The present state of the Church
This website addresses the serious issue of the decline of Catholicism as a result of the changes introduced into the Church since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). It is undeniable that the Catholic Church is consequently facing an unprecedented crisis.We only have to look at the evidence around us to see the reality of the following observations:
* Mass attendances are falling, and more and more churches are being closed down, resulting in priestless parishes.
* hardly any young men are offering themselves as candidates for the priesthood, and seminaries are being closed down
* lack of belief in and reverence for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
* failure to understand the true nature of the Mass as the Holy Sacrifice offered by Christ in reparation for our sins
* a declining number of Catholics frequenting Confession
* far fewer baptisms, confirmations and marriages in the Catholic Church
* failure to teach the authentic Catholic Faith in Catholic schools, resulting in a staggering 90% lapsation rate among school leavers
* many practising Catholics are particularly concerned about the lack of sound Religious Instruction being imparted in "Catholic" schools, but their complaints are ignored by the bishops.
For official confirmation of this situation, please see the page "Shocking Statistics of Decline of Catholicism in UK".
For several decades, the hierarchy was in a state of denial, refusing to acknowledge that such a crisis exists in the Church. As early as 1972 Cardinal John Heenan warned in that ‘One does not need to be a prophet to realise that without a dramatic reversal of the present trend there will be no future for the Church in English-speaking countries’. The trend to which he referred has not been reversed but has accelerated with each succeeding year.
Cardinal Daneels of Brussels stated in an interview with the Catholic Times, 12 May 2000, that the vocations crisis has become so severe that the Church in Europe could disappear: ‘Without priests the sacramental life of the Church will disappear. We will become a Protestant Church without sacraments. We will be another type of Church, not Catholic’.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, stated bluntly in January 2000: ‘The dechristianization of Europe is a reality’.
In July 2003 the Holy Father said in a document entitled "Ecclesia in Europa" that a "silent apostasy" is spreading through Europe, as "men who are sated live as if God did not exist."
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