What are the causes of the declination of catholicism in europe and america? Any solution to the problem?

Question

Please, I would like your answers to be very very elaborate with authentic examples of the causes of the declinations of catholic faith in europe and america. If possible mention the names of those(either popes, priests,etc.) who are directly involved in the bad acts that are now causing the declination of faith in these two continents. And I would also like that you suggest some ways out of the situation because with the look of things,if care is not properly taken and taken rapidly, the issue of catholic faith in europe and america will soon be a story of the past.

Answer 1

Being a citizen of the United States of America, I do not really know about the situation in Europe.

However there is no decline of Catholicism in the U.S. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the U.S. population of Catholics is as large as it ever has been:

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

And worldwide:

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
2005 = 1,115,000,000

http://cara.georgetown.edu/bulletin/index.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

The first and foremost reason is people of the Catholic Faith who do not care enough about it to learn exactly what the faith teaches and therefore they listen to all the garbage theology put out there by every Tom **** and Harry rogue priest or Bishop who has no business even telling people they are Catholic and they believe the crap put out there by these people instead of knowing what the Church teaches and standing up and saying to these people "The Emperor Has No Clothes!". We let them get away with belittling the miracles of Scripture and then we let them talk against the Virgin Mary and then we say that the Church has been wrong in 2000 years of worship and now all of a sudden Mary is not a perpetual virgin and women should be priests and homosexuality is ok. These elements within the Church are to be abhorred and unveiled for what they are---the Evil Ones instigations. The Church is not a democracy and we are only the Body of Christ because of our marriage to him---he is the head and we are not but, the ones who ignore the Bridal responsibilities are the ones that are ruining it. It will never disappear though because Jesus has said that the gates of Hell shall not prevail over her. They will try but, she will come back even stronger as I think she is now doing.

Answer 3

The main cause of rapid decline of catholicism is the rapid rise of information technology that is now opening up the minds of the present generation. The present generation is much more aware and has started questioning the logic behind the concepts of 'salvationism' and the predominant role of the Catholic Church who is now being seen as a self styled mediator to ensure salvation of mankind through Christ. All this defies logic and intelligent thinking people have now understood that the vested political and religious interests have been taking the gullible masses for granted to maintain their supremacy in religious affairs. If the catholic Church does not offer a more logical interpretation to the sacrifice of Christ won't be long that people would start interpreting the teachings of Christ in their own understanding and not in the way that Church has been imposing it on the masses. Please read 'Many Lives, Many Masters', and 'One Soul Many Bodies' by Dr.Brian Weiss and log on to metahistory.org and read the views based on his comprehensive research work by John Lash and see how Christianity has been re-interpreted under new revelations.

Answer 4

Anyone who had a chance to check out a question I posted yesterday would clearly see one of the many reasons why. Myself and my sister were treated poorly yesterday afternoon. After that incident I questioned whether or not I was making the right choice of baptizing into Catholicism (my entire family is Roman Catholic & I want to make it official, I have always felt home in Catholic churches, and I've always gravitated towards it) because of that, and I quickly realized that just because this individual was rude and misrepresented Catholic's worldwide, doesn't mean I should abandon my beliefs. And I won't. It's because of incidences like that, and because of the whole crap with the molestation in Catholic churches, and a bunch of other things, and just basically this generation losing all faith. I honestly wish it weren't so, I wish there were more great priests, and I wish there were more great Catholic's, or just priests & Catholic's in general, but ... alas, it is not so.

Now, while a lot of this is happening, I don't think it will be a thing of the past at all. So much has happened to Catholic's and the Catholic church, and we've all overcome it and have came out stronger. We all just need to unite and love our neighbors, regardless.

World Youth Day plays a big part in bringing Catholic's together, and making a POSITIVE statement.

STEPHEN COLBERT = CATHOLIC, AND SRSLY GUYZ, HE'S AMAZING, OKAY? AMAZING.

Answer 5

I think it has much more to do with the disconnect between modern life and the rules set down by Catholic teachings in the modernized Western world. I personally know quite a few Catholic-raised women and men who either want two or fewer children or none at all. To me that seems to be the biggest sticking point for the Catholics I know and the first thing that trips them up, not how embarrassing and disgraceful the conduct of priests is. That falls way down the list on reasons they've questioned or left their faith. I know with them the idea that you aren't supposed to use birth control and are to have as many children as possible is ludicrous. Additionally, the birth rate in the Western world is declining for the educated largely because they have other things they want to do, and children are becoming more and more expensive. I am the only woman I know (and I'm Wiccan) who wants more than two children. The way women are portrayed in general by Christianity has also been difficult for all my Catholic women friends to reconcile with the way they view themselves and their lives. It just doesn't gel. Finally, as an example of the reason I believe women especially are leaving Catholicism, one of my closest friends who was raised Catholic and is no longer practicing not only hides from her mother the fact that she and her boyfriend sleep together (my friend is 42), but she lies about still attending mass regularly and she dreads the conversation of not having a Catholic wedding when she and her boyfriend marry, which they fully plan to, because her mother has always made her feel she needs to repent for everything from painting her fingernails to wearing a low-cut blouse. My friend's sister is hiding from their mother the fact that she is using fertility treatments to try to conceive with husband, because her mother's view on infertility is "Well, if God didn't want you to have babies there's a reason and you should just accept it." My friend's sister has been reduced to tears by her own mother on more than one occasion because their mother - who was blessed with three children of her own - can't feel her daughter's pain at being infertile and flippantly dismisses her longing to have a child.

Plus the whole guilt thing is an awful lot for the Catholics I know to bear. I know more Catholics who have low self esteem and either are or should be in therapy than followers of any other religion.

)O(

Answer 6

This decline is spoke of in Revelation 17. The 7 kings and the 8th king is speaking of the pope and that great city is the Vatican. The 10 kings and babylon is the U.S.. The first king was John Kennedy and the 9th is George W Bush, the next president will be the 10th.

Answer 7

1. Corruption. The problem with the RCC is that they hold man on par with Scripture. With that, corruption can easily enter & corrupt people can then write the rules.

Example: The Bible teaches salvation through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16-21). However, in the RCC of today, it is taught that faith in Jesus + all these other things are necessary for salvation. How did it ever get to this?

My solution: Get back to the word of God & to following Jesus alone.

2. In the Bible it talks about the increasing darkness that will happen before Jesus returns. We, as Christians (followers of Jesus), need to be focused on winning people to Jesus through our life, words, & example.
Although the churches may be empty, believe me, there are any believers in Europe & throughout the world who have not sold out to the world.

Email me if you want to dialog about this.

Answer 8

without going into as great a detail as you requested, all you need to see is something like, The Boys of Saint Vincent, which is based on a true story of boys being sexually abused by the priests in Newfoundland.
Then there is the movie, Mary Magdalene which is another true story of girls being held hostage in Ireland by nuns, and again being sexually molested.
Then all you need to do is research newspaper articles where the church has had to pay out millions due to their hypocrisy and protecting the b******* whom did the abusing.
Then you can read Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, wherein he details what Catholics did to people for centuries for refusing to follow the faith.
Why would any sane person go to church, or for that matter, trust a priest or nun with their child?

Answer 9

I really can't answer in detail because I am not Catholic but I will say that all the cases of priests involved in pedophilia has darkend the stained glass windows of thier cathedrals, and driven many who were on the fence of whether or not to become a Catholic away from that faith.

Answer 10

More and more people are being pushed away by the over-zealous groups in the Catholic and Christian community. On top of this you have the Pagan religions gaining strength and numbers. Solution? Teach love, not hate. Too many groups out there use religion now to teach hate towards others. All I hear is "Condemn them for this, condemn them for that," why can't it be "Forgive them for this, respect them for that?"