Catholic News 2
This time, France was supposed to have been better prepared....
NICE, France (AP) -- France's interior minister boosted security measures across the country late Saturday, calling upon thousands of reservists to help after facing severe criticism for alleged police and security failures in the deadly Bastille Day truck attack in Nice....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump presented running mate Mike Pence to the nation Saturday, hailing the Indiana governor as his "first choice" and "my partner in the campaign." But he left no doubt in a sometimes awkward event that Pence's role will surely be as sidekick to the businessman-turned-reality-star-turned-politician at the top of the ticket....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In business and politics, Donald Trump likes to go with his gut. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate appears to be a lesson in what happens when he doesn't....
Munich, Germany, Jul 16, 2016 / 07:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Figures released Friday by the German bishops' conference draw a bleak picture of the ongoing decline of Catholicism in Germany.However, the head of the conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, described the Church July 15 as a continuing "strong force, whose message is heard and accepted".With more than 23.7 million members in Germany, Catholicism is the largest single religious group in country, comprising 29 percent of the population. Yet people are leaving the Church in droves: in 2015, a total of 181,925 people departed.By comparison, 2,685 people became Catholic, and 6,474 reverted to Catholicism. Whilst the German bishops' conference emphasised that baptisms and marriages showed a slight increase as compared to the year before, the actual long-term figures describe a steep downward trend.When compared to the official statistics of ten years ago, the number of baptisms has decli...
Munich, Germany, Jul 16, 2016 / 07:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Figures released Friday by the German bishops' conference draw a bleak picture of the ongoing decline of Catholicism in Germany.
However, the head of the conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, described the Church July 15 as a continuing "strong force, whose message is heard and accepted".
With more than 23.7 million members in Germany, Catholicism is the largest single religious group in country, comprising 29 percent of the population. Yet people are leaving the Church in droves: in 2015, a total of 181,925 people departed.
By comparison, 2,685 people became Catholic, and 6,474 reverted to Catholicism.
Whilst the German bishops' conference emphasised that baptisms and marriages showed a slight increase as compared to the year before, the actual long-term figures describe a steep downward trend.
When compared to the official statistics of ten years ago, the number of baptisms has declined by more than a third, from almost 260,000 babies baptized in 1995 to just over 167,000 in 2015. The situation is even worse for marriages. Eleven years ago, 86,456 couples tied the knot in Church. Last year, the number was down by almost half: In a nation of 80 million people, only 44,298 couples were married in the Church last year.
Further official numbers confirm this precipitous decline: average church attendance is down from 18.6 percent in 1995 to 10.4 percent in 2015.
The number of people departing the Church has increased within the same timeframe, having peaked in recent years at more than 200,000 annually.
No numbers are provided by the German episcopate about how many Catholics went to confession last year. However, a recent academic study of the priesthood in Germany showed that even amongst the clergy, more than half – 54 percent – go to confession only "once a year or less". Amongst pastoral assistants, a staggering 91 percent responded that they receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation once a year or less.
Despite these alarming numbers, the head of the bishops' conference issued an upbeat appraisal of the situation: "The statistics show that the Church in Germany continues to be a strong force, whose message is heard and accepted. There obviously not only is an interest in, but also an active desire for the sacraments of the Church, as the slight increase of baptisms and marriages proves", Cardinal Marx said in a statement issued by the German bishops' conference.
Acknowledging the high numbers of people leaving the Church, the head of the German bishops' conference said: "We need a 'sophisticated pastoral practice' that does justice to the diverse lifeworlds of people and convincingly passes on the hope of the Faith. The conclusion of last year's synod of bishops and the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia by Pope Francis are important signposts."
"Pope Francis gives us courage", the Archbishop of Munich and Freising continued, "when he tells us that the way of the future Church is the way of a 'synodal church'. That means: All faithful are called upon, laypeople and priests! Together we will continue to give convincingly witness to our Faith and the Gospel."
In fact, Pope Francis issued a scathing analysis of the decline of the Catholic faith in Germany since the 1960s on the occasion of the German bishops' ad limina visit in 2015, calling on the bishops to re-introduce people to the Eucharist and Confession during the Year of Mercy, to take on the new evangelization, to strengthen the role of priests, and to protect unborn life.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos got to live out every Trekkie's fantasy by playing an alien in the new "Star Trek" movie....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Two years after the chokehold death of Eric Garner made "I can't breathe" a rallying cry for protests over police killings of black men, federal authorities are still grappling with whether to prosecute the white officer seen on a widely watched video wrapping his arm around Garner's neck....
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A New Hampshire woman is free after serving a three-year prison sentence for luring a co-worker to her apartment in 2012 as a sex offering to her domineering boyfriend, then helping him dispose of the co-worker's body after authorities say he strangled and raped the woman....
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman and his re-election team have been beating the bushes and sifting through reams of data for more than a year....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump was "pro-choice in every respect," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence compared abortion to the tragedy of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks....
