Allie Beth Stuckey@conservmillen
The popular narrative is that Catholicism is booming, but this is not true.
According to Pew, for every 1 person joining the RCC, 8 people are leaving. This has worsened since 2014, when for every 1 person that joined, 6 people left. This study that has been cited by Catholic sources, too, who are willing to honestly face the position the Catholic Church is now in.
Here’s how the Catholic editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine puts it:
“Perhaps the most stunning finding in the survey is that for every 100 people who join the Catholic Church, 840 leave. So when you rejoice seeing folks become Catholic at Easter (which you should), remember that more than 8 people have left by the back door for each one who’s come in the front.
No other religion has nearly as bad of a join/leave ratio. For every 100 people that become Protestant, 180 leave. That’s bad, but it’s not Catholic bad. Conversely, for every 100 people who leave the religious “nones” (i.e., they join a religion), a full 590 become part of that irreligious cohort.
Where are the former Catholics going? Of all the former Catholics, 56% become religious “nones” and 32% become Protestant. I think we all know from personal experience that these numbers ring true. What Catholic doesn’t have family members who have become Protestant or have stopped practicing any religion? It’s just part of being an American Catholic these days.”
Catholic apologist Trent Horn published an insightful video 4 months ago about this undeniable trend. “Protestantism is winning,” he says. Of course, he doesn’t mean that he believes we have the correct views, but, he points out: “Of the major religious groups in America, Protestantism is seeing the least decline.”
This is a global reality: For example, there has been a major religious shift toward Protestantism in South America over the past 3 decades. A continent that was almost entirely Catholic is now 20% Protestant. More than 1/3 of South American Protestants were raised Catholic before making the switch. The reasons for conversion cited were: “seeking a personal connection with God,” wanted a “church that helps members now,” “wanted greater emphasis on morality,” among others.
There are many Catholics who have analyzed this unarguable shift, noting that the embrace of Marxism & liberation theology by much of the RCC in 19th & 20th century led to a weakened church. That’s a good lesson for us all, btw.
But it’s also because evangelicals are—well— evangelical. According to Pew, in every South American country, self-identifying Prots are far more likely to share their faith than Catholics. For example, in Peru, 38% of Protestants say they share their faith at least once a week compared to just 7% of Catholics.
I would think Catholics would want to face this reality, and I believe many do. But it’s hard to understand the need to highlight a trend that doesn’t actually exist.
I am sure this post will elicit no angry or unreasonable replies! ;)
I’ll post some screenshots of sources below.
