The Catholic Church is Booming

I know the reality of reports and surveys and statistical data – you can make them say what you want to.  We see skewed results all the time.  There are, however, some statistics worth looking at.  For instance, statistics like the information below, is encouraging and should give us (faithful Catholics) hope.  I like this information because it doesn’t come from a particularly orthodox source.  We (Catholics) are often the butt of jokes, the slander of the day and ridiculed and persecuted for our conservative (truthful) beliefs.  The last allowable form of prejudice in our land – anti-Catholicism.  Maybe as we continue to flourish and continue to seek truth, we will band together and put an end to the ludicrous culture of death.

From Al Kresta earlier today:

“Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on new survey data profiling Catholicism:

All we ever hear from the wild-eyed critics of the Catholic Church, including the dissidents within, is that the Church had better “get with it” and change its teachings on abortion, homosexuality and women’s ordination. Yet it is precisely those religious institutions that are the most liberal on these issues—the mainline Protestant denominations—that are collapsing. Not so the Catholic Church. Indeed, its numbers are going north while the mainline denominations are going south.

The latest findings by the “Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership” project, a collaborative effort with Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, are illuminating. In the last 40 years, the Catholic population has increased by 75 percent; it has grown by 50 percent since 1990. More important, Catholic attendance at Mass is up 15 percent since 2000. And in the last five years, contributions have increased by 14 percent. It is also important to note that there has been a 40 percent increase in Latinos in the Church over the past five years.

Shedding more light on the statistics is a study released a few months ago by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion. Its “Landscape Survey” found that of those Catholics who have left the Church, roughly half became unaffiliated while the other half became Protestant. Regarding the latter half, only 23 percent did so because of the Church’s teachings on abortion and homosexuality; only 16 percent left because of the way women are treated. Importantly, two-thirds of these Catholics elected to join a Protestant evangelical church.

In other words, disaffected Catholics who left for another religion opted to join a more conservative church. That they did not run down the block in search of a mainline denomination—one that entertains the liberal agenda on issues governing sexuality and women—is telling.

It’s time some people took a hard look at the data and made some hard choices. This is great news for the Catholic Church.”

Not-a-Catholic (Dame) University

Although I have some cousins that went to Notre Dame and frequently watch Irish football on NBC, I don’t have any direct ties to the school.  I’ve been seeing plenty of traffic in emails, on Facebook and through the news about ND’s choice to have Obama visit and present the commencement speech in May.  Lots of stink has been made about ND being a “Catholic” institution and how appalled people are at their decision(s).  I heard it best from a fellow Catholic on Facebook: “Why is everyone getting upset now, after years of anti-Catholic behavior at Notre Dame?  They haven’t been Catholic for a long time.”  Just putting the title “Catholic” on something doesn’t make it, or any individual, actually Catholic.  Being Catholic means that you profess, uphold and defend the True Teachings of the Church.  [Ironically, their mascot appears to be “fighting”, but they haven’t fought to uphold Catholicism for years.  I feel bad for actual Catholics that go there that have to deal with this.]

I came across this letter that backs me up on this… Thanks Bishop…

Reverend and dear Father Jenkins,

Permit me to add my name as well to the long list of Bishops of the Catholic Church who are utterly appalled at your dedication to immorality and wrong-doing represented by your support for the obscenity called “The Vagina Monologues” and your absolute indifference to the murderous abortion program and beliefs of this President of the United States.

The fact that you have some sort of past connection with the State of Nebraska makes it all the more painful that the Catholic people here have to see your betrayal of the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.

I can assure you of my prayers for your conversion, and for the conversion of your formerly Catholic University. I am,
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,

The Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz
Bishop of Lincoln

Man up!