Catholicism's Deadly Path to Obscurity

Of the major Christian faiths, Roman Catholicism is undergoing the biggest crisis brought on by modernity. As the largest global Christian organization it faces a wide range of problems because of its diversity. In Latin America the trend has been away from top-down rule that was the hallmark of the Catholic concept of government. The traditional ideology of the Church has always favored an hierarchical approach to both religion and state. The Latin dictatorships and intense poverty among the populace formed a dual edged sword putting the Roman Catholic Church in a very awkward position.

Liberation theology that emerged in the 1950s - 1980s challenged the Church in the same way that new age Jesus followers challenge the dominant Protestant sects: by holding up the words of Jesus as both their model and critique. The Church fought back strenuously as both its current and previous Popes openly criticized and condemned the movement as neo-marxian. Where the Church thought it had won the battle with the fall of socialism in the 1990s, it actually has emerged as the loser. Liberation theology has emerged as a social-democratic force and socialist leaning governments have sprung up throughout Latin America acquiring much of their support from those holding to liberation theology concepts. The Catholic Church has become increasingly defined as the conservative force in a progressively changing environment. Paradoxically, this conservatism has not produced a rise in secular opposition; but rather, a rise in evangelical Protestantism which is rising at a faster rate than the Catholic Church is declining, which is considerable. The populations of Latin America remain solidly Christian but no longer solidly Catholic. Since Latin America has traditionally been the Catholic Church's strongest region, this portends serious problems for its future.

Despite its problems in Latin America, the Catholic Church faces more immediate problems in the developed West. One of the characteristics of the Catholic Church has been its persistent opposition to change and modernization. As society became more literate and educated in the 19th century the Catholic Church became more conservative and dogmatic. In the late 19th century challenges to Christian doctrine produced the First Vatican Council and the doctrine of infallibility. The Catholic answer to the challenges of a literate populace was to assert that the Pope is never wrong and that issues of doctrine concerning faith or morals must be held by the whole Church.

The difficulties currently facing the Church did not arise because the Church became more conservative in a time of growing modernity. Rather, its problems have arisen precisely because it has attempted to change with the times but has done a poor job of it.

In 1951 Pope Pius XII openly accepted the concept of the Big Bang theory believing that it actually proved the existence of God. The Vatican's science advisor, Georges Lamaitre, who was influential in helping to develop the theory, advised the Pope privately that his whole-heartedly endorsement might prove problematic for the Church down the road. Pope Pius XII also accepted the possibility of evolution, even among different species, including man. Pope John Paul II would later expand upon this, putting the Catholic Church on the right side of science (to a point).

In the early 1960s Pope John XXIII convened the second Vatican Council which modernized and changed the Church more than at any time since the Reformation. The hope was that this new contemporized Church would become more relevant among the modern, educated societies of the West. In fact, the exact opposite has occurred. As Richard Dawkins sharply pointed out in reacting to Pope John Paul II's acceptance of evolution, science does not need the Catholic Church.

Since the Vatican Council II the Catholic Church has appeared to be on the wrong side of both morality and science. By continuing to oppose contraception, even in the face of the Aids epidemic, the Church has given the appearance of being out of touch with reality. In spite of the prohibitions, its followers use contraception, get divorced, support woman's rights, and have abortions at roughly the same levels as non-Catholics. This has created what critics call "cafeteria style Catholicism" where followers pick and choose what parts of faith they want to subscribe to. This has produced a steady and persistent decline in its influence and numbers. Since Vatican II the number of young men entering Catholic seminary schools has dropped by about 90 percent. About 15 percent of all U.S. parishes are without a priest and the number of priests aged 80 to 84 is greater than the number aged 30 to 34. In Western Europe these numbers are even worse. In 1980 the French Church had about 35,000 priests. It is presently about half this amount. This pattern is repeated at even greater numbers throughout Europe. One estimate of Catholic Church attendance in England and Wales predicts that it will reach zero by 2035.

The Church is being caught in a vice that it may not escape. Its membership is growing much older and poorer. This means less revenue for the Church and less new, invigorating blood.

In a strange way the Catholic Church has taken the same path as former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. In trying to modernize a dusty and decrepit institution he initiated a process that modernized himself right out of a job, taking that dusty institution with him. It appears the Catholic Church is morphing itself into irrelevancy.