What will the Church be like in 50 years?

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Dempsey1919 said:
  • How will the liturgy be different?
  • Will we have married Priests?
  • Will the Tridentine Mass movement grow?
  • What will happen to the liberals? Have they had their day?
  • Will a new Mass be promulgated?
  • Will newer gothic churches be built?
  • Will the Church grow or decline?
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This is if by fifty years Christ has not come back 😛

Liturgy: I think the principle elements will remain the same and both the OF and EF (as well as the Eastern rites) would still be available. Who knows?

Married priests: other than the ones already here most likely not (IMHO why would they, they are busier than ever now and a family to take care of would be even harder on then anyways)

Tridentine mass: I honestly don’t know, especially since I have never been to one (I am only 16). Lately I have been interested in seeing what it’s like though 👍

Liberals: They will most likely still be around, but they will be different from our current ones… They have always been around even before VII

New Mass: i don’t think so, but there will be liturgical reforms in the OF than are more in line with the Latin rite (especially in the wording)

Gothic Churches: there are some right now in my area, so sure in fifty years one might see a few from place to place 🙂

Growth of the Church: Most definitely!!! Yeah the percentage here in the states and in Europe may decline, but look at all the evangelization in Africa and Asia! However while there may be less Catholics here I pray there will be more faithful and devout ones. Maybe the Eastern Orthodox churches will also be reunited with the Catholic Church too!!
😃 😃 😃

Having said that, I believe we are headed for some of the toughest times the Church has ever seen. Relativism, secularism, materialism etc., they will all be on the rise and will continue to pose threats to the Catholic and Christian faithful. There might even be worse movements that none of us could ever anticipate.
In response we must pray to God as well as though the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and all the saints that we be protected. And finally we must do as St Paul says to the Christians: “Therefore, brothers, stad firm and hold fast to the TRADITIONS that you were taught, either by oral statement or by a letter of ours” (2 Thes 2:15)

God bless you all and God bless the one true Church!!!
 
Dempsey1919 said:
  • How will the liturgy be different?
  • Will we have married Priests?
  • Will the Tridentine Mass movement grow?
  • What will happen to the liberals? Have they had their day?
  • Will a new Mass be promulgated?
  • Will newer gothic churches be built?
  • Will the Church grow or decline?
Click to expand...
  1. Perhaps some addition of propers for newer Saints here and there will be added to the Missal, with the OF (if it still exists) being brought more in line with the EF, as a sign of the Hermeneutic of Continuity.
  2. We already have married priests-but if the question is ‘will the Roman Rite drop the discipline of celibacy’, definitely no.
  3. That depends if the Tridentine Mass have already been entrenched back into the mainstream by then and has more of a presence than it has now (in which case the term ‘Tridentine Mass Movement’ would be a misnomer).
  4. Definitely no. The term and the ideas associated with ‘liberals’ (in the negative sense) change, but they would definitely still exist. They always did; they only happen to get a lot of press lately, with technology rising to new heights and whatnot, which gives them more publicity.
  5. I don’t think so.
  6. Why limit yourself with Gothic? Why not ask whether Churches in the Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Neo-Renaissance, Gothic Revival, or a form of Postmodern Art more suitable for Churches than the architecture we have today, or a modern combination or adaptation of these styles, or a style yet to be invented?
  7. That depends on the state of the secular world in 50 years, if Secularism and Atheism is still widespread and Islam not making a reentry into Europe.
There is hope in Africa and Asia (where incidentally, Christianity had its origins) however; I do hope that the Churches in these continents not imitate the Church in the West by introducing liturgical abuses and ‘Spirit of Vatican II’ thinking but embrace both the Reform of the Reform and Summorum Pontificum.
 
I think that in order to predict what will happen in the Catholic Church, we must look at what is happening in the Protestant communities.

Tremendous changes are happening in the Protestant fellowships. The drastic decline in the mainline denominations (Episcopal/Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregationalists/United Church of Christ, etc.) is continuing as these sects acquire more politically/socially and theologically liberal points of view. Many of these sects actively (through their work in the community) support abortion rights, homosexual marriage, homosexual and female priests/pastors, open marriage, larger government and higher taxes, no censorship of immoral art forms, etc.

A large number of mainline Christians are simply abandoning their faith entirely. But there are many who become Catholic. These people are very committed to Catholic social/political points of view and will passionately defend the Catholic Church against the onset of Catholic “liberals”. They KNOW the damage that liberalism can do in a Church because they have seen their own beloved demoninations brought down and destroyed. They will be on the watch for it in the Catholic Church.

The evangelical churches are still increasing their memberships, but there are signs that much of this membership increase consists of people who have no true committment to Christ and stop coming to church within a few years after their initial commitment. The document released by the Willowcreek Church is quite telling.

Mny of the autonomous evangelical fellowships are adding “Catholic” practices to their worship services. Lectio divina, candles, chant, even private confession. Some radio pastors are denouncing these practices and predicting that they will put Christians on the “road back to Rome.”

I agree. As a former evangelical, I can attest to the complete sincerity of evangelicals in their desire to follow Christ and abandon all else. I believe that Christ will honor their desire and bring many of them home to the Catholic Church.

And this influx of former evangelicals will have a HUGE impact on how the Catholic Church will look 50 years from now.

Many evangelicals will embrace the traditions of the Catholic Church; they know what “church” looks like with no traditions, and they don’t want to go back to that!

**OTOH, evangelicals will continue to demand that the Catholic Church speak in the “language” of the people and the culture, not only in words, but in music. After all, that’s how evangelism is accomplished. The Holy Spirit made that clear in the 2nd chapter of Acts, when He filled the apostles and gave them the ability to speak (or be understood) in the languages of the peoples. **

Evangelicals will push for more and more evangelism in the Catholic Church. People like me and my husband are appalled that Catholics say nothing about their faith. Although we agree that holy living is in itself a witness, we believe strongly that people must SPEAK UP and TELL others about Jesus and His Church.

We are all living in a castle, while all our evangelical friends and relatives are still grovelling in hovels and shanties. For Catholics to simply call these people “separated brothers and sisters” and wish them well and hope that they make it to heaven is WRONG! These people need to brought into full fellowship with the Catholic Church and enjoy all the Sacraments.

So we will PUSH for more evangelism. I’m sure some of our ideas and strategies will fall flat (get a copy of the movie The Gospel Blimp) and fail miserably. But I think that for the most part, evangelicals will infuse the Catholic Church with life and ENERGY and get people out of the pews and into the world witnessing.

As for the other Protestant sects, I believe we will see a huge influx of Pentecostals into the Catholic Church. These people are comfortable with miracles and a generally “spiritual” view of life, and so things like the transubstantiationn and intercessions of the saints are no big stretch for Pentecostals.

The non-denominationals will also come into the Church. These Christians have no governing council, convention, or consistory to tell them what to believe, so they are free to search the Scriptures for themselves. Jesus said that the Scripture “point to Me.” (Jesus) And that means, of course, that Jesus will point them to HIS Church, the Catholic Church.

(contd next post)
 
con’t previous post

Liturgy: Protestant converts will DEMAND absolute accuracy of any translations, just as they have demanded this in their Bibles for the last hundred years.

Married Priests: Evangelical converts will point out the increase in the divorce rate among Protestant pastors and advocate continuing celibacy.

TLM: Increase, but NO will also be present, only a more accurate translation and more faithful adherence to the rubrics.

Liberals: They are the tares, and Jesus said that they will be with us until the end. But I believe that many of the mainline converts will fight against them, because they’ve been there, they’ve been hurt by these liberals, and they will recognize them and work to drive them out of the Catholic Church.

Architecture: “Green” will be the hallmark of newly-built structures. It’s certainly possible that the older styles will be built, but architects will be looking for ways to make church buildings more energy-efficient and more accessible to the handicapped and the elderly.
 
  1. The OF is modified (done mostly in Latin, with altered rubrics, ad orientem) and replaces the Low Mass of the EF. Every sunday there is an EF Solemn High Mass in every parish.
  2. Encyclicals reign in the Spirit of Vat II.
  3. Future council harmonizes everything.
  4. Liberal Catholics go the way of all flesh. Young liberals don’t want to be Catholic at all, so that wing of the Church fades into oblivion.
More controversial possibilities:
  1. SSPX return and revitalize the Church.
  2. Lefebvre is rehabilitated and canonized.
Church shrinks dramatically. Revitalizes itself as a result.

Just my opinions.
 
Addenda to things I hope’ll happen in the near future/next 50 years (most of these are far from reality I know, but I can dream :p):

-Allowance for the celebration of the ‘Extraordinary Form’ of the Ambrosian Rite (by which I mean the Extraordinary Form of that Rite should be given much more freedom than it has now)
-A more increased celebration of the Mozarabic Rite in Spain (presently, it is only celebrated daily in the Cathedral of Toledo), and possibly, allowance to use its Extraordinary Form
-A limited revival of the Use of Sarum
-The Dominicans once again embracing the Dominican Rite, or at least, a more widespread use of it
-More public knowledge and exposure for other liturgical Rites of the Western and Eastern Churches
 
Rawb said:
Yes, and here’s why. The Majority of the youth who stay Catholic are most attracted to the older forms of Catholicsm where the ‘uniqueness’ and obvious ‘difference’ of Catholicism lie. This Mass more obviously shows that we are not Protestants. Those young Catholics who love the Catholic Church, the Children of Traditionalists if you will, stay Catholic. The Children of Liberals become Protestant, because they don’t see why they should stay Catholic and try and change the Church. They don’t have their parent’s fervor. TradKids do.
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A whole heap of generalisations here. 🙂
A couple of comments - I’m “staying Catholic” because I’m attracted to Christ and to his Church, not to “older forms of Catholicism”. (I believe in Christ, not in an -ism; I follow Christ, not an -ism - if that makes sense.) I believe in what the Church teaches because I think it’s true, not because it’s “unique” or
“obviously different” or “obviously not Protestant.”

My parents are not “traditionalists” - they are, however, “traditional” in that they brought us up to love Christ and the Church, and to be courageous, curious, charitable and thoughtful.

I’m not staying to “try and change the Church” - what does that actually mean anyway?

“TradKid” - that’s a funky kind of modern moniker there isn’t it. 🙂
 
Balance said:
A whole heap of generalisations here. 🙂
A couple of comments - I’m “staying Catholic” because I’m attracted to Christ and to his Church, not to “older forms of Catholicism”. (I believe in Christ, not in an -ism; I follow Christ, not an -ism - if that makes sense.) I believe in what the Church teaches because I think it’s true, not because it’s “unique” or
“obviously different” or “obviously not Protestant.”

My parents are not “traditionalists” - they are, however, “traditional” in that they brought us up to love Christ and the Church, and to be courageous, curious, charitable and thoughtful.

I’m not staying to “try and change the Church” - what does that actually mean anyway?

“TradKid” - that’s a funky kind of modern moniker there isn’t it. 🙂
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True it’s a generalization, but I think it applies to a lot of us, especially to myself, at least when it comes to why we prefer the EF.

What you said is true also.
 
Catholicism in Australia and europe in 50 years.
Instead of the pews being half empty they’ll be fully empty.🤷
 
OK, here’s a dozen:

In 50 years I think/hope and pray the Church will:
  • Will be scrambling for resources to support the huge influx of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.
  • Will receive ample resources once people realize the surge of vocations is real and is due to God and His Son.
  • Will celebrate the canonization of St. Benedict XVI whose pontificate ended in 2025
  • Will have finally started to settle down after the promulgation of VC2
  • Will not be smaller but larger due to the huge influx of devout Christians who were formally Protestant and Muslim converts.
  • Will still be using the Pauline Mass as the OF
  • Will still recognize the Tridentine Mass as an EF despite its waning usage
  • Will have recognized great growth in the Eastern Catholic churches
  • Will have welcomed Home the great majority of today’s Anglicans
  • Will approve the Anglo Mass as another EF form
  • Will have welcomed Home certain individual (but not all) Orthodox state churches
  • Will have another Polish, German or maybe Swiss Pope
 
Spiller said:
OK, here’s a dozen:

In 50 years I think/hope and pray the Church will:
  • Will be scrambling for resources to support the huge influx of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.
  • Will receive ample resources once people realize the surge of vocations is real and is due to God and His Son.
  • Will celebrate the canonization of St. Benedict XVI whose pontificate ended in 2025
  • Will have finally started to settle down after the promulgation of VC2
  • Will not be smaller but larger due to the huge influx of devout Christians who were formally Protestant and Muslim converts.
  • Will still be using the Pauline Mass as the OF
  • Will still recognize the Tridentine Mass as an EF despite its waning usage
  • Will have recognized great growth in the Eastern Catholic churches
  • Will have welcomed Home the great majority of today’s Anglicans
  • Will approve the Anglo Mass as another EF form
  • Will have welcomed Home certain individual (but not all) Orthodox state churches
  • Will have another Polish, German or maybe Swiss Pope
Click to expand...
Brother, you have your facts wrong. Some points of discussion.

The Tridentine Mass is the “New Mass.” In fifty years, I’ll be 77. That means this generation will be the elderly. With that said, the Tridentine Mass aint goin nowhere.

Neither is the OF. It will still be around, but it is already slowly diminishing. That means that things will settle into a functional situation, and we won’t have this kind of conflict. It is going to become incorporated in non-western cultures which will develop a beautiful liturgy unique to their own societies. The OF is simple enough to allow that kind of growth.

I wouldn’t be surprised, if only %10 of Americans are Catholics at that time.
 
PrayforMallory said:
Brother, you have your facts wrong. Some points of discussion.

The Tridentine Mass is the “New Mass.” In fifty years, I’ll be 77. That means this generation will be the elderly. With that said, the Tridentine Mass aint goin nowhere.

Neither is the OF. It will still be around, but it is already slowly diminishing. That means that things will settle into a functional situation, and we won’t have this kind of conflict. It is going to become incorporated in non-western cultures which will develop a beautiful liturgy unique to their own societies. The OF is simple enough to allow that kind of growth.

I wouldn’t be surprised, if only %10 of Americans are Catholics at that time.
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LOL!! This is not about “facts” – it’s about what we hope/perceive the Church to be in 50 years.

The celebration of the EF as compared to the OF is tiny. Anyone happen to know what it is? I doubt it’s 1% of all the Masses celebrated in the world. Far less. Your suggestion that the OF is “already slowly diminishing” is simply untrue. Wishful thinking perhaps for you, but certainly not a fact as you present it.

The balance of your comments also seem more than unrealistic to me…
 
PrayforMallory said:
True it’s a generalization, but I think it applies to a lot of us, especially to myself, at least when it comes to why we prefer the EF.

What you said is true also.
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What I would like to know is this…I keep reading here that the “young” generation is attracted to the TLM, as are some new converts.

OK, but they didn’t grow up with it like we did. SO, rather than it being an issue of “tradition”, could it be more of a fascination with something “new” in their minds?

I can understand where some of us “old hands” might still yearn for the TLM out of nostalgia or tradtion, or a sense of extra-reverence, etc…but what is the draw for a teenage/convert “newbie” for something that we haven’t been doing, for the most part, for over 40 years?

Have we, in a sense come full-circle, from traditional Catholicism to mainline Protestantism to Evangelical Bible Churchism all the way back to something ancient and fascinating that these folks have never been exposed to before?
 
ethelzguy said:
What I would like to know is this…I keep reading here that the “young” generation is attracted to the TLM, as are some new converts.

OK, but they didn’t grow up with it like we did. SO, rather than it being an issue of “tradition”, could it be more of a fascination with something “new” in their minds?

I can understand where some of us “old hands” might still yearn for the TLM out of nostalgia or tradtion, or a sense of extra-reverence, etc…but what is the draw for a teenage/convert “newbie” for something that we haven’t been doing, for the most part, for over 40 years?

Have we, in a sense come full-circle, from traditional Catholicism to mainline Protestantism to Evangelical Bible Churchism all the way back to something ancient and fascinating that these folks have never been exposed to before?
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I think you have raised a very valid possibility.

It might interest you to know that in evangelical Protestant churches, the current “trend” is “all things ancient.” We are seeing lectio divina, chant, candles, silence, liturgy, confession (in some form), etc.

The last issue of Christianity Today (a magazine geared toward evangelicals) had an article about liturgy.

There are various evangelical preachers who are denouncing all this and warning that it will set Christians on the road back to Catholicism.

I certainly hope so!

I think it is a reaction to the total lack of order and any form of tradition that has been manifested in many evangelical churches in the last two decades. People truly do thrive on tradition and order, not innovation and surprises.

About twenty-five years ago, Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson, two wives of prominent evangelical Christians, co-wrote a wonderful book called Let’s Make A Memory. This book is all about the important of traditions. It flourished for about a year, and then the newness died out and the book is now pretty obscure.

But there is a lot of truth in that book, which stated that children and teenagers especially love traditions.

So it’s not surprising at all to me that so many teenagers, both Protestant and Catholic, are interested in “all things ancient.” That’s the way people are wired by God–to like order and tradition.

I honestly think that once the novelty wears off, many of these teenagers will eventually return to the OF Masses where they can understand the language spoken/sung and can actively participate in the Mass (especially the females, who seem to have no place in the TLM except out in the pew). Please don’t misunderstand me–some teenagers WILL remain devoted to the TLM. But others won’t stick around, and that’s OK.

But I think that all the NO Mass adherents take great comfort in knowing that the ancient traditions are still being honored and practiced by the Catholic Church and that if we wish, we can avail ourselves of them.
 
No one is going to abandon the TLM. Once you go “Tridentine” you don’t go back usually. It takes a certain kind of person, in my opinion, to prefer the EF, and it’s deeply engrained and not a fad or a whim.
 
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