A good overview of trends in the Catholic Church

[kwassa]

This is a balanced article on the subject that seems to give the big picture.

http://theweek.com/article/index/202388/catholics-in-crisis

What sparked this decline?

Its roots actually trace back to the 1960s, when a split developed over the reforms introduced by Pope John XXIII. Dismayed by the pope’s calls for more participation by laypeople in church affairs, many tradition-minded bishops and cardinals defended the centrality of Rome and frowned on the social activism of priests that was unleashed by the reforms, known as Vatican II. After Pope John’s death, in 1963, the traditionalists increased their power within the Vatican, culminating with the elevation of John Paul II to the papacy, in 1978. He undid many of his predecessor’s reforms, and millions of liberal Catholics drifted away, fed up with what they saw as Vatican authoritarianism as well as its unstinting opposition to abortion and artificial contraception.

Have the sex scandals hurt?

They’ve only accelerated the decline. In the mid-1990s, when the first wave of abuse charges surfaced, church attendance in the U.S. dropped, leveling off at around 35 percent of self-described Catholics. The new wave of scandals has perhaps struck an even deeper nerve, since it involves higher-level authorities—including Pope Benedict XVI himself—allegedly covering up abuses by allowing known pedophiles to continue to serve as priests and, in many cases, work with children. In Latin America, the church has been rocked by abuse scandals in Mexico and Brazil, even as it tries to stanch the flow of defectors to evangelical Protestant churches. In Germany, more than 1,200 people in just one city, Würzburg, quit the church in March, following a cascade of reports of sexual abuse and sadistic punishment of children in Catholic schools. In Ireland, government reports detailing decades of “endemic” abuse by clerics have turned many young people away from the church. “How can you believe in religion with all this going on?” asks Dubliner Adam Cunningham, 18.

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Addition by subtraction
Not every Catholic is troubled by the church’s dwindling membership. According to some conservative priests and thinkers, the sex scandals and conflicts with the Vatican have shaken out the fair-weather believers. The conservatives want a return to the Latin Mass and an end to challenges to the Vatican’s authority. A return to tradition would likely result in “a smaller but much more fervent and evangelizing church,” says the Rev. John McCloskey, a former Wall Street executive who’s an outspoken advocate of the traditionalist movement. The shrinkage would be only temporary, he says, since as liberals left the church, it would be strengthened by the core of tradition-minded Catholics who obey the church’s ban on contraceptives and rear large families. Such families would inevitably produce more sons, some of whom would enter the priesthood. Thanks to a conservative renaissance, says McCloskey, “the church in America may well be on the cusp of a more vibrant era.”

[cbayer]

1. Good synopsis and, unfortunately, they have done little to address these problems

since that article was written. In fact, I think that the positions taken during the last US elections just further alienated women. They have the opportunity for significant change right now. The question is, will they seize it?

[kwassa]

2. Having closely watched the struggle in the Episcopal church

I used to believe that the differences were theological, but over time came to see that it is nothing but the same culture war that goes on in this country over everything. The difference is that in the Episcopal church, with local US control, the liberals not only have the numbers, but they democratically control the governance of the national church.

The Catholic Church can only change from within the ranks of the cardinals, which is stacked with conservatives. It actually now depends on the vision of Pope Francis, whose conservatism has been well established.

[cbayer]

3. While the church will never be free of politics, the insular nature of RCC control

is really problematic. Not allowing women a signficant voice seems to be one of the first things that needs to change.

[kwassa]

4. Any substantive change in unlikely.

The arch-conservatives control the process and have no accountability to anyone but themselves. There are no checks, as in checks and balances. It is essentially a dictatorship, but they can't control the minds of the lay Catholics.

[cbayer]

5. How did they make the changes previously?

When they changed the masses from Latin and dropped the fish on fridays rules. At the time, those were pretty big changes as I recall.

[skepticscott]

6. But those were simply relaxations of practice

and not changes of fundamental doctrine. Individual churches were not barred from conducting mass in Latin as a result of Vatican II (although it may have been harder to find one that did if you preferred that) or people from keeping the old fish rules. The changes may have seemed significant at the time, only because the authoritarianism of the church was so great, but they were nothing compared to what allowing women priests, divorce or gay marriage would be, even today.

[okasha]

7. The switch to the vernacular Mass

and turning the celebrant around to face the congregation put greater ernphasis on the members and less on the clergy. It was a huge psychological shift. Vatican II also widened the scope of the religious orders. The Nuns on the Bus are the spiritual descendants of those first sisters who left their habits in the closet and went into the inner cities to build the current network of Catholic social services. JPII was responsible for the hard right turn the church took after Paul VI.

[cbayer]

8. Love Nuns on the Bus. Perhaps they will lead the charge for change and

the new pope will lighten up on them. The time is right for another turn towards the congregants and away from each other.

[Promethean]

9. I like the addition by subtraction part

We see something similar happening with the broader conservative movement here in the US. They are purging the moderates and anybody who doesn't toe the hardcore line. They are probably thinking it will increase the strength of their movement by making their message more clear. It isn't exactly working out though the more people learn the more they are repulsed by this movement.