Pope says churches in West look to be dying

[StColette]

By Robin Pomeroy

ROME (Reuters) - Mainstream churches in the West appear to be dying as societies that are increasingly secular see less need for God, Pope Benedict said in comments published on Wednesday.

His outlook was even glummer than that of his predecessor John Paul, who lamented the decline of faith in the developed world and said it explained the Catholic Church's struggle with falling attendance in the West in recent years.

Benedict said many developing countries were, by contrast, enjoying a "a springtime for faith."

"It is different in the Western world, a world which is tired of its own culture, a world which is at the point where there's no longer evidence for a need of God, even less of Christ," he told a meeting of clergy in the Italian Alps where he is on holiday.

"The so-called traditional churches look like they are dying," he said, according to a text published by Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano.

Participation at Sunday Mass in some developed countries was as low as 5 percent, a recent Vatican report said.

A combination of an increasingly secular mentality and the lure of more simplistic sects was challenging the relevance of the Church, especially in Europe, Australia and, to a lesser extent, the United States, the 78-year-old Pope said.

"The Catholic Church is not doing as badly as the big Protestant Churches but naturally it shares the problem of this moment in history."

The Pope blamed a change in social attitudes in the 1960s for the Church's decline in the West, referring to what he termed a "second enlightenment" of 1968, the year of the so-called 'summer of love' and student and worker protests.

There was no easy solution for the Church, he said, but people needed to see that they could not turn away from God.

"There's no system for a rapid change. We need to get through this tunnel with patience in the certainty that Christ is the answer and, in the end, he will shine his light once again."

[inDEED]

Sad...but oh so true...

[Didacus]

I trust in the Papa, I trust in the holiness of the Church, and I trust in Jesus our Savior.

The church shall not die, the faithfuls will forever remain. Those who leave the church and their faith are those in need of prayers.

The outlook is very grim, true. But we need to hold to our faith, and weather this sotrm. The culture of death cannot maintain itself, and will not survive. The church will remain long after they will have disapeared, and this moment in history will serve as a testament to the churche's superior morality in the face of liberism theology.

the battle will be long, but will never be lost. Have faith, have hope. Everything will be fine in the end.

[Noel's angel]

it goes in circles really

[Carnanc]

The Church will always be a great light to our society, even when attendence is falling. Even amoung those who oppose religion, I think that the Church is still attractive in a deeper way, that people feel a need to oppose it. God has big plans for His Church in the United States. As history shows, the Church will endure.

[kateri05]

its just more incentive to evangelize and spread the Gospel! i'm not worried, PapaB is at the helm! :

[photosynthesis]

yet another reason to get out the Rosaries and pray

[photosynthesis]

yet another reason to get out the Rosaries and pray