WOULDN'T you say that evil has the beating of the church, arn't they in full retreat?

Answer 1

no, not at all. there's no empirical evidence for what you imply.

Answer 2

Absolutely not.

According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the worldwide population of Catholics is as large as it ever has been and is still growing:

1970 = 653,600,000
1975 = 709,600,000
1980 = 783,700,000
1985 = 852,000,000
1990 = 928,500,000
1995 = 989,400,000
2000 = 1,045,000,000
2004 = 1,114,000,000

And in the U.S.:

1965 = 45,600,000
1975 = 48,700,000
1985 = 52,300,000
1995 = 57,400,000
2000 = 59,900,000
2005 = 64,800,000

With love in Christ.