Where are all the Catholics???

Even allowing for recent dramatic fall offs in mass attendance I think there would still be more Catholics observing their faith in Ireland than all the other denominations put together. So why so few Catholics on this board? I think there are several reasons.

1. The Catholic Church in Ireland would tend to be retaining more old people and less young people, whereas evangelical churches are predominantly composed of the younger sector of the population. For example, last Sunday I preached to a Pentecostal congregation of 500, but I would reckon there would there were probably only about 20 of that number aged over 50. Internet discussion boards tend not to attract too many wrinklies. Therefore this method of communication would be more appealing to the average evangelical than it would be to the average Catholic.

2. Many Catholics are not used to having defend it or discuss their faith with others of differing views. Catholicism has traditionally been seen as the Irish religion almost by default, whereas evangelicals, as a minority, are more used to being challenged about their faith.

3. Many Catholics have imbibed their faith since childhood and therefore lack the fervency of new converts. It is noticeable that Noel, the most vocal Catholic poster on this board, had left his faith and then returned to it - hence his zeal is similar to that of evangelicals who mainly converted during youth or adulthood.

Were are all the Catholics gone....good question but first you have to ask why are they gone and not were. Seriously have you lived in Ireland the last few years, with all the crap the Catholic Chruch done on the people in this country you ask that question. The youth of today seen first hand what the chruch are capable of and me and the rest of my age bracket suffered at the hands of these so called men of God. Take for instance hiding all the pedo's around the world to avoid being locked up or charged, yes this is your church the lies and the constant denial of these sick twisted people they employed. Let it be Christian Brothers, Nuns or Priests I have had experiance with them all and I have no time for either of them. Our country is ruled by religion and it is now pulling away from it and we are liberated finally. Everything years ago in this country was based around the Chruch and how many roofs have there been events for...how many roofs do these chruches need and being the most powerful and richest religion in the world and preaching "God helps those who help theselves" why are they always asking for our help ?? and then we have the spread, enormous spread of HIV in Africa were the Chruch moved in and done it's preaching about sex and the no no on condoms, yes they helped these people but at what cost....to the world. I feel religion is dying out because more and more have had it with it, all it does it make you think there is something missing in your life and there isn't really. I grew up in the 80's in Ireland and while we were all starving the Chruch was eating great and still asking for money....is this greed ??? I think so. Forgive me for being blunt but for me there is GOD, we don't have to go to some place to pray to him ,after all is not Jesus who said Iam all around and you can pray to me when ever you want I will hear and why is the Chruch holding back on the gospel of Thomas ??? In his Gospel he has said the Jesus himself said not to build buildings in his or his Fathers name but to spread the word of God and love your fellow man. Not kill milions to take the Holy Land and anyone that doesn't believe kill them, are we forgetting that the Catholic Chruch has killed more people than Hitler and yet he was the most and still is the most evil person ever on the planet. And what about the Popes are we forgetting about the history of the Chruch. I believe all religions are praying to the same GOD they just got different messengers/profits and when you think about it all these Bibles were written by men and after the so called "profit" had died and does it seem strange that all the religions don't give women an inch in the books and women have still are feeling the effects of this in modern life.

kelly1 wrote: »

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ!

I often wonder that in a country which is supposedly mainly Catholic (86%?) that there are so few active Catholics on this forum!

I seem to be the only one around here actively advocating and defending Catholic teachings. There are many times when I could do with some moral support when "battling" with several Protestants/non-catholics.

Why is this?

I thought it might be a good idea to have a catholic sub-forum under Christianity but would there be any point?

I really think it's a poor reflection on Catholics at the end of the day. While I think that infant baptism is perfectly valid, being a sacrament, adult baptism has the advantage that the "candidate" has consciously made the decision to be a disciple of Christ. I feel that many Catholics don't appreciate their faith and fall away from the Church due to poor education/misunderstandings in/about the faith, bad and often unfair media, apathy and the usual worldly snares/lures.

So Catholics out there, why are you in hiding!? Come out and be counted!

(And I need more support )

God bless you all!
Noel.

PDN wrote: »

I'm not sure if moral teaching is the issue. After all, with the exception of the rules about contraception, evangelicals would adhere to the same morality as Catholics.

I think it may have much more to do with styles of music, buildings, preaching etc.

I still think that there should be a certain value placed on tradition. We need to relate to the story of Christ by being part of it's antiquity and rituals as well.

Although there has been new measures carried out by the Anglican Church in Ireland as of late to take stock of where the church should be going in the future, and how to gain interest among youths.

Jakkass wrote: »

I still think that there should be a certain value placed on tradition. We need to relate to the story of Christ by being part of it's antiquity and rituals as well.

Nothing wrong with tradition if that's what does it for you. However, I think most of the antiquity and rituals in churches relate more to a few centuries ago than to the story of Christ.

womoma wrote:

Another reason is that childhood indoctrination is on the decline as Ireland becomes a more cosmopolitan and secular country.

The churches influence on this country grows less and less by the day.

Personally, I am delighted to see the decline in both childhood indoctrination and church attendance.

I'm sorry womoma but I think this is rediculous.

Firstly, if one decides to bring up their child atheist it seems to be perfectly acceptable in this society, but if one wants to instill proper Christian values into a child it's "indoctrination". Parent's should have a right to do this. Tell me this, if you believed that your child would have to believe in Jesus Christ to have eternal life, you would try to do all you could to bring them to Christianity?

The churches influence is declining in some sectors, but Christianity is actually growing rapidly across the world. I believe some of the Pentecostal churches grew by 150% between 2002 and 2006 in Ireland. And the COI and other churches, and the RC Church are growing rapidly.

Actually you might be interested but the Economist magazine from about 3 weeks ago (3/11/2007) said that religion is very much on the increase and that the decline in Europe will end roughly around 2040. Christianity still expected to be top dog in 2050. Also something that might interest you. Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam will rise from 73% together in 2005, to 80% together in 2050 according to statistics.

Hopefully the churches influence will not decline for too long. How is church attendance harmful? Have you been to a church service recently? I can only speak from a COI perspective, but the RC Church seems relatively tame.