10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
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Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
The Banned said:10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
As a Catholic that was a former Protestant convert from cradle- Catholicism, I can say that evangelical churches can be a breath of fresh air, in a sense, for cradle Catholics as it really simplifies the faith. Just read your bible was easy for me to wrap my head around. I eventually found it lacking, but it served an importanrt role in my life. But I only went that way because my Catholic upbringing had convicted me that God was real.
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The data indicates that for every one person received into the Catholic Church, another 8.4 individuals have left the faith, either altogether or for another worship tradition. This increases the trend Pew found in 2014, when 6.5 Catholics left the faith for every person who entered.
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Both Protestantism and Catholicism experience net loss from switching. In the 2023-24 RLS, 1.8 people have left Protestantism for every person who has become a Protestant after having been raised in another religious group or in no religion. The ratio for Catholicism is even more lopsided: For every U.S. adult who has become a Catholic after being raised in some other religion or without a religion, there are 8.4 adults who say they were raised in the Catholic faith but who no longer describe themselves as Catholics.35
KingofHazor said:
Are you RCC guys correct about the data? All of the data I've seen is that the RCC is declining in the US and is doing so rapidly.
The Banned said:KingofHazor said:
Are you RCC guys correct about the data? All of the data I've seen is that the RCC is declining in the US and is doing so rapidly.
I've heard it described like a rocket dropped out of a plane, then having it's engines turned on. In one way it's falling, but in another way it's also making progress. As long as the engines keep firing, the descent will eventually stop and the progress that was being made the whole time will become evident.
Right now the Catholic Church (and others, as you've noted) are losing members at a pretty high clip, and they are generally the type that showed up for mass once or twice a year. But the number of adult admissions into the Church are growing every year, and they're taking it seriously. If the incoming numbers keep doing what they're doing, the result will be massive growth in the actual Church attendance.
10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
AgLiving06 said:10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
Javier Perdomo did a look at this exact thing as part of a substack:
Are Protestants becoming Roman Catholic: Are Protestants Mass-Converting to Roman Catholicism?
Religious practices: Who is More Devout: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, or Protestants?
Two long reads, but you are correct. Rome is losing many more people to Protestant groups than Protestants joining Rome.
AgLiving06 said:10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
Javier Perdomo did a look at this exact thing as part of a substack:
Are Protestants becoming Roman Catholic: Are Protestants Mass-Converting to Roman Catholicism?
Religious practices: Who is More Devout: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, or Protestants?
Two long reads, but you are correct. Rome is losing many more people to Protestant groups than Protestants joining Rome.
KingofHazor said:AgLiving06 said:10andBOUNCE said:
I don't have time to make this a research project but Pew Research indicates that Christians are leaving BOTH Catholic and Protestant traditions faster than those joining. This is the real problem.
Furthermore, Pew also indicates that in general, more Catholic brethren leave for Protestant circles that the other way around. I hear that is because they actually have access to the Bible rather than just the fathers
Javier Perdomo did a look at this exact thing as part of a substack:
Are Protestants becoming Roman Catholic: Are Protestants Mass-Converting to Roman Catholicism?
Religious practices: Who is More Devout: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, or Protestants?
Two long reads, but you are correct. Rome is losing many more people to Protestant groups than Protestants joining Rome.
I lived in PA for about 5 years and attended an evangelical church that I wasn't crazy about but there wasn't much to choose from. As you can imagine, PA is historically a very RCC area. However, about half the people at my church were former RCC.
It's anecdotal, but it comports with the data in the links above.
From what my former RCC friends told me about what they were taught or not taught in their old RCC churches, there seems to be a huge gulf between what RCC people on this forum claim that the RCC teaches vs. what is actually taught or not taught in most RCC churches. Almost invariably, my former RCC friends had never heard at all about salvation by faith and by grace in their former churches. All that they had been taught was salvation by works. They had never been encouraged to read the Bible for themselves but had been actively discouraged from doing so.
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From what I've seen in evangelical circles, they do a much better job of teaching their kids at home. All the strong, adult Catholics I know who never wavered had a vibrant Catholic life at home. I imagine it goes that way across all religions.
