Yet again the Catholic Church shows it's disdain & disregard for the people. While the Pope surrounded by opulance declares untold wealth is a sin for an individual under his guidance the American clergy continues to provide less by closing churches & schools they escalate the shrinkage. Choosing the bottom line rather than continued service to the community shows why other religious organizations are continually gaining new members. Other churches choose to go into any area, start with nothing but hard work, dedication & service to woo a community into it's meetings & by commitment eventually gaining their trust & support. At this rate Catholicism will soon join the Mythrans, Greeks, Romans & Egyptians in the history of extinct religions.

ummmm....it takes money to keep these churches and schools up and running. When you have less parishoners you have less in the collection plate. Demographics come into play. People move. The diocese can only give so much to help a struggling parish.

Thats not to say the priests who are running them are not entirely to blame. The trend seems to be
the more watered down the faith is, the less young people you attact. And young people are whats needed
to make the church continue to exist. young people like myself don't want watered down faith and "happy clappy Jesus Rocks!!" liturgy.

The Catholic church will not disappear. Although I know there are rabid haters of the Catholic church who would love nothing better for it to go away.

__________________
Don't Taze Me Bro!![/size]


I love how some enlightened liberals have no problem censoring those with whom they disagree.

G.K. Chesterton quotes:

“I want a Church that moves the world, not one that moves with it.”

“I often find myself in hot water but that way I stay clean.”

“Only a live fish can swim against the current, the dead go with it.”

"Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural"

"Be careful not to be so open-minded that your brains fall out."

GOOD!

If you believe in a DENOMINATION that consistently, steals and lies to you, HIDES secrets in the bowels of its headquarters, rapes your children and makes up laws for you to follow that God didnt write in the Bible and who doesnt follow those laws themselves, then go ahead and be sad the Catholic Church is going bye byes..

Me?
Im happy about it!
I was raised Catholic and when I was 15 RENOUNCED Catholicism and its false Idols and became an Anabaptist...

preesi,
Jesus said "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the GATES of HELL shall not prevail against it." That IS in the bible! Despite its shortcomings, and there are many, I admit, because it is a DIVINE institution run by and for HUMANS, The Catholic Church is not going to disappear. Hopefully, you will find your way back to us someday.
Peace!

Catholicism is an OFFSHOOT of Christianity, its not Christianity!

To be a Christian you dont need a POPE, a NUN, a PREIST or Saints or Interceders.
God doesnt require celebacy or funny hats or GOLD or anything else, but LOVE, FAITH and THE BIBLE...

You are just hostile, so there's no use trying to talk with you. But we are NOT an offshoot of "Christianity". Catholicism was the original, the others are imitations.
I wish you peace.

Christianity is the RELIGION
Catholicism is a DENOMINATION
Catholicism is NOT a religion...

Which see:

religious denomination
For other senses of this word, see denomination.
A religious denomination (also simply denomination) is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.
The term is frequently used to describe various Christian denominations (for example, Eastern Orthodox, Catholicism, and the many varieties of Protestantism or Restorationism). It is also used to describe the four branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist), and (less often, though it would not be inappropriate) to describe the two main branches of Islam (Sunni and Shia).
In Hinduism the major deity or philosophical belief functions as the identifier of a denomination and typically each has distinct cultural and religious practices. The major denominations include Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, Smartism, and Halumatha.

Authority of denominations

Denominations usually have a significant degree of authority over their member congregations, although the term is also used to describe religious groups when the congregations have authority over the "denomination", such as Congregationalist church governance such as the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ and the numerous Baptist associations.

Formation of denominations

Denominations often form slowly over time for many reasons; due to historical accidents of geography, culture, and influence between different groups, members of a given religion slowly begin to diverge in their views. Over time members of a religion may find that they have developed significantly different views on theology, philosophy, religious pluralism, ethics and religious practices and rituals. As such, in any of myriad ways, different denominations eventually form. In other cases, denominations form very rapidly, either as a result from a split or schism in an existing denomination, or as people from many different denominations share an experience of spiritual revival or spiritual awakening, and choose to form a new denomination based on that new experience or understanding.

Examples

An example within Christianity is the Mennonite and the Church of the Brethren denominations. Both denominations are similar in their beliefs, yet they are unique because their traditions were influenced by different founders (Menno Simons and Alexander Mack respectively). Their division is administrative, and there is much communication and interaction between the two. Since its founding, the Mennonite denomination has split into a number of smaller Mennonite denominations, because of both geography and social and theological differences.
Another example is the Lutheran Church. When Martin Luther protested practice of the Catholics, he and his followers were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church as heretics and ended up forming alternative communities of practice that expressed Luther's understanding of proper church practice that became known as "Lutheran" or "Protestant." Over time, the various churches considering themselves Lutheran identified with one another and through various definitions of "Lutheran" practices (Heidelberg Catechism, five solas, priesthood of all believers) the conglomerations of churches formed concrete denominations based on a common or school of thought related to these practices. Even today there are major ideological differences between different denominations of Lutherans, even though there may be significant overlap between their beliefs and almost no physical hostility.

I suggest reading the entire chapter. "Thou art Peter" (stone or pebble) and upon this rock (large piece as a boulder) I will build my church." I know that's what Catholics believe (used to be one). But Christ was referring to Peter's previous statement, "Thou art the Christ; the chosen one." The "rock" was not a man. It was the man's statement of faith; his recognition of Christ as God.

Why is this thread here? How do I get this thread out of the Burbs? This is suppose to concentrate on the Burbs! If you want to have these discussions, I suggest you all go to Catholic Answers http://forums.catholic.com/ and do it on their forum. Jeez!!

The great and mysterious Byzentine Orthodox Church just called; they'd like a word with you.

The Patriarch also said that he'd be happy to welcome you all back into the fold if the Bishop of Rome repents his heresies and stops using that pagan title (Pontifex Maximus).