I saw a piece at the Baltimore Sun which says that the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be the 30th diocese to declare bankruptcy. They will close parishes. What will be left? 21 of 61. Meanwhile, there is an FSSP parish there, in a troubled neighborhood. Standing room only.
I saw a piece at LifeSite citing studies in Italy about Mass attendance. Attendance has plummeted to some 10%. Driving the trend is the widespread abandonment of the Faith by women. “For the youth and early adulthood ages, the run-up can be said to be essentially successfully completed.” What that means for the next generation (if there will be one in Italy that is even partially Italian in heritage!), we can all surmise.
The one who did the study offered this insight:
Exploring the possible causes of such a catastrophic abandonment of Catholicism in a land which lies at the heart of the Church, the Roman professor surmised that among the likely causes are the liturgical abuses and upheavals to which the Church in Italy has been subjected. He particularly pointed to the “progressive spectacularization of Vatican liturgies that has occurred over the past three pontificates” in Rome, as well as the liturgical innovations with which Italian clergy have scandalized faithful Catholics.
“Many of the nominally still highly institutionalized and centralized (‘liturgy-centered’) rituals may now have been transformed, in part or entirely, into ‘performance-centered rituals.’” Diotallevi wrote. “For Catholic liturgies, a push in this direction may also have come from the progressive spectacularization of Vatican liturgies that has occurred over the past three pontificates, from the substantial deregulation of increasingly large sectors of ‘Catholic’ liturgical offerings, as well as from many of the solutions adopted by clergy during the lockdowns that have recently taken place to counter the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.”
The public liturgical abuses that Italy has seen in recent include a Mass sacrilegiously offered on a surf board, in the water, at the beach, with the priest bare-chested, an outrage that prompted local civil authorities to consider charging the priest with the crime of a public offense against religion. Another priest offered Mass at a park in a rainbow “pride” stole and a skin-tight cycling outfit, and joked when hosts were blown by the wind onto the ground after the consecration.
“Catholic” Italy.
Meanwhile, people who want the Traditional Latin Mass – people who faithfully attend Mass, raise children, hand on the Faith and pay the bills – are being actively persecuted.
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Is it simply a coincidence that church attendance began to decline just after the introduction of the Novus Ordo? It seems that Catholics worldwide have been ‘desensitised’ to God since the Church ‘dumbed down’ the celebration & mystery of Holy Mass
What I find most irksome is Catholics who see all this happening and then say, “it’s time of renewal”. No, this is collapse. The will to disbelieve even when faced with insurmountable evidence.
If the FSSP owns some of the churches that they staff, it may be wise to figure out a different model. Or, I suppose, one can just wait for the diocesan fire sales.
Yes, following the Attorney General of Maryland’s detailed report on the extensive sexual predation and cover-up by the Archdiocese, Bill Lori declared bankruptcy to gain protection one hour before a law took effect allowing victims to sue for just compensation. [Insert your own thoughts about contrition, expiation and doing penance here.]
I have heard for years that the Province of Quebec in Canada has many beautiful churches and was once a bastion of Catholicism. Today I have heard on Sundays those churches are empty with something like 5% church attendance by those who identify themselves as Catholic.
My younger brother spent a semester studying abroad in Italy (early 1990s). I asked him if it was true that at most churches if only women, children, and old men cramming for finals showed up at Mass. He agreed. I also heard most of the European countries in those days that was “normal” Church attendance.
I have also heard that Church attendance across the world is down within the last ten years. I notice my parish seems only within the last year to be getting back to pre-lockdown attendance (and I am pleased to see more younger families showing up for the Sunday morning Masses) . I have also heard that some aren’t too pleased with decisions coming from Rome which may have affected attendance.
Besides the obvious hemorrhaging of attendance and religious, the other thing that comes to mind is what figures are they using? If they are using diocesan numbers for the total population of RC’s, these figures are grossly inaccurate. Out of my wife and my siblings & spouses, half are not RC anymore but are probably still on the archdiocese’s records.
I think that the loss of Mass attendance is partially related to the post-Vatican II era of “feelings”. I remember being a sponsor in a RCIA program where catechumens were asked how they felt about the Mass they had just been dismissed from rather the teachings from that Sunday’s scripture readings. There apparently had developed a “no reason to attend Mass if I am not getting anything out of it” attitude.
“Sure but …. The Faith is growing in Africa ! “ And thank God for their priests who are sent to the missions of the West. Even some African communities have found the Traditional Mass. Their bishops have become the voice of reason in the Church. Amazing how fast that happened. A few Synods ago they were told to “shut up” by a certain German Cardinal. Back in the States – I live on the border between 2 Archdioceses. Seattle and Portland. One embraces the Traditional Mass, the other won’t allow ad Orientem. Guess which one is shutting down parishes.
Dad of Six –
True. Check out the plummeting of baptisms and marriages over the last several decades. Which means even the “cultural Catholics” have bailed.
I praise God, even in the midst of these persecutions, for the TLM, the priests who say it, the bishops who allow it, and the laity who promote and educate on it. The darkness is getting darker and the light is getting brighter!!! Viva Christo Rey! Jesus, we trust in Thee!
“the progressive spectacularization of Vatican liturgies that has occurred over the past three pontificates”
Really?
One of the very few statistics one can be sure is accurate is the number of ordinations. In the USA a report by FSSP about a decade ago showed that had declined in every single year since 1950. And there were already articles expressing alarm in 1960, that is part of the background bishops took to VII.
Dear ex seaxe,
While it may have been falling off worldwide (I haven’t plotted the data), the fall-off of priests in the US began exactly in 1968. There was nothing but a linear increase before that. See my plot of priests numbers from about four weeks ago in the comments.
The Chicken
Out of my wife and my siblings & spouses, half are not RC anymore but are probably still on the archdiocese’s records.
A) They can’t stop being Catholic. Even if they’re not practicing and have fallen away, they’re still Catholic
B) They are still under the pastoral responsibility of the pastor of the Catholic Church of the territory they live in.
I noticed this year that we don’t pray for fallen away Catholics during the solemn intercessions of Good Friday. Perhaps it’s time for that to be added.
There was a time when if you wanted to know the miracles of the Church, the great teachings, the stories of the saints, the miracles you needed a priest who had access to a seminary library. Now all of that information is being widely diseminated on the internet, and yet priests still preach like nothing has changed. I’m very afraid for the FSSPs. They now have a virtual monopoly on the Latin Mass, and monopolies are never good. When a man feels like he has something no one else can give, something essential, and no one to check him, corruption is almost certainly not far behind. I loved the Latin Mass; I hated what it did to people.
@MB
“When a man feels like he has something no one else can give, something essential, and no one to check him, corruption is almost certainly not far behind.”
This is the entirely modern version of this sentiment. Can not “greatness” be said to be “certainly not far behind,” when a man beholds the confluence of duty and his god given talents? When what it takes is to embrace this state of life, and trust in the grace of God? Can there be no Blessed Charlemagne, St. Louis, St. Stephen, St. Olaf? Are we forever condemned to be flat, dull, and pathetic?
This mantra about “corruption” following from “power” is the essence of modernity, and I utterly reject it. From the confluence of Strength and Duty come Glory. Corruption comes from weakness, and from the lord of weakness, the Devil.
I don’t know where MB lives, but it’s objectively false to assert that the FSSP “now have a virtual monopoly on the Latin Mass.” I checked the Mass directory at latinmass.com, and here are the real numbers:
Diocesan: 684
SSPX: 470
FSSP: 177
ICKSP: 62
other community: 47
college chapel: 16
other: 115
177 out of approx. 1500 is a virtual monopoly? Uh, no.
To MB:
THE BEST TIME was a long time ago before Paul VI and Bergoglio and their hand-chosen sycophants decided to eliminate our Catholic Tradition. That time was when the laity would confidently turn to their parish priest who had all this knowledge in his brain because he thoroughly absorbed his seminary education
and was ordained a Priest of God with the charge of keeping his flock in God’s Grace.
Dear Masked Chicken, thank you for pointing me to your post of 22 March, which which I largely agree. My point about the decline in ordinations is however reinforced by what you posted. The decline in quality of admissions to seminaries in the 1960’s was surely a response to alarm about the drop in output (ordinations) noted by FSSP as starting in 1950.
I expect we agree that both the drop in standards and the implementation of SC were catastrophic mistakes.
Lori announced massive parish closings, along with the suppression of the Latin Mass in diocese. Sure suicide by cutting off your one source of growth and joy. The above list of diocesan vs FSSP or SSPX Latin Masses is very telling. Diocesan is twice that of SSPX. Then SSPX and FSSP combined almost equal diocesan Masses currently. So if Vatican thinks it can suppress diocesan Latin Masses completely, and ghettoize us, it will be a bloody axe to remaining life in the Church.
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ex seaxe, can you point to a link for that information showing ordinations have declined (in USA) since 1950?
It would be interesting to see national data. From what I’ve seen in the history of the numbers for Boston, the peak here was later – sometime in the mid-1960s.
All of these stats require context, of course. What became clear to me a few years ago looking at the Boston history was that while the simple numbers are lower than the “glory days” – the rate* has hardly changed.
* “rate” in this case meaning numbers of ordinations compared to the numbers of Catholics who go to Mass at least weekly. That percentage has barely changed over the decades. Since the population has changed, the numbers change.
Charivari Rob – Unfortunately I have been forced to switch computers twice recently and have lost the reference. The numbers ‘just’ need to be added together from Annuario pontifico and it seems someone from FSSP has done it! and reported it. The blog ‘Liturgy Guy’ has made reference to this, I think. The source I was looking at also said that a report on the ‘ordinations crisis’ had been published in, I think, 1960.
There are also partial analyses, for example – https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/fact-and-fiction-vatican-ii-and-the
Ex seaxe
Thank you