What Are The Most Relevant Issues In Our Church Today?

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The title question seems clear enough: “What Are The Most Relevant Issues In Our Church Today?”

But, please note, I am looking more for as much objective research data as I can find - preferably, research studies the church, Archdiocese, governments, credible lay organizations, and even maybe hospitals or social agencies has conducted.
 
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I heard a priest say that “God is receding from the horizon of the human race.” That was how he put it. Sort of like, as we are retreating from religious affiliation, God is retreating from us. I found that image to be terrifying.
 
I imagine the priest meant not that God is withdrawing himself or depriving mankind of his presence and providence, but rather that people are withdrawing themselves and depriving themselves. As you walk (or drive or sail) away from something (like a city), it disappears over the horizon.

Let us pray and work for the awakening, repentance, and salvation of the human race.
 
An overall collapsing of the American Catholic Church since the 1960’s. One sign of it would be weekly mass attendance was much higher than it is now. I have seen figures like 80% to 30% today. Another is the high number Catholics who have left the faith. Off hand I can’t remember the stats on it, but it is quite substantial. Also, there seems to be a significant number of Catholics who are not properly catechized and are at a loss when confronted to defend their faith.
 
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Just a point of clarification. There is an “American Catholic Church” not in communion with the pope. They are offspring of the “Old Catholics”.

Perhaps “of the Catholic Church in America” words it better?

No disagreement, just disambiguation.
 
I think the most relevant issue in Holy Mother Church today is the lack of unity. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 was very clear–He prayed above all else that we would be ONE! And we aren’t.

If this was Jesus’ biggest concern, then it makes sense to me that it should be OUR biggest concern.

I think a lot of the other issues might have never happened, or would have been fixed sooner, had we been One Body, One Church.

i pray “that our unity will one day be restored.”

I am a convert to Catholicism from Evangelical Protestantism, BTW, so I know what my Protestant Christian brothers and sisters are missing. I’m very glad that organizations like CA work to educate Catholics, but I wish they would develop outreaches to PROTESTANTS. My husband and I knew little to nothing about the Catholic Church, but we started attending an apologetics class offered by the Catholic Church down the road from us so that we could learn more about Catholicism, not with the idea of converting, but so that we would be better witnesses to Catholics. (Yes, seriously–that’s how Evangelical Protestants think!)

God used that class to convict us of our need to “come home.” I think that more Catholic Churches ought to do specific outreaches like this to Protestants–at least offer a “lecture series” or 'Apologetics series," or even a “Unity Prayer Meeting against abortion” and invite the Protestants–even if just one Protestant showed up, that would be one more person who might return to the Church of Jesus Christ. My husband and I were just two people, but we’re so glad our parish had that apologetics class!
 
What about the issue of materialism? Even society at large is starting to realise how problematic a materialistic worldview is. The church should be leading in this - but unfortunately we haven’t been so clear ourselves. We should take the example of those in vocations more seriously, and also the very clear teachings of Christ on the matter.
 
Shasta-Rose said:
Sort of like, as we are retreating from religious affiliation, God is retreating from us. I found that image to be terrifying.
Click to expand...
I would argue even further—that modern man is alienated from God, from other people and even from himself.
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
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Shasta-Rose:
Sort of like, as we are retreating from religious affiliation, God is retreating from us. I found that image to be terrifying.
Click to expand...
I would argue even further—that modern man is alienated from God, from other people and even from himself.
Click to expand...
I think you’re saying two different things, though…

It doesn’t seem like God retreats from man so much as man from God…

God is our Creator, and man the creature… In Eden, it wasn’t God who left Adam, but Adam who hid from God… Jesus came to us, and it was we who failed to recognize him…

Our all-powerful, eternal, ever-present, ever-living God is always there for us by his very own Creative nature… We can always Trust in Him and be charitable to one another… The question is, will we? And the answer is - yes, we should, and we shouldn’t retreat from that responsibility…
 
Wm777 said:
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0Scarlett_nidiyilii:
40.png
Shasta-Rose:
Sort of like, as we are retreating from religious affiliation, God is retreating from us. I found that image to be terrifying.
Click to expand...
I would argue even further—that modern man is alienated from God, from other people and even from himself.
Click to expand...
I think you’re saying two different things, though…

It doesn’t seem like God retreats from man so much as man from God…

God is our Creator, and man the creature… In Eden, it wasn’t God who left Adam, but Adam who hid from God… Jesus came to us, and it was we who failed to recognize him…

Our all-powerful, eternal, ever-present, ever-living God is always there for us by his very own Creative nature… We can always Trust in Him and be charitable to one another… The question is, will we? And the answer is - yes, we should, and we shouldn’t retreat from that responsibility…
Click to expand...
Actually, I think, it does bring up a lot of questions about free will and the human understanding of God in light of modern thought and modern church problems, whether the percipient is religious or secular.
 
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