The following comes from an Aug. 21 posting by Alexander Griswold on The Federalist.com.
…A number of Christian denominations have already taken significant steps towards liberalizing their stances on homosexuality and marriage, and the evidence so far seems to indicate that affirming homosexuality is hardly a cure for membership woes. On the contrary, every major American church that has taken steps towards liberalization of sexual issues has seen a steep decline in membership.
The Episcopal Church
In 2003, Gene Robinson became the first openly gay, noncelibate man to be consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church. In the wake of his consecration, entire dioceses severed ties with the Episcopal Church, eventually creating the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). But the Episcopal Church continued to liberalize its sexual teachings, lifting a moratorium on any more gay bishops in 2006 and creating a “blessing ceremony” for gay couples in 2009.
In 2002, the number of baptized U.S. members of the Episcopal Church stood at 2.32 million. By 2012, that number had fallen to 1.89 million, a decline of 18.4 percent. Meanwhile, attendance has fallen even more steeply. Average Sunday attendance in its U.S. churches was 846,000 in 2002, but had fallen 24.4 percent by 2012 to only 640,000. Other signs of congregational liveliness have fallen even further. Baptisms have fallen by 39.6 percent, and marriages have fallen by 44.9 percent.
As for the ACNA? It’s seen its membership rise by 13 percent and its Sunday attendance rise by 16 percent in the past five years. Since 2009, the ACNA has planted 488 new congregations. In 2012, the entire Episcopal Church managed to plant four new churches.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) was formed in 1987, when three Lutheran denominations merged to create the largest Lutheran church in America. For most of its history, gay men and women were permitted to be pastors, so long as they remained celibate. But in a narrow vote at its 2009 Churchwide Assembly, ordination was extended to gay men and women in “committed monogamous relationships.” In addition, the Assembly passed an amendment allowing churches “to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships.”
From ELCA’s formation in 1987 to 2009, the average decrease in membership each year was only 0.62 percent. But after the liberalization of the ELCA’s stance on sexuality, membership declined a whopping 5.95 percent in 2010 and 4.98 percent in 2011. Since 2009, more than 600 congregations abandoned the denomination, with almost two-thirds joining conservative Lutheran denominations like the North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Churches in Ministry for Christ.
By the end of 2012, ELCA had lost 12.3 percent of its members in three years—nearly 600,000 people. If the present rate of defections holds steady, ELCA will cease to exist in less than two decades.
The United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) has long had a reputation for unfettered liberalism, sometimes bordering on the radical. In 2008, for example, the pastor of the largest UCC congregations in the country was one Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The UCC’s tendency for pushing traditional boundaries has led to unquestionably positive developments (such as the first African-American pastor as early as 1785) and the unquestionably silly (such as the first hymnal that refuses to call Jesus male). Needless to say, in 2005 UCC became the first U.S. mainline Protestant denomination to support same-sex marriage, and has been an outspoken voice in the gay marriage debate ever since.
While UCC has been bleeding members for decades, its decline rapidly accelerated after the gay marriage vote. Since 2005, UCC has lost 250,000 members, a decline of 20.4 percent over seven years. While an average of 39 congregations left UCC annually from 1990 to 2004, more than 350 congregations departed in the following three years. The UCC’s own pension board called the 2000’s decline “the worst decade among 25 reporting Protestant denominations,” and admitted that “…the rate of decline is accelerating.”
2013 marked a particularly grim milestone for the denomination, as membership finally fell below one million. If the post-2005 rate in membership losses doesn’t taper out, the denomination will cease to exist in 30 years.
The Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) was flirting with loosening its sexual standards as early as its 2006 General Assembly, when it voted to allow ordination boards to essentially overlook clergy marriage standards if a candidate “adhere[s] to the essentials of the Reformed faith.” By 2010, the General Assembly had passed an amendment to remove all clerical standards of sexual behavior entirely. This year’s General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to change their Book of Order to redefine marriage as a civil contract between “two people” and to allow ministers to perform same-sex marriages where legal.
Hopefully by now, you can see where this is all headed. In 2006, 2.2 million people were members of PCUSA, a number that dropped 22.4 percent to 1.85 million by 2013. PCUSA’s decline accelerated significantly after approving the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy in mid-2011, which led to the creation of an alternative denomination in 2012 called ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Over 100,000 members left the PCUSA in 2012 alone.
Once again, if post-2006 trends continue, the denomination will cease to exist by 2037.
Meanwhile in orthodox churches…
The familiar answer from liberal mainline Christians is to protest that church attendance and religiosity is on the decline across-the-board, not just in denominations that embrace homosexuality. But this excuse fails to account for conservative denominations like the Assemblies of God, which has been consistently and rapidly growing for more than 40 years. Despite much of the hand-wringing over the Catholic Church’s highly visible public advocacy against gay marriage, it has been consistently growing in the United States. Lord knows the Mormons haven’t had any trouble growing. Even theologically conservative denominations that are declining, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, began declining much later and much less drastically than other denominations. The Southern Baptist Convention has only declined by 3 percent since its peak in 2007—an average of less than 1 percent annually—and has actually been adding congregations….
To read the original story, click here.
“Liberal” churches have been losing members since the mid-1960s (see the book “Why the Conservative Churches are Growing” (1974) by a Methodist author), so the Reformation just may end with a whimper over gay “marriage”. If your church stands for nothing different than what the world demands, what purpose does it serve? Appeasing hedonism is a losing proposition.
WND (World Net Daily) is Not Catholic – but they are as capable of observing trends as the Federalists – and Catholics, although far far too many of the CHINO / ‘Crab Feed Catholics’ could care less about anything other than political pandering:
CHURCHES WARNED: ‘TIDAL WAVE OF GAY THEOLOGY’ LOOMING
Evangelist sued for Bible preaching sees lesbian worship singer as harbinger
Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2014/08/churches-warned-tidal-wave-of-gay-theology-looming/#ROoFVU2qP4bpUkao.99
Who is the imposter, or perhaps just a dopplelganger????
Greetings from the UK!
Besides… As a confirmed Marxist in such matters, I believe that none lesser than the great Groucho himself once summed up the conundrum of faded doubles concisely for the ages, even one of Abomination, when he observed:
“I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”
*Remembering always that a Club is quite different than a Catholic Church, although Parishes can be rather clubby at times.
Michael,
Are you writing that Groucho Marx was a “Marxist” or that you are a “Marxist”?
Please clarify!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher,
Kenneth – Twere an absurdist Pun playing on words, as befits the lunacy that claims a child can be born of Two Daddies and No Mommy, which is Hateful anti-Scientific Misandry in the world – and in this case an Attack on the Faith from the ‘inside’.
Just how much of the ‘treasure’ donated by the faithful in the pews to do good work – has been burned by the hateful in the parish / diocese administration to produce the smoke of satan – is The Growing Scandal that threatens so much of the really Good Work once done by the Church in the world.
We are called to Evangelize Others – and yet increasing numbers of people at the cost of betraying true Catholic Identity is not the same thing; and MHR and its twisted systers is a tragic example of the Power of Evil to Infiltrate wherever the weak or corrupt control the cash flow.
How dare these immoral Protestant churches call themselves “Christian!” America, from its Founding Fathers, was once a strong, mostly Protestant Christian nation! When I was young, about 90% of all Americans, attended a church (or synagogue) every week— and had Baptismal certificates, as well as birth certificates! Most people were taught about the Bible, and knew its basic teachings! Why let anti-Christian, anti-Traditional Marriage, Home and Family, anti-intellectual, IGNORANT HIPPIE LIBERAL FILTH and GARBAGE– kill these Protestant churches, and just tear this poor Nation to pieces— and annihilate it?? WHY?? Well– what could both Catholic and Protestant leaders do, together— to save Christianity, in America1?? Our Church leaders do not seem very motivated, but theirs are a DISASTER!! I sadly fear that someday, we will have NO MORE CHRISTMAS and NO MORE EASTER celebrations, in America— and no more references at all, to Christ!! We’ll have only horrific hedonism, dope, pornography, feminism, “free sex,” gay sex acts, birth control, abortion, plenty of sin, and a Nation lying all sadly destroyed, in Satan’s filth and ruins!!
I agree Linda Maria. God bless you. You are a good soul! Our Pope warned us against this evil and he also expressed this:
He exhorted those in attendance to question themselves, asking “Do I guard myself, my heart, my feelings, my thoughts? Do I guard the treasure of grace? Do I guard the presence of the Holy Spirit in me? Or do I let go, feeling secure, believing that all is going well?”
“If you do not guard yourself, he who is stronger than you will come,” warned Pope Francis, “But if someone stronger comes and overcomes, he takes away the weapons in which one trusted, and he shall divide the spoil.”
“Vigilance…Do not confuse the truth!” stressed the pontiff, giving three criteria of his own to use in the spiritual combat.
“Jesus fights the devil: first criterion. Second criterion: he who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. There are no attitudes in the middle. Third criterion: vigilance over our hearts because the devil is astute. He is never cast out forever. It will only be so on the last day.” Pope Francis
They are called “Christian” because they, like you, are baptized into his death, and are therefore entitled to share in his resurrection.
Linda Maria,
Fear not, the Traditional Catholic Church is alive, well, and growing.
I see new families every week when I usher at the 12:30 PM Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians in Garden Grove, CA.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher.
It is a shame that many “Sola Scriptura” protestant Churches no longer pay attention to the Bible. They now have little to point to.
My neighbor is a member of an “Assemblies of God” Church which is growing. They clearly believe and try to adhere to the Bible.
A Church with few boundaries that changes its teaching every few years based upon the latest politically correct fad (or sin) – is not a Church. It is a social organization.
I checked the link provided in the article for the Catholic Church.
https://cara.georgetown.edu/caraservices/requestedchurchstats.html
It is sad for the USA that when comparing 1965 to 2014 Catholic numbers, the vast majority are significantly DOWN, not up.
The total population in the USA in 1965 was: 194,302,963.
The total population in the USA in 2014 is: 318,716,188.
If numbers are adjusted for US population growth the numbers are ALL down.
Therefore the percentages have declined horrendously.
Per the statistics in 2000, 55% of baptized adult Catholics attended Mass every Sunday.
Per the statistics in 2014, 24% of baptized adult Catholics attend Mass every Sunday.
Much of this is due to:
1) the lousy catechesis of the Laity in the past 49 years;
2) Bishops not addressing scandal and sacrilege within their own Diocese;
3) Less reverence for the Holy Eucharist – by not kneeling and not receiving on the tongue. (Unconsecrated hands handling the Body and Blood of our Lord).
Dear Al, I agree with you on the import of your post, but I want to caution about one of your uses of the stats. The CARA numbers do not ask how many catholics attend Mass every Sunday. They ask what percentage of catholics go to Mass on Sunday on average. Point being that some Catholics go to Mass every Sunday, some go a couple of times a month, and a few go once or twice a year, so never go. Your read of the stats make it sound like one either goes every Sunday or not at all.
This is important, because I do believe there has been a shift away from an emphasis on the Sunday obligation. Given these statistics, I’d say the percentage of catholics who obey the Sunday obligation must be around 10% or fewer.
If you go back to the web site, there are several explanations and graphs on how specific info was obtained.
As we know, “Thou Shall Keep Holy the Sabbath” is one of God’s 10 Commandments. Too many people have made other people or other things their gods. Whatever the number, it is far too low, and goes along with the warning of Jesus that many will not enter Heaven. Mt 7: 13-14 and Lk 13:22-28
CCC: ” 2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor”) requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the Mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.
The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year”) ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.
The third precept (“You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season”) guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.”
I agree that the stats are grim. Bishops are going to have much to be concerned with on their particular judgment day.
Many quit teaching the Faith many years ago.
We should pray for all our Bishops and Priests.
I hope the US Bishops take into consideration that the US population is UP 64% since 1996,
and that the study numbers do not take population growth into consideration which should be a factor when deciding how we are doing from 1964 to 2014.
This is one gage of their Report Card.
How are the Bishops and their Priests doing on catechesis of the Laity in the pews folks?
I think all the Christian Churches have hung a Do-not resuscitate sign on their front doors.
A true believer wants to go where Truth is taught (to him). Where a religious institution says, “yesterday’s truth is no longer true,” and, worse yet, “we were wrong, oh, so wrong, yesterday,” then it will surely die. What was it that Pope Benedict XVI said in his letter, dated July 7, 2007, to the Bishops of the World regarding the centrality of unity in the Faith, speaking here of the TLM, and of much more (please, God, have a role for Benedict yet, in this life): “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” The bishops, of course, paid little attention to Benedict, much like the Pharisees’ paid little attention to Jesus. We will likely see in October the complete rupture of the “Springtime” Catholic Church as it seeks to complete the embrace of Medusa and welcome in all manner of sin as now “normal” and within the “mercy” of the Church (meaning, go right ahead and continue to do it). So very sad, but not unexpected.
St. Christopher, I hope and pray that you are wrong but I fear that you are right!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher
Please note the word “entirely” in the Benedictine quote you provided. It certainly indicates that it was not his intention to provide the TLM everywhere whether people want it or not. And certainly, the requirement for a stable group of believers who request it indicates the same hesitancy to pull back from the Ordinary Form.
this isn’t the first time the protestant church has abdicated from the Christ’s teachings and His True Church: It reaffirm its rebellion by the acceptance of modernisms: birth control, divorce, and abortion, euthanesia…this is accomplished with outlandish ease due in partly because the authority, magesterium, oral tradition within protestant church history was tossed out and is non-existent. So truth, faith and these churches can be corrupted. They are no longer subject to Christ and his Legitimate representatives but subject to majority vote/elections, popular opinions and along with self-interpretations of biblicable text…you can thank king henry viii and martin luther, two catholic renegades and libertines for that…dont take my word for it…read church history…then answer the question Christ posed to his disciples: “Who do they say that I am?” …and remember only Peter filled with the Holy Spirit answered, for no man could reveal or was given authority to reveal but by God the Father…the protestant sects and its members need to return to their catholic heritage
The author obviously can’t read a chart. By almost every indicator, the Catholic Church in the US is on the decline according to the CARA data–or maybe even in freefall who knows. There are much better ways to make this point than referencing data but not actually looking it.
I guess since Mormons, JWs and Muslims are growing in numbers, their theology must be blessed by God? This is absurd. Alexander Griswold would do well to take a class in statistics.
I found an article which stated this:
Pope Francis Against Gay Marriage, Gay Adoption
Pope Francis is a conservative who is anti-gay marriage and anti-gay adoption. He has described same-sex marriage as the work of the devil and a “destructive attack on God’s plan.” He has also said that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children.
In 2010, Francis championed against a bill for same-sex marriage and gay adoption, according to the National Catholic Register.
“[T]he Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family,” he wrote to the four monasteries in Argentina. “At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
He went on to describe it as a “‘move’ of the Father of Lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God” and asked for lawmakers to “not act in error.” In John 8:44, the Father of Lies is the devil. ”
God bless our Pope and may He stand up strong against the Gay mafia. Pray for our Pope for what virtues he needs the more…..
“Being upfront and honest about one’s sinful nature actually helps create a more authentic encounter with God. There are people who believe they are righteous, follow the catechism well enough and abide by the Christian faith, but they don’t have the experience of having been saved.” Pope Francis
“Sin is not a stain that I must wash out. What I need to do is ask forgiveness and reconcile myself, not go to the drycleaners…. I have to go encounter Jesus who gave his life for me.” Pope Francis
and this important quote from Pope Francis that most do not read about, which I feel applies to what is happening through out the world and people of faith:
Concerning the devil:
“We must always be on guard,” exhorted the Pope to those who attended Mass in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, “on guard against deceit, against the seduction of evil.”
These so called Christian churches are seducing people who do not want to turn to God but instead they want to create their own churches that permit great evil! Praise God that some Christians aren’t falling for those lies against the Natural law.
This:
“Being upfront and honest about one’s sinful nature actually helps create a more authentic encounter with God. There are people who believe they are righteous, follow the catechism well enough and abide by the Christian faith, but they don’t have the experience of having been saved.” Pope Francis
Are CHINO’s really catholic? If catholics refute the faith are they still catholic? How agnostic can catholics be before they are nolonger catholics? Many religious and secular concepts that protestants believe have been adopted by catholics, does that make the protestants more catholic?
IN OTHER WORDS, what makes a Catholic a Catholic? Then once that question is answered, we can then get a more accurate answer and come up with truthful statistics. Who are real catholics? How do they behave? How do they practice their faith and their lives? What percentage do they believe in catholic teaching?
This I will say, those catholics holding dear to the traditional teachings, doctrine, 7 Holy Sacraments, latin spoken and written rituals, prayers, novenas, and the Rosary are growing in numbers, not only as a population like the prodigal children returning to their Father, but also in vocations coming from the Roman Catholic seminaries and convents holding firmly onto tradition.
As we all know statistics can lie and liars can use statistics. The only statistics that matter are those based totally on the truth. That explains why politically-driven statistics mean nothing but that one political party trying to one-up on an opposing political party.
Pray the Rosary for the restoration of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Blessed Mother will hear our prayers and as our perfect mother, she will help us!
Catholics do their best to adhere to everything within the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
Others are as follows –
CCC: ” 2089
INCREDULITY is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it;
HERESY is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same;
APOSTACY is the total repudiation of the Christian faith;
SCHISM is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”
The correct terminology is important.
Slang words used in the media such as CHINO, cafeteria Catholic, liberal or conservative Catholics, etc, when referring to the Catholic Faith causes confusion.
(It makes it sound like these categories are OK. When in fact, they are serious mortal sins.)
I wonder what made so many Protestant leaders lose their faith? Especially, many intellectuals, capable of reading– and understanding (we hope!) — the Bible! Our Founding Fathers were intellectuals, too, and believed in God, and in the Bible! Most all of the early settlers of America, also believed in, and lived by, their faith in God, and the Bible! When I was growing up, almost everyone believed in God and the Bible, and knew they must avoid sin, and seek a good life of virtue, and hope by God’s grace, to enter Heaven, hopefully, at death! Christianity used to be deeply inculcated, from birth, in American society! And that is what needs to be re-gained, in today’s sad world, torn to pieces in the ignorant jaws of Satan! I also think St. Pope Pius X, at the turn of the 20th century, was very correct, in his valiant fight against Modernism! Modernism, and diabolic, misled intellectual leaders, straying more and more from God — is probably at the core, of this Satanic rebellion, killing our poor Nation!!
I want to say one more thing. When growing up, all Catholics– and even many non-Catholics!– knew VERY WELL, what it took, exactly– to be a “good, practicing Catholic!” And for anyone to be a “bad” Catholic, or a “lapsed Catholic”– was well-known, to most everyone! What a “Catholic” is– and is NOT– used to be VERY CLEAR– to all!!
Simply put: the more one changes Catholic/Christian doctrine and morals, the further away one distances himself from the Gospel. The churches that follow the apostolic traditions are of course the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches. The other ones,because they have cut themselves off from the saving vine of Christ, are weathering away, getting little or no spiritual nourishment or graces.
http://www.fatherjames.org
Read, “Get Serious!” by Father James Farfaglia. Says it like it is. A wonderful and holy prince of the Church. Yes, the Catholic Church will get smaller…..just as Pope Benedict XVI exclaimed. The Protestant churches will grow and then die. We the faithful to the end will live! Share the good news to all of our brothers and sisters…..we each have a choice……we are either in, or we are out.
It is better that the Church is Holy and does God’s will, rather than be large and full of heretics and schismatics.
CCC 2089 for definition of heresy and schism.
A Universal Prayer For all things necessary to Salvation
By Pope Clement IX O My God, I believe in Thee; do Thou strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee; do Thou secure them. I love Thee with my whole heart; teach me to love Thee daily more and more. I am sorry that I have offended Thee; do Thou increase my sorrow. I adore Thee as my first beginning; I aspire after Thee as my last end. I give Thee thanks as my constant benefactor; I call upon Thee as my sovereign protector. Vouchsafe, O my God, to conduct me by Thy wisdom, to restrain me by Thy justice, to comfort me by Thy mercy, to defend me by Thy power. To Thee I desire to consecrate all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings; that henceforward I may think only of Thee, speak of Thee, refer all my actions to Thy greater glory, and suffer willingly whatever Thou shalt appoint. Lord, I desire that in all things Thy will may be done, because it is Thy will, and in the manner that Thou willest. I beg of Thee to enlighten my understanding, to inflame my heart, to purify my body, and to sanctify my soul. Give me strength, O my God, to expiate my offenses, to overcome my temptations, to subdue my passions, and to acquire the virtues proper for my state. Fill my heart with tender affection for Thy goodness, hatred of my faults, love of my neighbor, and charitable to my enemies. Assist me to overcome sensuality by mortification, avarice by alms-deeds, and anger by meekness and tepidity by devotion. O my God, make me prudent in my undertakings, patient in affliction, and attentive at my prayers. Let my conscience be ever upright and pure, my exterior modest, and my conversation edifying. Discover to me, O my God, the nothingness of this world, the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time, and the length of eternity. Grant that I may prepare for death; that I may fear Thy judgments, escape hell, and in the end obtain heaven; through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Andrew, Then going by your post, if that is all that the CCC states:
Catholics do their best to adhere to everything within the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”. Then the Vatican may very well be exaggerating the number of catholics in this world especially since statistics show only on average about 1 in 4 Novus Ordo catholics go regularly to services every weekend in the USA and 1 in 20 in Europe. The only way they can estimate nearly a billion catholics is probably counting the protestants as well since they have been claimed as members of the church from what I have read, but their numbers are diminishing too. Further expounding on your comments:
Others are as follows –
CCC: ” 2089
INCREDULITY — So many are naïve of the catholic faith, they are gullible for believing most any protestant belief, and find favor of abortion, same-sex marriage, LGBT life-styles acceptable and etc. Most do not know what offends God and which constitutes a sin.
HERESY — It has been reported in national surveys that 2/3rds of Americans who call themselves catholic do not believe in one of the most fundamental doctrines of our faith, i.e. transubstantiation, let probably don’t know what that term means. Many are not baptizing their children, getting them confirmed, getting their dying family members the last sacraments all because they do not believe in the sacraments or that they are not necessary,
APOSTACY — This was foretold in the New Testament and it is going on today!
SCHISM — There are radical groups, trying to imposter, trying to deceive others that they are the true church, meanwhile they conduct counterfeit ordinations of women, conduct counterfeit sacramental rites by women, and are simply wayward from the true church that Christ founded.
Pray the rosary to restore Holy Mother the Church.
PLEASE. Read this!! https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/jewish-leader-blasts-indifference-to-persecuted-christians-13188/
Please pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering!! SEND MONEY
Speak out! Write letters to your newspapers!
Is your pastor speaking about this?
Its sad to think that no one commented about Pope Clement’s posted prayer which is as true today as it was over a century ago. It says more than anyother post here.
His prayer is what life is all about, it is all about pleasing God and humbling themselves dismissing self-pride and temporal greed. Those that please God will reap the rewards of eternal life with Him in Heaven, those that are caught up in this world and their own, well their missing the point, the true picture about what life is all about. Why doesn’t the modern Church focus on Pope Clement’s prayer for the sake of the salvation of souls? Oh yes there are certainly a pastor or two that have raised some points in their sermons at time; maybe even a bishop; but . . . . those points aren’t necessarily popular subjects to draw in the modernist crowds.
There is alot of food for thought in Pope Clement’s prayer, thoughts and study that could take days and weeks to comprehend to fullness, unfortunately time that few care to invest, they prefer to selfishly risk being entertained for just a while here on this earth, rather than investing in eternal happiness, if I understand Pope Clement’s closing prayer!
We all need to pray, especially for world peace as the Middle-East is erupting and coming closer to a major-scale war.