In grave state, Catholic Church awaits a champion
It is myopic only to see a crisis in Europe:
This is in America
" The number of Catholic priests has fallen from 58,000 to 45,000. By 2020, there will be 31,000 and half will be older than 70.
� In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained. In 2002, the number was 450. Some 3,000 parishes are today without priests.
� From 1965 to 2002, the number of seminarians fell from 49,999 to 4,700, a decline of more than 90 percent. Two-thirds of the seminaries open in 1965 have since closed their doors.
� The number of Catholic nuns, 180,000 in 1965, has fallen by 60 percent. Their average age is now 68. The number of teaching nuns has fallen 94 percent since the close of Vatican II.
� The number of young men studying to be Jesuits has fallen 90 percent and the number of those studying to be Christian Brothers 99 percent. The religious orders seem to be dying out in America.
� Almost half the Catholic high schools open in 1965 have closed. There were 4.5 million students in Catholic schools in the mid-1960s. Today, there are about half that many.
� Only 10 percent of lay religious teachers in 2002 accepted church teaching on contraception, 53 percent believed a Catholic woman could get an abortion and remain a good Catholic, 65 percent said Catholics have a right to divorce and remarry, and in a New York Times poll, 70 percent of Catholics ages 18 to 54 said they believed the Holy Eucharist was but a ``symbolic reminder'' of Jesus.� Where three in four Catholics attended Mass on Sunday in 1958, today one in four do."
This is in America
" The number of Catholic priests has fallen from 58,000 to 45,000. By 2020, there will be 31,000 and half will be older than 70.
� In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained. In 2002, the number was 450. Some 3,000 parishes are today without priests.
� From 1965 to 2002, the number of seminarians fell from 49,999 to 4,700, a decline of more than 90 percent. Two-thirds of the seminaries open in 1965 have since closed their doors.
� The number of Catholic nuns, 180,000 in 1965, has fallen by 60 percent. Their average age is now 68. The number of teaching nuns has fallen 94 percent since the close of Vatican II.
� The number of young men studying to be Jesuits has fallen 90 percent and the number of those studying to be Christian Brothers 99 percent. The religious orders seem to be dying out in America.
� Almost half the Catholic high schools open in 1965 have closed. There were 4.5 million students in Catholic schools in the mid-1960s. Today, there are about half that many.
� Only 10 percent of lay religious teachers in 2002 accepted church teaching on contraception, 53 percent believed a Catholic woman could get an abortion and remain a good Catholic, 65 percent said Catholics have a right to divorce and remarry, and in a New York Times poll, 70 percent of Catholics ages 18 to 54 said they believed the Holy Eucharist was but a ``symbolic reminder'' of Jesus.� Where three in four Catholics attended Mass on Sunday in 1958, today one in four do."
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