The Decline of Catholicism

Is there anything as dismal, discouraging and depressing as the downward tragectory of Catholic practice over the last half century? I think not! This is a big deal: the world in which I was raised (1947-65)...vigorous, prosperous, confident, expansive, fecund, urban, ethnic American Catholicism...has been in steady, inexorable decline for over 50 years. That marvelous world has died...is still dying...will die. Very sad! I entertain at least four distinct, interacting and competing responses to this catastrophic development. First, I grieve. I am absolutely and unapologetically nostalgic about that Camelot period. It was a marvelous time to be Catholic, American, young. Persons and communities do enjoy such "Camelot periods": classically, the few years of the Kennedy presidency; my wife's childhood at The Lake; myfirst years of marriage; my last two years of college seminary; the earhy years of Catholic charismatic renewal; our family trip to Ireland; my Camino in Spain. I could go on. Liberals will allege that those years were not so good for non-white, non-males, etc. That is not my view. Economically the black family was strong and stable in that period, compared with consequent development, and economically rising steadily, despite the persistance of Jim Crow and racial barriers. The women in my world were serene and happy raising large families; some not so happy worked as single women, but they didn't rage against the glass ceiling! Down-to-earth working class, they rejoiced to be happily out of the Depression and the War, calmly accepted the sadness that men who would have married them had died in the war, enjoyed their faith and nephews/nieces, and breathed serenely free of the ambitions, pressures and pretensions of careerism, meritocracy and affluence that afflicted suceeding femininist generations. Well...it was a wonderful time! Not perfect; but solid and happy. It must be grieved. Jesus promised that our grief would turn to joy but he does not shortcircuit the grief. I am well into about four decades of processing the grief. I am better now. About 20 years ago I developed a habit of visiting Maryknoll NY where I would see the photos of ordinations classes 1950-65 of 40-50 men; pictures of socceer fields and handball courts overflowing with athletic, energetic men in their 20. Recent ordination classes: sometimes one, sometimes none. A sad nostalgia would fill me. That is lessened; but returns when I read about Ireland. Secondly, I offer myself a consoling counternarrtive: maybe it is not as bad as it looks. We cannot trust numbers after all, especially in regard to the hidden things of the spirit. I recall a conversation about 40 years ago in the heyday of the charismatic movement and my friend Vic was waxing eloquently in his "witness": how bad he had been, what happened to him, and how much better he became. A seasoned 12-step pastor, Fr. John O'Brien quietly suggested: "Maybe you were not as bad as you think; maybe you are not as good as you think." The thought has always remained with me. So: maybe we were not as good as I recall and as the numbers suggest; maybe we are not as bad as it seems. One study indicated that in any given generation about one fifth are ardent in the faith; the rest largely indifferent, whether or not they are going through the steps. So, Catholic faith in 2021 may be as good or better that 50 years earlier: more sincere, less hypocricy, and so forth. Furthermore, the genuine good of the 50s cannot have vanished overnight in the turmult of the late 50s; and the disorder of that period did not come out of nowhere but was already percolating, if less overtly.Thirdly, I do not believe in any linear progression through history. I never liked Teihard's evolutionarism and I warmly embraced Raymond Nogar's dramatic alternative. Nor do I believe in the secularization theory by which society progresses to become more and more secular. Harvey Cox's Secular City, fabulously popular in 1965 was rejected by Cox himself just a few years later in light of the flourishing of all forms of religiosity. So, the health of religion is more nuanced and complicated than the numbers might suggest. The flourishing of various renewal movements is particularly heartening. Lastly: the dramatic nature of the present. Comparisons with past and future are not as significant as confronting the "dramatic now"...the challenge of the eventful present. Every generation, every era, every person and every day brings a dramatic crisis, an opportunity and a danger, a challenge to heroism and a temptation to cowardice. This is the intuition of Von Balthasar's Theology of Drama. Ralph Martin, otherwise a harsh critic of the great Swiss theologian, has remarked that the Bible anticipates two events before the second coming of Christ: the great apostasy and the release of the power of evil. Ralph properly says that he does not know when the second coming will be but that we are currently facing the drama of a great apostasy within Christianity and an explosion of evil in so many dimensions. Nostalgia for the 50s does not help us to fact the eventful present. Ours is to embrace the grace of God at work; renounce the evil present; and live in Hope. What was best in the 50s will live forever. This is a cause of joy.