Church Attendance Resumes Downward Slide within Catholic Church

[Just Sayin]

https://news.gallup.com/poll/232226/church-attendance-among-catholics-resumes-downward-slide.aspx

Fewer than four in 10 Catholics attend church in any given week
Catholic attendance is down six percentage points over the past decade
Protestant attendance steady, but fewer Americans now identify as Protestants

Gee, I wonder why.

[Just Sayin]

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2010/03/29/clergy-sexual-abuse-and-the-catholic-church/

Well before recent allegations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and their coverup by the Catholic Church, roughly a quarter (27%) of former Catholics who no longer identify with a religion cited clergy sexual abuse scandals as a reason for leaving the Church. Among former Catholics who now identify as Protestant, 21% say the sexual abuse scandals were a reason for leaving the Catholic Church. Former Catholics are about evenly divided between those who have become Protestant and those who are now unaffiliated with any religion. Nearly six-in-ten former Catholics who are now unaffiliated say they left Catholicism because of dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings on abortion and homosexuality, about half cite concerns about Catholic teachings on birth control and roughly four-in-ten name unhappiness with Catholicism's treatment of women. Among former Catholics who are now Protestant, spiritual needs not being met and finding a religious more to their liking were the most cited reasons for leaving the Catholic Church. When asked to explain in their own words the main reason for leaving Catholicism, about half of former Catholics (54% of those who are now unaffiliated and 47% of those who are now Protestant) cite a disagreement with the Catholic Church's religious or moral beliefs.

Hmmm. Cafeteria Catholics?

[Just Sayin]

Americans who attend church regularly are getting older, too. A 2016 study from the non-profit Public Religion Research Institute found that 39 percent of young adults (aged 18 through 29) are "religious unaffiliated." That's nearly quadrupled since 1986, when only 10 percent of young adults identified that way.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/24/catholic-church-attendance-declines-u-s-leaders-woo-latino-youth/2920615002/

[wh]

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2010/03/29/clergy-sexual-abuse-and-the-catholic-church/

Well before recent allegations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and their coverup by the Catholic Church, roughly a quarter (27%) of former Catholics who no longer identify with a religion cited clergy sexual abuse scandals as a reason for leaving the Church. Among former Catholics who now identify as Protestant, 21% say the sexual abuse scandals were a reason for leaving the Catholic Church. Former Catholics are about evenly divided between those who have become Protestant and those who are now unaffiliated with any religion. Nearly six-in-ten former Catholics who are now unaffiliated say they left Catholicism because of dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings on abortion and homosexuality, about half cite concerns about Catholic teachings on birth control and roughly four-in-ten name unhappiness with Catholicism's treatment of women. Among former Catholics who are now Protestant, spiritual needs not being met and finding a religious more to their liking were the most cited reasons for leaving the Catholic Church. When asked to explain in their own words the main reason for leaving Catholicism, about half of former Catholics (54% of those who are now unaffiliated and 47% of those who are now Protestant) cite a disagreement with the Catholic Church's religious or moral beliefs.

Hmmm. Cafeteria Catholics?

Unfortunately, we have a lot of Cafeteria Protestants, as well. Even worse, we have a lot of Cafeteria church leaders, especially in mainline denominations, who try to placate their increasingly more liberal attendees by watering down their respective belief systems and tenets of faith to accept life style choices (e.g., abortion, fornication, homosexuality, transgender, etc.) to make everyone more comfortable about our declining moral value system and their participation in it). It's a highly flawed approach in a futile attempt to remain relevant. Instead, those in the flock who understand that God's standards never change are leaving the main liners in droves for for more conservative non-denominational alternative churches that don't apologize for the Bible.