Catholicism's Decline

According to Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II by Kenneth C. Jones, the Council of Vatican II has proved to be disastrous in its attempt to reconcile Catholicism and modernity. Jones' statistics illustrate Catholicism's decline in the United States since 1965:

» While the number of U.S. priests more than doubled to 58,000 between 1930 and 1965, it has since fallen to 45,000. By 2020, only 31,000 priests will be left, and more than half of them will be over 70.

» In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained in the U.S. In 2002, the number was 450. In 1965, only 1% of U.S. parishes were without a priest. Today, 3,000 parishes lack priests, 15% of all U.S. parishes.

» Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700, a decline of over 90%. Two-thirds of the 600 seminaries operating in 1965 have since closed.

» In 1965, there were 180,000 Catholic nuns, but now there are only 75,000—and their average age is 68. In 1965, there were 104,000 teaching nuns, and today, there are 8,200, a decline of 94%.

» Almost half of all Catholic high schools in the U.S. have closed since 1965, and student population has fallen from 700,000 to 386,000.

Though the number of U.S. Catholics has risen by 20 million since 1965, Jones' statistics show that the power of Catholic belief and devotion is not nearly what it was:

» Catholic marriages have declined by one-third since 1965, while annual annulments have soared from 338 in 1968 to 50,000 in 2002.

» A 1958 Gallup Poll reported that three out of four Catholics attended church on Sundays. Recently, the University of Notre Dame found that only one out of four now attend.

» Among Catholics:

. . . 53% believe one can have an abortion and remain a good Catholic.
. . . 65% believe that Catholics may divorce and remarry.
. . . 77% believe a good Catholic need not attend Sunday mass.

U.S. Religion

A Pew Global Attitudes Project analysis concludes that the United States is the most religious of the world's wealthy nations, and this trait makes it more akin to poorer countries than to other industrial societies. Wealthier nations tend to place less importance on religion, with the exception of the U.S. showing the powerful influence of the Catholic Church and her many daughters. Six out of 10 Americans say religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, making them about twice as religious as Canadians and far more inclined to faith than Western Europeans or Japanese. The study calls the contrasts "stark global regional divides." France is Western Europe's most secular public, and Czechoslovakia is its Eastern Europe counterpart, both with just 11 percent of citizens saying religion was "very" important. The English are Western Europe's most religious, with a third saying religion is very important. Even in heavily Catholic Italy, fewer than 30% say religion is vital, showing how secular it has become.

Natural Disasters

According to the German reinsurance company, Muenchener Rueck, material damage caused by natural disasters reached record levels last year. Approximately 700 catastrophes, mainly storms and floods, resulted in damages costing just under $55 billion. This is an increase of 57% over 2001, due in large part to the extensive flooding in central Europe. At least 11,000 people lost their lives last year due to natural disasters—only half of the casualties of 2001, as 2002 earthquakes were not nearly as devastating. The worst tremors left 2,000 people dead in Afghanistan, while earthquakes in India in 2001 killed approximately 20,000.

U.S. Military

No country since Rome has possessed America's dominance. The United States plus its allies and friends account for approximately 80% of all military spending in the world. The U.S. spends as much as the next eight countries combined, six of which are allies. However, the Pentagon is planning a $14 billion increase in military spending for 2004, on top of the extra $34.4 billion recently approved for 2003. That was the largest hike in two decades, but the administration originally proposed a $46 billion increase—more than any nation other than Russia devotes to the military.

Education

A study by Zogby International concludes that today's college seniors have no better grasp of general knowledge than did high school graduates of the 1950s. Stephen H. Balch, President of the National Association of Scholars (NAS), notes that the high school grads of the '50s performed better than today's college seniors on history questions, while contemporary students fared better in art and literature, with no appreciable difference in geography. The questions asked were virtually the same as those posed by the Gallup Organization in 1955, though a few were slightly modified to reflect history. The NAS study raises questions about the caliber of general education offered in high schools, colleges, and universities. Balch says, "It probably has a lot to do with the dumbing down of curriculum, both at the college and high school level. It looks good, certainly, to say 'more people are graduating from college,' but is there any real intellectual yield from it?"