Didn't want to put this in the Religion thread, because there's a lot of newsworthy stuff happening in other denominations this week, so I dug this thread up.
Pretty good, in-depth AP story about how the Catholic Church (capital C) in America is getting more and more conservative.
Any Catholics who have attended Mass in the past 5 to 10 years know this is true, with everything from cassock-wearing priests to more Latin phrases, from people kneeling for Communion to a whole lotta incense being spread around.
This story does a good job of highlighting how the young people who haven't become lapsed Catholics are pushing both worship rituals and politics in an ultra-conservative direction, as the Vatican II generation ages and dies off.
https://apnews.com/article/catholic...xy-tradition-7638fa2013a593f8cb07483ffc8ed487
That was an excellent, thought-provoking article. I'm glad I read it, and am trying to parse my thoughts about it.
I do so as not so much a fallen-away Catholic, but one who wandered away from that church over time and into a non-denominational one. It didn't happen because of any big break from beliefs but as a result of a lack of interest, for lack of a better way of putting it, and a disconnection that occurred just as time went on, and life happened.
I was born into and grew up as a practicing Catholic, getting baptized (urgently, as an infant, because I was near death after a very premature birth, and then again, as a toddler in a more family-oriented, traditional ceremony), and then receiving First Communion, and going through Confirmation. I was active in the church as a teen -- a regular participant in large youth groups, and was an active, core member of the choir. Some of my best friends also were part of all this, especially the musical group, and we were all very serious about our faith. It was part and parcel of who we were. Two of the young men in my close circle were attending seminary school; I, briefly, actually gave a little thought to becoming a nun, and at one time, my brothers might not have been surprised if that happened. And it wasn't unusual for my friends and I to include prayer and gospel/hymn-related music in all of our frequent gatherings and activities, both in organized church-related events and just as regular friends on our own, outside of church. Discussions about church and God were common. It was a real, meaningful, even fun and inspiring "thing" to us.
But then, our little group began attending different schools -- there was a few-years-wide age gap among our core group (not large, but enough to put us in different places after a while) -- and then, one of our friends, shockingly, committed suicide (I think I've posted a little bit about that), and frankly, our little group never quite recovered from that, I don't think. We didn't break up, either with the church or with each other, so much as just wander off our own ways.
I went to college, got absorbed in journalism and newspapers, and we all lost contact for a long time, until those of us who remain began finding each other again years later, first through social media, and then, again, through life events that put us in touch because, even after so long, we still thought of each other often, felt like we still knew each other, and we still cared about each other. We don't see or hear from each other a lot nowadays, but I'm glad to know where they are, and that we can get together if/when we want. They are still the friends I think of, whenever I think of the really good friends in my life.
So, the Catholic Church was/is not all bad as far as I'm concerned.
But I'm in a non-denominational, Evangelical-leaning church now that re-fired my spiritual interest and growth around the time of another baptism, this time of my own free will, and as a more aware and knowledgeable adult in 2011 after some years away from church.
I never lost my belief in God, though, and that, I think, has been key for me. It brought me back to active church when I was ready.
What I wonder is, is every church -- not just the Catholic one -- becoming more conservative, or not? I'd have to say that I don't think so. The Catholic church's ideas on homosexuality and the place/role of women are hardly exclusive to it. I can see and understand that even in my own church, and abortion, while permitted in it, is not exactly fully
supported, either.
The key part of the article, I think, was this:
In 1970, more than half of America's Catholics said they went to Mass at least once a week. By 2022, that had fallen to 17 percent...Among millennials, that number is just 9 percent."
What I think is happening is that not just Catholic ones but all churches, are becoming less of a focus, and of less importance for many, many people in this country. Direction, and faith in general, is being lost, as a result of increased liberalism in society overall, coupled with the country's recent increased partisan-ism and divisiveness. In almost any church's view, the lines and definitions of morality are being confronted, blurred and changed, and churches in general -- not just Catholic ones -- are being shaken, and in many cases, shrunk in terms of attendance. As a result of a lot of monumental conflict and change, people just aren't going to church as much as they once did, and that trend was exacerbated by three years of dealing with COVID.
It's all making it so that any church is practically an endangered entity, and so that what will be left, after all is said and done, is likely to be tantamount to extremism, whatever the denominations.
