No one likes weirdos.
The latest numbers have been compiled regarding U.S. Catholics. If you thought they were bad 10 years ago, then just wait.
For comparison, let's look first at those 2012 numbers. For the record, these are the official numbers of the U.S. bishops. In 2012, there were about 97 million Americans who said they had been Catholic at some point in their lives. Of those 97 million 10 years ago, 74 million continued identifying as Catholic.
That translates into nearly 25% who no longer claimed to be Catholic. About 18 million of those 74 million went to Mass each week, with about one-quarter of those still identifying as Catholic and about 19% of those who had at some time been Catholic.
OK, fast-forward to today — 2022, 10 years later. Same categories.
First, there are 87 million Americans claiming to have been Catholic at some time in their lives. This is 10 million fewer than in 2012, a drop of a cool million every year. Of these 87 million, 73 million still identify as Catholic. This is almost unchanged from 10 years ago.
That translates into 17% of the much smaller overall pool who no longer claim their Catholic identity. And of those 73 million still self-identifying, 17 million go to Mass each week — again, like 10 years ago, a little less than a quarter.
However — and there is always a however — this is a self-reverential analysis by the bishops. What they do not factor in is the growing U.S. population and the number of Catholics relative to the population.
In 2012, the total U.S. population was 308 million. People who had been Catholic at some time in their lives was 97 million — about 31%. In 2022, the total U.S. population stands at about 331 million, and people who had been Catholic at some time in their lives about 87 million — a drop to 26%.
The U.S. population growth, while absolutely slowing, is still outstripping Catholics.
In short, whatever "evangelization" efforts the bishops think are working are cratering. In fact, it has gotten so bad that popular culture is making fun of the whole sorry scene.
A stupid, slightly vulgar yet popular animated series from a few years back called "Beavis and Butthead" tells the tale of the ineptitude of the tone-deaf efforts on the part of the clergy to bring in new sheep.
Unlike in former centuries, too much of the clergy is almost completely out of touch with everyday people.
Primary Video source and transcript continues here: https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-fr-socially-awkward
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[ + ] diggernicks
[ - ] diggernicks 0 points 1.6 yearsOct 21, 2022 09:17:10 ago (+1/-1)