Stop Complaining

and suggest some solutions. Which is what Sherry W has done in her four-part analysis of our culture and the RCIA. It's excellent. Have a read:

Whither RCIA? Part Four: Some Beginning Steps:

First, we make disciples in the inquiry period Then we form and catechize those disciples in the catechumenate.

[snip] 5) Resist the temptation to move people into the formal catechumenate prematurely.

[snip] 6) Make sure all the members of your RCIA team and all your sponsors are intentional disciples.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Intentional Disciples.)

My Soap Box

includes, metaphorically, the meaning, purpose, effectiveness of RCIA and how this squares with the Church's own nature and her intent for this process. So the beginning of an interesting series of blogs on RCIA caught my eye. But one quote in particular hit a nerve for me:

Whither RICA? Part One:

(Since the majority of those who enter the Church through RCIA leave the practice of the faith within a year...

Read the whole thing.

(Via Intentional Disciples.)

Internet Courses

have their place in our modern world. It's good to hear that one is being offered for Catholics wanting to share the Gospel Message:

Evangelization Training for Catholics: Learn to Share the Authentic Gospel Message!:

The Authentic Gospel Message In the Fullness of the Catholic Tradition Developed and Taught by Aimee M. Cooper, M.A. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel.. .. For I did not receive it from man...

Read the whole thing.

(Via New Advent World Watch.)

Homiletic & Pastoral Review | The U.S. religious landscape survey | By Joseph A. Sirba

Further grist for my mill:

Homiletic & Pastoral Review | The U.S. religious landscape survey | By Joseph A. Sirba:

From May 8 to August 13, 2007, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life surveyed over 35,000 adults in an effort to learn more about current religious beliefs and practices within the United States. The first report on survey findings, entitled U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, was released on February 25, 2008. This one hundred and forty page report (including appendices) contains numerous tables and comments on the current state of religious beliefs and practices in the United States. It also contains interesting figures on how the religious landscape in the United States has been changing in recent years and how various denominations are either growing or shrinking.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Insight Scoop.)

Catholics and catholics

I've progressed in my thinking about catholics and voting to the point where I have identified four categories of catholics: Nominal, Unchurched, Weekly and Observant. Nominal catholics self-identify for polling purposes and are probably canonically Catholic (i.e., baptized). But they do not participate in the Liturgy of the Church, even at Christmas. Unchurched catholics haven't attended Liturgy "within the past six months 'excluding special services such as Easter, Christmas, weddings or funerals'". Weekly Catholics attend Mass every or almost every Sunday, but routinely miss all or most all Holy Days of Obligation. Observant Catholics attend every or almost every Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation. (This last are a "grave obligation" for the Faithful and, thus, potential matter for a mortal sin.)

I'm not sure what the relative sizes of the four groups are. Between a quarter and almost a half of catholics attend weekly Mass. Being a pessimist by habit, I tend to believe the first number. Christmas swells the attendance considerably--from four Masses more than half full to at least six Masses, two or more of which are standing room only. Holy Days of Obligation, reduce the attendance to half or less of regular Sunday attendance (That's a week after Christmas, here in Canada; the feast of Mary, Mother of God.).

From these numbers I guestimate that of people self-identifying as catholic, 10% are Observant, 15% Weekly, 30% Unchurched and 45% Nominal. This isn't a simple grade from "best" to "worst". For one thing, the Catholics who are causing the most scandal in the Church in the last few decades (Professor Kmiec and catholic priestesses, for example) almost surely fall into the Observant category. Attendance at Mass isn't an indication of "thinking with the Church".

What does any of that mean? I'm not sure. But it seems that evangelization and catechesis are the answers to the scandal of catholics voting for an extremely pro-abortion candidate, when moral alternatives exist. And each group broadly considered has specific needs: Evangelization for the Nominal and the Unchurched; Catechesis for the Weekly and the Observant.

Here's a start on that project:

Reaching Inactive Catholics: For those of you interested in evangelization, I'd like to recommend this upcoming on-line offering by the Paulist National Evangelistic Association.

Keys to Reaching Inactive Catholics (January 2009)

Read the whole thing.

(Via Intentional Disciples.)