http://big-modernism.com/searching-the-causes-of-american-catholic-decline/

“Conservative” Catholic Media Inches Closer to True Cause of Church Crisis in the US

Posted on May 23, 2013 by BigModernism

Good review of a new book tracking the decline of Catholic culture in America. The author blames Americanism, and dismisses the favorite excuse of progressives, that it was “the 60′s”. He also partially hits upon the solution, a Catholic subculture. The only problem is that the author, or reviewer, or both,  are apparently stuck in the Neo-Catholic paradigm where the Council and its implementation get a pass for the dreadful state we are now in. No matter how much we study and lament the decline of Catholicism in America, none of it will do a bit of good until we can get beyond our abject fear of truly taking on and criticizing this non-infallible pastoral Council which has so obviously and egregiously failed us. I’ve posted the best part of the article which details the staggering state of ignorance of today’s Catholics in the U.S.



http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/23/catholic-culture-in-america

“…But the failure of Catholic catechesis in America staggers the imagination. Shaw cites one 2011 study indicating that “among the 19% of the 1,442 self-identified Catholics whom it surveyed, who regard themselves as ‘highly committed’ to the Church, strikingly high percentages believe it is possible to be a good Catholic without attending Mass every Sunday (49%); without following Church doctrine on birth control (60%), divorce and remarriage (46%), and abortion (31%); without being married in the Church (48%); and without giving time or money to help the poor (39%).”

Most depressing is the cluelessness of Catholic teens among whom only 10% reported that religion was “extremely important” to them in living their lives. This compares, unfavorably, to 20% of mainline Protestants, 29% of conservative Protestant teens, and 31% of African-American Protestant teens.

“On some measures of religious faith and practice, Catholics scored lower than some secular Jєωιѕн teenagers and those self-identified as ‘not religious…’”