Parishes closing or consolidating. Fewer and fewer people at Sunday Mass. An aging corps of priests and not enough new vocations to take their place. These and similar items combine in a pattern of downsizing by the Catholic Church nearly everywhere in
A reader recently saw some confusing headlines regarding indulgences. “I saw the following headline today in an English newspaper: “Vatican Offers ‘Time-off’ purgatory to followers of Pope Francis’ Tweets.” A second headline says further: “Papal Court handling pardon for sins says contrite
The Catholic Church in Germany, shaken by the abuse scandal, is continuing to shrink, with more than half a million people officially quitting the church in 2022. Most of the resignations occurred in the Archdiocese of Cologne.
The wave of resignations from the
Our Sunday Visitor contributing editor Russell Shaw writes: “Recently, without intending it, I found myself reading at the same time the latest document from the Vatican’s synod office and ‘The Diary of a Country Priest’ by Georges Bernanos. The juxtaposition of these
Back in 1969, then-Father Joseph Ratzinger gave a series of radio addresses in which he looked to the future of Catholicism and predicted turbulent times that would result in a smaller, more faithful Church. Though the man who would become Pope Benedict
While he continues to pursue his goal of visiting and photographing 100 churches, Max Schroeder always returns to one place when he needs to heal his heart and restore his soul. He seeks that connection with God and Mary at the end
In its latest editorial, the Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board addresses the state of the Church today and what our role is as faithful Christians. The Editorial Board writes: “Twenty years into the clergy abuse scandal — a scandal that has expanded
In an essay for Our Sunday Visitor, Lawrence P. Grayson, a visiting scholar in the School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America, addresses what the Church is and how that should impact each of our lives. Yet, our salvation, he
With so much going on, writes Gretchen Crowe, it is almost necessary to stop and take stock of where we are to determine where we should be going. That’s what a panel of influential Catholics did as part of a recent webcast,
On July 10, the Associated Press published a report titled, “Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got 1.4 billion dollars.” Through the Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration, AP estimated that the Church may have received 3.5 billion dollars. But