There are some really badly formed American Catholics February 22, 2013
Posted by tantamergo in General Catholic.trackback
And in other news, the sun rose today, Antarctica is cold, and the ocean is salty. But there were some things to pick out of this obviously push-pollling bit of reportage from the generally poor Orlando Sentinel:
As the pontificate of Benedict XVI winds down, many American Catholics express a desire for change, according to a new survey report by the Pew Research Center. For example, most Catholics say it would be good if the next pope allows priests to marry.[The way this is reported is just so wrong - priests have never, ever, been allowed to marry once they took Holy Orders. There have, however, been men already married who were allowed to become priests, and still are in Eastern Rites, a very problematic practice as they themselves will tell you. The data below is confusing, but, apparently, 58% of people who call themselves Catholic in this country think "priests should be allowed to marry." I haven't bothered to find the original poll to see how the question was asked, but if really asked in that manner.....wow. We have so much work to do. How can we reach these people?] And fully six-in-ten Catholics say it would be good if the next pope hails from a developing region like South America, Asia or Africa. [whoop-dee-fricking-do. A Pope shouldn't be chosen because he has a certain skin color or a certain ethnicity - it just shows how secularized people's understanding of the Papacy has become]
At the same time, many Catholics also express appreciation for the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. While about half of U.S. Catholics (46%) say the next pope should “move the church in new directions,” the other half (51%) say the new pope should “maintain the traditional positions of the church.” And among Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week, nearly two-thirds (63%) want the next pope to maintain the church’s traditional positions. [Only 2/3? And remember, when it comes to virtuous or "expected" behavior, people to over-report their virtuousity. But, it may be right, who knows. Today's Catholics are so horribly catechized anything is possible]
These are among the key findings of a new report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life based on two national surveys conducted Feb. 13-18. Additional findings include:
……Benedict’s handling of the sex abuse scandal. U.S. Catholics voice dissatisfaction with Benedict’s handling of the sex abuse scandal in the church. Among Catholics who say they followed news of the pontiff’s resignation, nearly two-thirds (63%) think he has done a poor or “only fair” job of addressing the sex abuse scandal, while 33% give him excellent or good ratings for his handling of the issue. U.S. Catholics are more negative in their views on this question now than in 2008; immediately following the pope’s 2008 visit to the U.S., 49% gave Benedict good or excellent ratings for his handling of this issue……..[This primarily shows how catechized people are by the media. If they have ire towards how the homosexuals raping pubescent boys scandal has been handled, they should direct it far more at the USCCB and their local Ordinary - in most cases - than the Holy See. If it weren't for Pope Benedict, many of these monsters would still be in circulation]
……..Maintain traditional positions or move in new directions? Among U.S. Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week, nearly two-thirds (63%) say the new pope should maintain the traditional positions of the church, while about one-third (35%) say the new pope should move the church in new directions. [who knows what they mean by this] By contrast, among those who attend Mass less often [that is, "Catholics" persisting manifestly in a state of mortal sin] , 54% say the next pope should move in new directions while 42% prefer to maintain the church’s traditional positions. [If you asked these people 100 questions related to the Traditions of the Faith, how many would they get right?]
New directions Catholics would like to see the church go. In response to an open-ended question, about one-in-five U.S. Catholics who think the next pope should move the church in new directions say simply that the church should become more modern (19%).[Please. If the Church gets anymore modern, it will be a Picasso painting] And 15% want the next pope to do more to end sex abuse in the church and punish the priests involved. [Then support traditional, orthodox priests, religious, and vocations] In addition, upwards of one-in-five mention issues regarding the priesthood, including 14% who say priests should be allowed to marry [once again, this reveals an ignorance so intense it is amazing. It has never been permitted for men who have taken Holy Orders to marry, at least not in the last 1800 years or so] and 9% who say women should be allowed to serve in the priesthood. [another impossibility] Others mention a desire to see the church become more accepting and open in general (14%), and an additional 9% say they want to see the church become more accepting of homosexuality and gay marriage in particular. Of Catholics who want a pope who will move the church in new directions, 7% specifically mention birth control, mainly indicating a desire for a lessening of the church’s opposition to the use of contraception.
I’m actually surprised at how low some of those numbers are. I figured they’d be much higher for things like contraception and state recognition of homosexuals living together as marriage.
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Thanks tanta for the article! I think those numbers are way too optimistic. The Coming Home Network which associated with EWTN did a research and found out only 5 percent Catholics 1) attend Mass regularly AND 2) accept the Church moral teachings in its totality(about 25 percent attend Mass regularly)
Now it does not mean the 5 percent has assurance of Salvation we all need to work on it. Let’s say 10 percent of those 5 percent hold on to the faith like St. Paul did that will be very impressive almost 300,000 in U.S. Alone would be able to avoid the never ending fire of Hell Our Lady showed the children in Fatima.
I could not quite grasp it before till I stare at the culture of death up close. I am currently visiting the Philippines(my wife gave birth to our son last May here). My wife’s family has been Catholic for many generations and I converted after studying a couple years in 2010. My wife has a sister who is divorced and started dating a divorced guy(technically no civil divorce here so people who have money would hire lawyers and secular psychologist to get civil annulment based on mental incapacity) a couple years ago. The whole family from the late maternal grandmother, both parents, all siblings embrace the relationship. I had been guilty too being a liberal Protestant a couple years ago and then a baby Catholic who was confused by the abused annulment process in U.S. I probably would have attended their wedding last year if I was here. Every one went to the civil remarriage wedding except my wife who was giving birth. A priest who is a long time friend of my wife’s family and a spiritual director of my wife was at the remarriage wedding. Then after I came to the Philippines I started doing research to help my sister in law to get a Church annulment knowing it is very easy to get one in the States. And the first thing I found out is the Catholic Church here only granted a couple hundred annulments not a year but in its history which dates back to the 1600s. That means averaging 4 annulments a year with a Catholic population slightly more than U.S. Then I found out remarriage is the ONLY sin(correct me if I am wrong) that the Church denies not only the Sacrament of Eucharist but also the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And when I brought this up to my wife I was accused being judgmental. Then I went to a local priest, trying to get some confirmation what I read in the Catechism, asked him is it a mortal sin for a person who is not retarded to get remarry(I know one of the 3 requirements is full knowledge) and his answer was on one knows except the person. Then I went to another sister of my wife asked if there is any reason she went to the wedding(by this point I was convinced everyone in my wife’s family knows it is a grave sin to remarry because unlike me they all grew up as Catholic) and she said we don’t follow all the Church’s moral teaching. The only person thinks it is a grave sin is my wife’s cousin who converted to Protestant. As far as I know my wife’s family is very devout and pray Rosary every day and lights a candle at 6 pm every day. I thought I can look to them for support in my new Faith but instead it looks like they embrace the culture of death and nourish and rejoice their love ones’ souls destruction.
And whenever I refer to the Bible or the Catechism my wife treat them like enemy. Besides online community I wonder if I can find in real life Catholics who revere the word of God and the Church teachings on morals. Do most Catholics still believe in Hell? If it is not for my infant son my prayer would be for the Lord to take me lest I too fall into what the Pope call the dictatorship of moral relativism.
May God have Mercy on the Church and the Pope!