Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Here's an interesting story from the Holy Post discussing the fact that 1/3 of all Canadians state that they intend to go to Church this Christmas. A poster going by the handle of Whistlerskier responded with a different framing of this stat, pointing out that fully 2 in 3 Canadians didn't plan on going to Church. I wrote in response with how I viewed the issue as a Catholic priest. Do you agree with my answer? Whistlerskier Or to put it another way...." 2 in 3 Canadians don't plan on attending religious services this Christmas". Fr_ Tim Whistler: You are 100% correct. Let's also admit that of the 33% who will show up in a Church this Christmas that the majority of them are not regular church attenders. Personally I look upon such stats as both a challenge and an opportunity. A challenge in as much as it reminds me of the work of evangelization that needs to be accomplished by all serious Christians throughout the other 364 days of the year to bring peo...

According to the annual " Status of global mission " report produced ​​ in 2011 , the Catholic Church has one billion and 160 million faithful around the world, with 34,000 new people joining every day. The figures from the study, released by the agency Analisis Digirtal, say that there are two billion people in the world today, out of a total of approximately seven billion, who have never received the Gospel’s message. Another two billion and 680 million listen to it sometimes, or are vaguely aware of it, but they are not Christians. 34 thousand Catholics more each day - Vatican Insider

You could call it religion's hallelujah. Though certain faiths remain in dire straits, a new report finds rumours of the death of Canadian churches to be greatly exaggerated -- particularly when it comes to Catholic and evangelical denominations, which are actually flourishing in light of recent immigration patterns. "Most observers assumed that religion in Canada would follow the European pattern of secularization, where religion would be practised by fewer and fewer people over time and eventually border on being extinct," says sociologist Reginald Bibby, a leading expert on religious life in Canada. Click on the link to read the rest of the story from the Ottawa Citizen. Gotta have faith: Findings show religion still vital to Canadians

 “ It is not often that someone at a New York dinner party calls for a count of religious affiliations, and I cannot recall exactly what led to it. But one guest suddenly said he had the impression that many of those present were Catholics. “Can we have a show of hands?” he asked.   Two of us raised our hands. A third person, who once wrote frequently in the Catholic press, said “no longer,” though as a conservative he continued to sympathize with the church. A fourth person, with whom my wife and I have sometimes worshipped on Easter, Christmas, and other occasions, chose not to make any declaration at all. Finally, the man who asked the question avowed that he had been raised Catholic, “and I hate everything about it.” (Peter Steinfels, Commonweal Magazine) I've been to the same dinner party. At least, I've participated in similar conversations in the past few years. They've been exceedingly painful moments, not at all like unlike the crises that assault us in the wak...

The New Advent blog has posted an article linking to a comprehensive list of Church statistics. It is worth noting that whereas the media would have us believe that the Church is in severe decline as evidenced by the declining numbers of priests, the actual truth is that priest numbers have steady increased since 1985. To apply the wisdom of Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the church are greatly exaggerated.