Pope says churches in West look to be dying

[Nerthus]

Pope says churches in West look to be dying


by Robin Pomeroy (Reuters, July 27, 2005)

Rome, Italy - Mainstream churches in the West appear to be dying as societies that are increasingly secular see less need for God,

Pope Benedict said in comments published on Wednesday.

Source

[Ederico]

Weren't the 60s the years of the VCII? Perhaps that explains it.

[Nerthus]

I have to say my feelings regarding this Pope are contradictory, but he's right in which concerns the Church in the West. I've always been under the impression that people are less religious in nowadays' modern world. Some even closely link this to the general moral decline, holding the belief that where there is no spirituality, there are less morals (for the record, I generally agree with this, but not with Christianity being the only religion which preaches morality )

In another article dealing with this subject (see here) I found a rather interesting paragraph:

The pope began his remarks, which touched on Marx, the upheavals in Europe of 1968 and other topics, by stressing that a pope isn't an ``oracle'' and ``is infallible only in rare situations.'' Benedict previously has stressed that he intends to listen to others and not do only his will as pope.

And yes, I know that the issue of infallibility is complicated and not so easy to understand

[Milesian]

"The so-called traditional churches look like they are dying," he said,

Actually, Traditional Churches are growing. It's the mainstream Church with it's liberal and anti-Catholic nonsense which is dying on it's feet. It's been a continous progress since the end of Vatican II when utterly demoralised priests and nuns left their orders in droves due to being unable to reconcile the reforms with their consciences.

The Pope blamed a change in social attitudes in the 1960s for the Church's decline in the West, referring to what he termed a "second enlightenment" of 1968, the year of the so-called 'summer of love' and student and worker protests.

Yes, as Ederico said, it coincides with Vatican II.
If the Pope has any will to salvage things, he might consider reversing those things which caused the problems. Vatican II was not infallible. It can be reversed if the will is there.

Of course, if Benedict continues pursuing the hopless policies of Vatican II then we will know where his loyalties lie

[Perun]

Here's an interesting sociological study concerning the state of religion and secularism in Europe. Churches(well mainstream) are dying not because Europeans are less religious, it's because the churches that do exist in Europe are corrupt but are often the only major spiritual institution(particularly in cases of state-supported churches).

There's actually been a dramatic rise in non-mainstream(especially traditionalist-based) religious groups in Europe.

http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewconte...1&context=ijrr

Philip Jenkins even did a study about this.

"Turning to modern times, [Greeley] is equally dismissive of the core claims of secularization. Using survey evidence, he argues that Europeans still affirm a surprising level of continuing belief in religious and supernatural doctrines, overwhelmingly in the case of the existence of God, but also with large numbers accepting life after death and miracles. Even in Britain and the former West Germany, 40 percent of respondents claim to believe in miracles. Greeley also argues, very fairly, that Europe is anything but homogenous, and that it is unwise to extrapolate from secular Britain or the Netherlands. The smaller countries often demonstrate higher levels of religious commitment, though sometimes in bizarre or wildly heterodox forms, and occult and New Age doctrines are especially strong in the former Soviet Bloc."
- Phillip Jenkins, "Rethinking Secularization," Published by Christianity Today, May 22, 2003


Large numbers of Europeans still travel to places like Lourdes, Fatima, and the Vatican to express their religious devotion.