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July 22, 2011

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.

 

http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=2194

 

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The article you cited provided no useful comprehensive  data as to just WHERE all this growth is occurring. It does, however, provide some interesting information on the sharp decline in men entering the Catholic priesthood in this country. http://www.catholicity.com/mcc...the_church_2006.html  Quoting...

 

"Let's look at the numbers in the US first. In 1965, at the end of the Council, there were 58,000 priests. Now there are 41,000. By 2020, if present trends continue (and there is no sign of a dramatic upsurge in vocations), there will be only 31,000 priests, and half of those will be over 70. (To offer a personal example of the effect of these demographics, I was ordained in 1981 at the age of 27. Today, at the age of 52, I can still attend gatherings of priests and find myself one of the younger members present.) In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained. In 2005, the number was 454, a decrease of more than two-thirds — and remember that the Catholic population in the US increased during these years from 45.6 million in 1965 to the 64.8 million of 2005, a rise of almost 50%."

 

And yes, Jennifer, it is probable that the increase of Latinos in the U.S. correlates strongly with the growth in Catholics in the U.S. population, since a high proportion of Latinos are Catholic.

World  Growth;

http://www.zenit.org/article-28425?l=english

 

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The number of Catholics, including the number of priests and seminarians, is increasing worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa.

 

In 2008 there were 1.166 billion baptized Catholics worldwide, an increase of 19 million (up 1.7%). Taking into account the increase in the world’s population to 6.7 billion, there is a slight growth in the percentage of Catholics who make up the global population (from 17.33% to 17.40%).

 

The number of clergy by continent has Europe on top, with almost half of the world's priests still residing there (47.1%), followed by the Americas (30%), then Asia (13.2%) and Africa (8.7%) and finally Oceania (1.2%).

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America Growth;

 

http://www.usccb.org/comm/cip.shtml

 

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Originally Posted by Jennifer:

Invic, I meant to ask you in my previous post what you thought about the churches giving sanctuary to illegals. Any thoughts?

----------------------------------

My personal thought, yesterday I would have joined an army to run all illegals

out of America, today,,,I just don't care.

-----------------------------

Churches Offering Sanctuary To Illegal Immigrants

"We want to put a human face to very complex immigration laws and awaken the

consciousness of the human spirit," said Father Richard Estrada of Our Lady

Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles

(CBS13) LOS ANGELES Churches in five big U.S. cities plan to protect illegal

immigrants from deportation, offering sanctuary if need be, as they pressure

lawmakers to create a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million

illegal immigrants.

Beginning yesterday, a Catholic church in Los Angeles and a Lutheran church in

North Hollywood each intend to shelter one person, and churches in other cities

plan to do so in coming months as part of the "New Sanctuary Movement."

"We want to put a human face to very complex immigration laws and awaken the

consciousness of the human spirit," said Father Richard Estrada of Our Lady

Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles, where one illegal immigrant

will live.

Organizers don't believe immigration agents will make arrests inside the

churches.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has not tried to arrest

Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant who has taken shelter at a Methodist church

in Chicago since August. Her son is a U.S. citizen and he has lobbied in the

Mexican legislature on behalf of families that would be split if parents are

deported.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice declined to say if agents would attempt to arrest

others who take sanctuary in churches, although she noted agents had the

authority to arrest anyone violating immigration law.

Anti-illegal-immigration groups called the sanctuary effort misguided.

The faith groups "don't seem to realize that they are being charitable with

someone else's resources, and that's not charity," said Ira Mehlman of the

Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.

"We are talking about illegal immigrants taking someone else's job, filling up the

classroom of someone else's child," he said.

The sanctuary effort is loosely based on a movement in the 1980s, when

churches harbored Central American refugees fleeing wars in their home

 

http://www.newsanctuarymovemen...sAngelesMay92007.pdf

 

,

Originally Posted by Jennifer:

Invic, I meant to ask you in my previous post what you thought about the churches giving sanctuary to illegals. Any thoughts?

=================I think the Catholic Church is obligated to the Hispanic people to give sanctuary. Personally I would think less of the Catholic Church if they did not. They are here illegally I agree. How do you feel about it jenn?

Originally Posted by Rramnlimnn_TheGreat:
Originally Posted by Jennifer:

Invic, I meant to ask you in my previous post what you thought about the churches giving sanctuary to illegals. Any thoughts?

=================I think the Catholic Church is obligated to the Hispanic people to give sanctuary. Personally I would think less of the Catholic Church if they did not. They are here illegally I agree. How do you feel about it jenn?


******************************************************************************************************************

 

You really have to ask that ramn?

Hi all,

 

Just a thought.  Often when we see a family with a bunch of kids, we jokingly say, "They are either horny Protestants -- or just good Roman Catholics."    Could that -- and the demand for Hispanic "anchor babies" have anything to do with any growth within the Roman Catholic church?

 

As I said, just a thought.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

 

Bill

Originally Posted by Bill Gray:

Hi all,

 

Just a thought.  Often when we see a family with a bunch of kids, we jokingly say, "They are either horny Protestants -- or just good Roman Catholics."    Could that -- and the demand for Hispanic "anchor babies" have anything to do with any growth within the Roman Catholic church?

 

As I said, just a thought.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

 

Bill


More proof that you shouldn't try to think.

Originally Posted by Bill Gray:

Hi all,

 

Just a thought.  Often when we see a family with a bunch of kids, we jokingly say, "They are either horny Protestants -- or just good Roman Catholics."    Could that -- and the demand for Hispanic "anchor babies" have anything to do with any growth within the Roman Catholic church?

-----------------------------------

Yeah,,,like you don't know whats going on.

Some races have more babies anyway.

Latino----------4.5      Family

Black----------3.6          "

White----------2.5        "

I saw this about a year ago, don't remember where

 

.

 

Originally Posted by Bill Gray:

See, Jennifer,

 

We always knew you have no sense of humor.  Either that, or you are too young to understand.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

 

Bill


I have a good sense of humor bill, that's why i don't laugh at your "unfunny" little jabs at other religions or your weak attempts at jokes. How many kids did you have bill? You saw the thread and read the posts I'm sure, but you still felt you had to take a shot at the different denominations.

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