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Add to NewsvineAccording to the NYT account of the vast Pew study:
The report shows, for example, that every religion is losing and gaining members, but that the Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes.”
[snip]The percentage of Catholics in the American population has held steady for decades at about 25 percent. But that masks a precipitous decline in native-born Catholics. The proportion has been bolstered by the large influx of Catholic immigrants, mostly from Latin America, the survey found.
The Catholic Church has lost more adherents than any other group: about one-third of respondents raised Catholic said they no longer identified as such. Based on the data, the survey showed, “this means that roughly 10 percent of all Americans are former Catholics.”
Why do you think people leave the Catholic Church? We tend to accept the explanation that suits what we'd prefer to believe. In a short exchange on a combox yesterday, Daniel, who is a liberal Catholic, expressed his belief that these people get fed up with the dogmatism. I started to say that they wanted more substance, of a conservative sort, out of Christianity than they were getting at a Catholic parish, but then I realized that I really don't know.
The sort of conservative/orthodox Catholic who is fed up with the liberalism, or absence of orthodox Catholic teaching and liturgical practice at his parish, is not likely to leave Catholicism, because he or she has a prior belief that the RC Church is the true church. Those conservatives who would leave (usually for an Evangelical church) are those who, for some reason or another, cease to believe the Church of Rome's claims. I will concede that Daniel's view is probably closer to explaining why Catholics leave than mine, but not quite for the reason he thinks. If you reject the dogma of the Catholic Church, why would you stay when we live in a society in which changing churches is common, and there's little or no social penalty attached to it? Could it be that yes, they do reject the dogmatism, but it's less a matter of, "...and that's why I'm outta here!" than a shrug of indifference, along the lines of, "Well, it doesn't really matter what one believes, so I'm going to find a church that suits my beliefs better?"
Again, I don't know. Have there been any studies?
The Pew study tracked Protestants who left one Protestant church for another (e.g., Methodist to Presbyterian), but it didn't track the same dynamic going on within Catholicism. It's called parish-shopping. Most dioceses have one or more parishes known to the faithful as the "conservative" parish or the "liberal" parish, and Catholics to whom this sort of thing matters will cross parish lines to attend. I would think that as long as this dynamic exists within Catholicism, you are going to have fewer people leaving the Catholic Church, because they can find a place for themselves there.
Pope Benedict is known for believing that the Catholic Church should be more assertive in its authoritative teaching, and if that means people who can't accept it leave, fine. Better to have a church that's smaller but knows what it believes than one that's large but confused and largely directionless. That makes sense to me as a sociological principle. The church -- any church -- is supposed to be about saving souls, not simply offering undemanding therapeutic consolation.
Anyway, I'd be interested to hear from ex-Catholics and still-Catholics on the question: "What creates ex-Catholics?"
UPDATE: Popular Catholic blogger Amy Welborn comments on the Pew study and what it reports about Catholicism, and comes to a pretty stark conclusion about why Catholics leave their church:
In the US, at least, the Church (we’re generalizing here) hasn’t made the case for Christ.Hasn’t made the case for the necessity of Christ being the center of one’s life and the sure means of finding and staying connected to Christ being through His Church.
Part of what makes me cringe as I read studies like this is that I imagine the response of Church bureaucrats, ordained and lay - when they bother to respond. At that response always seems to involve “programs” that will “energize” and make everyone all “vibrant” and everything.
Which is not the answer.
What’s the answer?
Also on Amy's site, the Catholic lay evangelist Sherry Weddell has a straightforward message for fellow orthodox Catholics:
I know this is going to sound wild but we know that for every evangelical who becomes Catholic, roughly eight Catholics become evangelicals. What if those 8 Catholics left us because they actually wanted and needed what evangelicals do very well and we do rather poorly?What if they don’t actually care much about liturgy? One could draw the conclusion with some confidence since they have moved in a strongly non-liturgical direction. What if they don’t care much or at all for history or Gregorian chant or high culture or fine doctrinal debates that mean so much to us?
What if they were looking for something else that is genuine part of the Christian faith and life but which we don’t do as well. A Christian community that was small enough to actually know who they were and would notice when they showed up - a stranger. What if they desperately needed to experience the transforming power of God in their life or their family’s life? What if they love and find profoundly reverent and moving worship that is full of emotion and movement and spontaneity? What if they needed to be supported and formed by a local community marked by a genuine culture of discipleship?
In other words, what if they really, really were seeking and hungering to encounter God in a way that evangelicals excel at and we do poorly? What if the most beautiful and reverent formal liturgy in the world (as we think of it) just leaves them puzzled or cold?
While it is natural that we keep talking about doing even more of what moves us (who are here and frequenting conservative Catholic blogs) of what drew many of us to the Church - what if it is irrelevant to those who left us?
Most evangelical converts to Catholicism I’ve met are historically and intellectually minded. They were often uncomfortable with the extroverted, more openly emotional and experiential “feel” of evangelicalism. It was a relief to get out of it.
But what if we evangelicals who are drawn to those aspects of the faith are unusual, a minority? What if many of the 8 Catholics who leave for the evangelical world for every evangelical who goes in the other direction are wrestling with quite different issues - perhaps with as much anguish and integrity as we did when becoming Catholics? What if the things they seek of God and the Church are legitimate?
Can we imagine it? How does that change the conversation?
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The reality that needs to come across is that God loves Us all. Catholic, ex-Catholic and everyone else for that matter. Right where you are and who you are, in front of the computer screen you're reading today. People fall short. They have. They do. And they will. But God can give us the Grace and Love to forgive them all. And He can help us to forgive ourselves as well when we fall short.
The love of God and the Gift of the Holy Spirit are waiting to be poured out into the hearts of those that seek Him.
"Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me." Rev.3:20
Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in us the fire of your love.
V.Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created,
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
Loving God, help us to hear your voice ever more clearly and to open the door wider to you. Be our strength. We offer to you our suffering, caused knowingly or inadvertently, by the Catholic Church and it's members, as a sacrifice united to your Holy Cross. May it be for the redemption and healing of our souls and bodies. And may our Hope in your undying love for us be rekindled and renewed this day. Through Christ Jesus Our Lord. Amen
Pax Christi.
Posted by: Sheilagh | March 9, 2008 8:03 PM
I will not engage in church bashing, nor will I speak unkindly about the Pope, priests and nuns.
I will, however, share my specific reason for leaving the Roman Catholic Church. Simply said. . .The Book of Hebrews in the Bible. Many years ago, my parents gave me a Bible at Christmas, and the first book I read was Hebrews, something I now believe was directed by God's Spirit.
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (Hebrews 9:28)
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:10-14)
Sacrificial altars were hewn down at the Cross. Jesus was, is, and always will be the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God. . .the Sinless One sacrificed for sinners. . .once for all. The Old Testament priesthood ceased to exist at the Cross, for Jesus became the High Priest. . .once for all. Amen!
Posted by: Catherine Parker | March 11, 2008 8:20 AM
Here is my story why I left Catholicsim. I was raised in a very Catholic home. My mother was a kind and devout Catholic. My father was an alcoholic who ruled the family with an iron hand, including my mother. I give my mother credit for pointing the way, but unfortunately she could only tell me what she had been told by those who taught her. I went to confession and communion regularly and celebrated all the feast days. I prayed the rosary, did novenas, and was always in awe at the "holiness" in church especially when the priests wore their white robes and walked down the aisle swinging the incense. I thought to myself that must be God." As a child I remember kneeling in church staring at the statues hoping they would move, or smile or wink or something. I so wanted to know God and speak to Him, other than just by rote prayer or repetitious words of the rosary, and often I would ask questions of my mother. I asked, "Mamma, if Jesus died on the cross for our sins, why would we need to go to purgatory?" Her answers always came straight from the catechism. She answered, "because Jesus' death only opened the gates of heaven (which had been closed) and we still have to be punished for our sins." "Oh" I said.
I grew up believing these teachings and tried my best to follow the teachings, and was always frustrated by my inability to keep from sinning and always full of guilt. The confessional was a place to feel like I was absolved as long as I did the 3 hail mary's or whatever the prescription was for "punishment." I made my first communion and then my confirmation. These events were centered around the awe of the experience and never around the person of Jesus christ. Jesus was always spoken of as part of a family--Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and the saints. The priests were considered to be super holy and you didn't dare misbehave or be casual in their presence.
I married a non-believer (of anything) at the age of 25. I didn't even question that this was a mismatch. He promised not to interfere in my beliefs by signing some kind of waiver and we married in a Catholic ceremony. The marriage was all wrong from all standpoints and ended in divorce. During the last few years of our marriage I had become nvolved in the Catholic charismatic renewal movement. Some friends invited me to be prayed over for the "baptism in the Holy Spirit." While the friend was talking to me about the Holy Spirit, as I was asking many questioins, I experienced a very real and supernatural thing. I could feel and hear (not audibly)the Lord speaking to me, and with almost every heart beat, I heard the words "repent." I really don't even remember what the person was saying, I just heard the word, "repent" inside and was emblazened in my heart. She asked me if I wanted to be prayed over and I jumped at the opportunity. I stood in a circle with the other believers (all Catholics) holding hands.le there. I suddenly knew what to say without ever having any kind of teaching (which sounded "Protestant" to me), but I found myself saying, "Jesus, walk into my heart." I had a mind's eye vision of Jesus, standing at the end of a path with his arms outstreatched. Moments afterward I was completely changed. I had the biggest smile on my face (even have pictures to prove it). For months afterward I was fully of joy and peace and had an insatiable urge to read the Bible!!! No one told me I had to, I wanted to read it so bad that I would jump out of bed in the morning and do my daily chores quickly so I could run in and read my Bible. The words in the Bible seemed to jump off the page at me. In addition, I changed. I found myself doing things I would never have thought of doing before this experience. I prayed solely to Jesus and had wonderful conversations with HIm. One day I read in the paper about a family whose house burnt down and lost their baby in it. Unlike my former self, I started to weep. I went to their home and took clothing to them..something I would never have done before. My husband even noticed the difference. He saw me reading the Bible, and he said to me, "I don't know what you are doing, but keep on reading that book." The experience felt like being in love for the first time. I remained in the Catholic church, but mass didn't seem to satisfy me. I wanted more. Even the teachings I got at the Catholic charismatic meetings were not enough. I wanted more of Jesus. I no longer had a desire to pray to saints and to the Virgin Mary. It felt wrong to me and contrary to the Word I had been reading. As I said, my husband and I divorced, and I was very sad. I went to the priest for solace and he offered me none, except to say "go get marriage counseling" and walked away. I was desperate for spiritual guidance and so I decided to go to a small Protestant church where one of my friends attended. I called the pastors of this church for guidance and counseling and when I spoke to them, I could not believe the love and acceptance they showed me. They were in love with Jesus too and it reeked out of every pore! I went to a service and I was absolutely blown away at their church service. I remembered how it was in Catholic church where a few people sang. In this church EVERYBODY was absolutely in love with Jesus! No one had to be coaxed to sing. They raised their hands with such enthusiasm and sang with no abandon like they were in such awe and love with Him. I could not understand why this didn't happen in the catholic Church. I loved it there and started attending, but I continued to go to mass every sunday along with this church. I heard teachings there about how Jesus paid the FULL PRICE for our sins. He took our punishment!!! For the first time I knew the answer to the questions of my childhood. There is nothing we can do to pay for our sins but accept what Jesus did. It is not what we do, but what Jesus did to set us free and stand boldly before the throne of the Father because Jesus is our advocate. I stayed Catholic for years until one day I decided that I was being double minded. I was going through the motions of being a Catholic and yet believed many of the tenets of that faith were false. I had to make a decision and so I did. I did not return. My family took it hard, but I had to decide what was the right thing to do. They still remain in the Catholic faith stronger than ever. Our conversations about God are strained because if it ever comes up about why I don't pray to the Virgin Mary, it evokes tears in them. The funny part is this. Whenever there is a time for family group prayer. They always ask me to lead it.
Posted by: | April 15, 2008 1:14 AM
I was born Jewish, but converted to the Catholic faith when I was a teenager. I was drawn to it due to the mystery, the Latin, etc (this was a LONG time ago!)
I left it years later after discovering my Jewishness for the first time (I was raised a nominal Jew). Now I'm a lot more religious as a Jew than I ever was as a kid, but I really don't think of myself as an ex-Catholic (even though I suppose I am); I just think of myself as a Jew who became more Jewishly observant.
I don't hate the Catholic religion; I just know its not for me (or for any other Jew, really).
Posted by: Matushka | August 2, 2008 8:19 PM
As a Catholic, I believe that the tremendous changes in the Church since Vatican II have resulted in a Church that in many cases does not "feed the sheep." This is a critical problem because the unwillingness of the bishops to recognize the mistakes brought by disrupting over a millenium of religious tradition is the same intransigence that one hears about in their unwillingness to deal with the crises brought about by the same Council, namely the defection from religious life, child-sex scandals, etc, etc, etc. Only when the bishops themselves are able to reconnect with the spirituality of Ignatius Loyola, Francis of Assisi, and Theresa will the defections end. Personally, I don't think this will happen, and we will have a situation like France in a few generations. The few remaining bishops will be fat and satisfied, living in their palatial mansions, without having to work very hard because there won't be much to do. Then possibly another Ignatius or Francis or Thersa will come along.....
Posted by: Alex Stevens | August 31, 2008 1:32 AM
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