The State of the Catholic Church Today

The Catholic Church faces challenges aplenty in this century. How it deals with them will determine if it will continue to stay relevant.

Throughout history, the Church has always fought back and flourished when challenged. Now though, observers see neither a fightback nor a flourishing community. The faith plays less of a role in the lives of the flock than ever before. Catechesis is inadequate, and the average Catholic's knowledge of scripture is paltry. This disconnect is evident in the values practiced by most Catholics.

Most Catholics lack an active community life in their local churches. Fellowship and cohesion are lacking in the twenty-first century. Every Catholic seems an island separated from the larger community.

Another challenge for the Church is a mindset of materialism. To be honest, this is a challenge facing all organized religion. Our era measures success by material wealth rather than by the practice of virtue. We observe this mindset in many pastors. They prioritize  church infrastructure over the spiritual growth of their flock.

Many Catholics hesitate to defend the Catholic stance on hot-button social issues. Too many dissenting voices from within the Church weaken official Church positions. This confuses non-Catholics about the doctrines of the Church. Some Catholics feel the need to move on with the prevailing social currents. This is a result of improper or inadequete catechesis. Such subjectivism is a major challenge to Catholic thought.

Catholics, like the rest of society, are always in a hurry for results. The value of sacrifice and mortification is not recognized anymore. We seek immediate results and  rewards for our spiritual endeavors. The virtue of patience is absent from most of our lives.

The formation of many seminarians is inadequate. Pastors spew new-fangled theories and doctrines from the pulpit. Many are more interested in being people-pleasing performers than in defending church teaching.

Catholic communities and parishes around the world need to go back to the basics. They need to rediscover the essence of their faith. Unless that happens, the free-fall will continue.

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Copyright © 2017  Rohan Rinaldo Felix