely to daily Mass. We had an excellent reading instructor…anyway, this school ended up ranking number one academically in the archdiocese.

Put God first, and live simple…praying constantly…is best lifestyle.
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Wise words, and wow!! What an excellent attendance for daily mass. That’s great. And yeah, there is some anti-Catholic thinking in the US and I have seen it but never to a major extent and not frequently. It’s there, but to me it seems to be very weak.

Have a nice day! 🙂
 
With all due respect people, there are more and more muslim immigration. Now it won’t be long before they become secular too, unless of course the gov’t becomes islamic, which is a huge possibility. You are also dismissing the fact that courts and gov’t vote against the Christian vote, that is no way the Christian’s fault as Canada and U.S. are more accepting of other religions esp Atheism.
 
KathleenGee said:
Yes…we are aware that many Muslim women can have up to 10 children, and I remember Libya’s former leader Qaddafi declaring that Islam will take over the world through the womb of their women…

I would also like to see these same women hear the authentic gospel and practice (Church) of Jesus Christ and see their response. Muslims face death if they leave their religion.
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I would rather see a reduction in immigration and a government policy that would favor native European women having more children.

To Christianize Middle Easterners and Africans, I’d rather send missionaries abroad than import millions of strangers into our countries. They will overwhelm us by their sheer numbers.
 
I tend to agree with you…as well as the reality that the grass is not always greener on the other side…

I found many good attributes about Catholic African life…very simple, communitarian…and the people there are working to develop their own country now…and they have their own intelligencia that is capable of developing and marketing goods and having business relationships with the open market.

I think what is happening to our country, however, is racially motivated…pay back to the gringo…and not integrate.

The priests I worked with did not tolerate ethnic groups forming in a larger gathering…we all had to integrate and speak the basic language…no matter how hard. We were to be one as Catholics.
 
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