See what happens when we let liberals do the "catechizing?"
An AP story (click on this post's title) today tells about a poll of U.S. Catholics that the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University conducted in February for our U.S. bishops.
Lots of bad news in the poll, according to the AP article:
"...the study found that only 36 percent of the younger Catholics attend Mass at least once a month, compared with 64 percent of the older generation.
"Sixty-eight percent of all Catholics surveyed said they agreed that they believed they could be in good standing with the church without going to weekly Mass.
"The poll, 'Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice Among U.S. Catholics,' found that nearly one-third of the nation's 64 million Catholics attend Mass in any given week. That figure has remained the same in the last five years, according to the report.
"Thirty percent of the respondents said they go to confession less than once a year and 45 percent said they never go."
The AP article also says:
"San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer, head of the bishops' communications committee, was encouraged by the openness to faith in the survey but said it highlighted the need for better religious instruction.
"'The challenge for [C]hurch leaders," he said, "is to help them [Catholics] see what Catholicism really means.'"
Duh.
It is stupefying: How could a situation arise in which many in a whole generation of U.S. Catholics do not know "what Catholicism really means" and so do not even go to Mass and Confession?
This is what happens when we let "spirit, not letter, of Vatican II" Catholics run things, especially our catechesis.
Dump all the heterodox and dumbed-down catechisms. Bring back the Baltimore Catechism, immerse everyone in it and then teach high school and college-age kids, and adults, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
And dump the bishops responsible for not teaching Catholics the Faith.
Lots of bad news in the poll, according to the AP article:
"...the study found that only 36 percent of the younger Catholics attend Mass at least once a month, compared with 64 percent of the older generation.
"Sixty-eight percent of all Catholics surveyed said they agreed that they believed they could be in good standing with the church without going to weekly Mass.
"The poll, 'Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice Among U.S. Catholics,' found that nearly one-third of the nation's 64 million Catholics attend Mass in any given week. That figure has remained the same in the last five years, according to the report.
"Thirty percent of the respondents said they go to confession less than once a year and 45 percent said they never go."
The AP article also says:
"San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer, head of the bishops' communications committee, was encouraged by the openness to faith in the survey but said it highlighted the need for better religious instruction.
"'The challenge for [C]hurch leaders," he said, "is to help them [Catholics] see what Catholicism really means.'"
Duh.
It is stupefying: How could a situation arise in which many in a whole generation of U.S. Catholics do not know "what Catholicism really means" and so do not even go to Mass and Confession?
This is what happens when we let "spirit, not letter, of Vatican II" Catholics run things, especially our catechesis.
Dump all the heterodox and dumbed-down catechisms. Bring back the Baltimore Catechism, immerse everyone in it and then teach high school and college-age kids, and adults, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
And dump the bishops responsible for not teaching Catholics the Faith.
posted by Quintero at 11:46 PM
7 Comments:
Amen Q, Amen
1-6 Baltimore Catechism
7-8 Compendium to the Catechism
9-12 CCC 2nd Edtion
Time to get the kids back into memorizing doctorines.
You know it's sad when a nun (habitles of course) gives you a look of evil when you mention the word Transubstatiation.
Yep
It starts with the lack of knowledge of what Catholicism IS.
That's why so many "Catholics" can vote and act against their own professed faith.
Dear Joe of St. Therese,
That's an excellent curriculum you've outlined. Let's suggest it to everybody, including Catholics we know who are in decision-making positions.
Dear Dave,
You're so right about the link between lack of knowledge of the Faith and voting without reference to the Faith.
Sorry to burst your bubble, guys, but Scripture (divinely inspired) trumps the CCC (not divinely inspired, though certainly not without merit). If Catholics were encouraged to study Scripture thoroughly, then they would have a better understanding of the basics of their faith (such as why Christ had to die on the cross, why blood atonement is necessary for redemption, etc.). How many Catholics understand those things, let alone transubstantiation?
Dear Joseph d'Hippolito,
No bubble to burst. Our Catholic Church is the Mother of the Bible, and a good, orthodox catechism relies heavily on Scripture.
Give Protestants a verse of the Bible and they go off into literally tens of thousands of differing interpretations of it.
We can rely on Holy Mother Church, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, to interpret Scripture truly and faithfully, Deo gratias.
When I was little, the sisters taught us kids the Bible. If the mostly lay Catholic teachers today have stopped doing that, they are not doing what the Church wishes.
I echo Joe of St. Therese in recommending the Baltimore Catechism for grade school kids.
every time I see a copy of the Baltimore catechism in a thrift store I buy it and disperse it among the Catholic children i know. Every one should have a copy.
The same goes for the Catholic version of the Bible. Every one should have a copy.
*Cheap AND so very right*
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