There are 69,470,686 registered Catholics in the United States (22% of the US
population) as of 2015, according to the American bishops’ count in their
Official Catholic Directory 2014. A Pew Forum report counted only
50.9 million adult Catholics as of 2014, forming about 20.8% of the U.S.
population. This is down from 54.3 million and 23.9% in 2007 (Note, this survey
did not include children under 18). How does one account for the discrepancies
between the Pew survey and the bishops’ tally? Certainly the bishops counted
children under 18 in their statistics, which comes from a census done in most
parishes every October, the so-called October count. I have never known a
priest to under count the house.
When
considering the closing of churches, most of us assume that to lose population
in a parish is to be at risk. The survey also found that the Catholic
population is aging. There is a higher percentage of the elderly than the
young. In addition, young people who are raised Catholic are much more prone to
leave the Church than are the elderly, Hispanics are particularly prone to
leaving the Church when they migrate to this country, abandoning it not for
atheism, but for Evangelical and Pentecostal forms of Christianity. In 2007,
58% of Hispanics in the United States identified as Catholic.
In
2015, less than half of Hispanics (48%) in the US identify as Catholic. These
numbers are pretty grim. My own take is far grimmer than that of the Pew
survey. People who self-identify as Catholics divorce and re-marry at the same
rate as non-Catholics. They abort the child in the womb at the same rate as
non-Catholics. They practice artificial birth control at the same rate as
non-Catholics. They live in concubinage (that’s a ten-dollar word for shacking
up together) at the same rate as non-Catholics. And a lot of them go to Mass
and Holy Communion at the same rate as non-Catholics, which is not at all. About 1/4 of Catholics go to Mass on a
regular basis, and as far as I am concerned if you don’t go to Mass you are not
a Catholic. You may have a heartbeat and a baptismal certificate but you are
not a Catholic. I admit that my refusing to acknowledge the Catholicism of
people who don’t participate in the faith flies in the face of the “once
Catholic, always Catholic” standard so cherished by Catholic statisticians, but
I would maintain that this very attitude is part of the problem. We refuse to
let them go, and when people say “I know some pretty bad Catholics”, we just
shrug our shoulders. It’s like counting
a dead carp floating down the river as a fish. It has ceased to be fish. It has
become a stench. Here’s a real stinker:
There
is an organization called “Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good” which
claims to be a non-partisan, Roman Catholic, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization
in the United States. Its aim is to promote, “the fullness of the Catholic
social tradition in the public square”. The organization was founded in 2005 by
Tom Perriello, but just recently uncovered e-mails linked to a politician named
John Podesta to the organization as one of its founders. Podesta, in a private
email claimed to have founded Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good in
order to organize Catholic opposition to Church teaching, particularly about
gender issues and abortion. Apparently these faithful Catholics think that the
Church oppresses women. One of these liberators of women from the shackles of
Catholic medievalism is one Eric McFadden. Allow me to quote the Catholic news
agency:
Dublin, Ohio, Jan 14, 2009 / 09:22 pm (CNA). -The former director of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives for the governor of Ohio was arrested Wednesday for his involvement in an online prostitution ring. Eric McFadden, who has also formerly served as the president of the organization Catholics for Faithful Citizenship and spokesperson for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, will face seven prostitution-related charges tomorrow in court. Eric McFadden, 46, the former head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives for Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, was arrested this morning and faces two counts of promoting prostitution, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a nude minor and one count of compelling prostitution,
I
would simply venture that Mr. McFadden may not be the one to reform the way the
Catholic Church treats women. I would also venture that perhaps he is not
really a Catholic, except that he perhaps had some Catholic ancestors who are
currently rolling in their graves. Let me retool the statistics with my own
narrow-minded and judgmental methodology.
If Pew is right and there are 50 million Catholics in the country, and
if I am right that only the 1/4 of Catholics merit the name by actually
participating in church, then there are only 12 or 13 million Catholics in the
country. That’s 4% of the country. That
means there is no Catholic vote.
I
am trying to point out by means of all these statistics and stories is not that
we are about to undergo sweeping changes. The sweeping changes have already
happened. We just haven’t acknowledged them. We continue to believe that we are
an important element in society. To the vast bulk of the American population we
are at best an irrelevance. More often than not we are a frightening throwback
to the days of the rack and the thumb screw.
Just this past Sunday, dressed in Roman collar and black suit I was on
my way to some reception or other in a shopping mall restaurant and people just
gaped as if Darth Vader was walking by, save for one fellow who looked at me
and grimaced as if he had just eaten something past its expiration date. So
what to do? Sell the real estate? (which I suspect is quietly happening
everywhere in the country.)
I am so
tired of thinking that if we demanded less, they would all just come home. I
was told 50 years ago that those who left would all come home when they settled
down. Now we are waiting for their grandchildren to come back to the faith. It
just ain’t gonna happen. Demanding less and less hasn’t worked. Perhaps we
should try demanding more, like demanding that the person who claims to be
Catholic actually be Catholic by striving to follow the demands of the Gospel
even if, as in my case, imperfectly.
Next
week: smaller may be better.
Amen. Stand your ground like Jesus did after proclaiming the truth of the Eucharist: "After this, many of his disciples left him. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, " 'Do you want to go away too?' Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life.' " I know you know, Rev. K-I-All, but for anyone who doesn't: Jn 6: 66-68.
ReplyDeleteHaving difficult times Father? Was that a scoffer that grimaced at you? Smile, he’s telling you the time. Christ's Catholic Siblings: Stay Awake. Wear your armor. Stand your ground. We may not know Jesus’ arrival time but let's knock on as many doors, including Heritage Catholics, as we can to let the people know He is coming. Two words. Trust. Pray. Remember them...especially in weak moments.
ReplyDeleteLove the honesty! Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteBravo, Bravo, Bravo.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you Reverend Father!
ReplyDeleteAnd especially, thank you for your courage to appear in public places "in uniform".
I was in the Atlanta airport awaiting to board and saw a priest in his black suit and I pulled out my Rosary and wanted to give a rally shout of greeting...but chickened out.
You're are and my parish priest...God love you!
ReplyDelete