[KevinTheOmnivore]

[quote="ziggytrix"]

http://www.futurechurch.org/fpm/bishops.htm

If you can't see the relevance, then we can just drop it.

This is a terribly slanted statistic. Let's not even get into the veracity of the source, but just think about that argument logically. There are roughly 1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide. Nearly HALF of them live in Latin and South America. So if there is a general decline in priests, of course the ratio is going to be worse in the place where there are more actual Roman Catholics. By comparison, how many Roman Catholics live in North America...? 70 million?

There is certainly a decline in priests, and it is a problem, but you could also approach this economically. The supply of priests in America (and South America) has gone down, but so has the demand. I'd be interested to know what "future church" or whoever they are consider to be a "parishioner"....? Is it someone who attends mass every Sunday? Is it someone who attends once or twice a month? Are they a holiday Catholic? A steady decline in overall Church attendance sort of counter acts a priest shortage, don't ya think?

And simply noting that there aren't enough priests for all of these parishioners excludes deacons, nuns, and laypersons who are heavily active in the Church. This isn't necessarily a desirable think either, because nothing replaces having an actual full-time priest, but to argue that people are being neglected is just silly. Roman Catholic Churches have always had revolving door parishes where parishioners rarely saw their priest, even during the "good old days" of American Catholicism. This isn't something new.

I was listening to an interview with a priest somewhere in central/south america (I forget where exactly) and he was talking about how it was a terrible problem that his parishioners only got to see him ONCE per year. And that a lot of people in the area were converting to evangelical Christianity.

And why exactly are they converting to Evangelicalism? Is it because the town priest isn't around, so they get bored? Is it because their priest isn't maried, or isn't a woman maybe? I think that's unlikely.

Here's a pretty good article on the problem in South America. The article starts off by saying this:

"Eyes closed, hands in the air, worshippers inside the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God listen in rapture as a preacher tells them to ask for fulfillment of their innermost wishes - a new car, a bigger house, health, a better job, the return of a departed lover.

Across the plaza, worshippers inside a Roman Catholic Church shift restlessly on their pews, some yawning, as a priest drones on about resurrection.

The two churches are more than a study in contrasts - they are on the front lines of a battle being waged across Latin America between the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical Christian groups for followers - and the power, prestige and money they can bring."

There's a certain draw, particularly if you are poor and depressed, to religion. ANY religion. I can admit that. And there's a particularly GREATER draw to a religion that tells you that Jesus will make your life everything you want it to be, if of course you follow their teachings. Perhaps Roman Catholicism is a bit more glum than that, but we can't help that.

Should the Church draw upon the spirit of Vatican II, and lighten up a bit, become more evangelical, more musical, more culturally relative? Maybe. But again, none of these things have anything to do with married priests, female priests, condoms, and abortion. Do you think those South Americans converting to Evangelicalism are more liberal now on those things? Probably not.

The fastest growing Church in the U.S., if I recall correctly, is the Mormon Church. Is that how the Church should be....?