Mass Attendance and Compromised Moral Witness?

• "Mass attendance in parishes of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been dropping for years.... a 52% decline in typical church attendance in 28 years....the data suggest two significant factors: the clergy sexual abuse crisis [See also "Kicking Under the Bus."] and the closure of Catholic churches through parish mergers" (CatholicPhilly.com, 9/5/19). Aren't there less acknowledged (and unacknowledged) areas in which we have foregone credibility on our moral witness?
• ALLOWING THE BEAUTIFUL TRUTH OF GOD'S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE/FAMILY/SEXUALITY AND ITS INDISSOLUBILITY TO BECOME OBSCURED:
• "To love someone as Christ loves us means to love that person in the truth....The Catechism of the Catholic Church reflects this insistence on honesty, stating that the church’s message to the world must 'reveal in all clarity the joy and demands of the way of Christ'.... Father [James] Martin[, SJ] is correct to argue that there should not be any double standard with regard to the virtue of chastity.... For the unmarried—no matter their attractions—faithful chastity requires abstention from sex.... People who identify as members of the LGBT community are owed this truth in charity, especially from clergy who speak on behalf of the church about this complex and difficult topic" (Cardinal Robert Sarah, Wall Street Journal, 8/31/17)
• While this blogger is NOT a fan of Father James Martin, a de facto double standard indeed seems present in a Q/A with Father Kenneth Doyle, posted on CatholicPhilly.com on 8/7/17.  In this "how to file the right paperwork" approach, Father Doyle fails to remind his questioner that neither she nor her "ex" husband are free to pursue "marriage" with other partners!  
• "Church leaders, religious media personnel, and faithfully practicing older Catholics desperately need to go outside of the narrow circle of various Catholic media outlets to discover what tens of millions of Catholics, especially young adults, are really thinking about annulments" (Steve Wood, August 2014).
• Q and A with a Church tribunal judge (Leila Miller, 9/9/19)
• Pope Francis has streamlined the annulment process.  Pope Francis' annual addresses to the Roman Rota (i.e., the "Supreme Court," if you will, of Marriage Tribunals) seem to have differed in focus - at least somewhat - from his predecessors.
• In the annual addresses of Saint Pope John Paul II to the Roman Rota (17 Feb 1979; 4 Feb 1980; 24 Jan 1981; 28 Jan 1982; 26 Feb 1983; 26 Jan 1984; 30 Jan 1986; 5 Feb 1987; 25 Jan 1988; 26 Jan 1989; 18 Jan 1990; 28 Jan 1991; 23 Jan 1992; 29 Jan 1993; 28 Jan 1994; 10 Feb 1995; 22 Jan 1996; 27 Jan 1997; 17 Jan 1998; 21 Jan 1999; 21 Jan 2000; 1 Feb 2001; 28 Jan 2002; 30 Jan 2003; 29 Jan 2004; 29 Jan 2005), there appeared to be growing concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals.  This seemed to culminate in the Vatican's Dignitas Connubii of 2005. 
• Pope Emeritus  Benedict XVI's addresses to the Roman Rota seemed to echo JP II's concerns.


ALLOWING CERTAIN HOSPITALS TO CALL THEMSELVES, "CATHOLIC" (cf, The Updated Charter for Health Care Workers and Catholic hospitals in the Diocese of Trenton and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (9/6/19))
ALLOWING CERTAIN COLLEGES/ UNIVERSITIES TO CALL THEMSELVES, "CATHOLIC." 


• "Ilia Delio, a Franciscan sister who holds two PhDs and a chair in theology at Villanova University, told me AI [Artificial Intelligence] may also force a traditional religion like Catholicism to reimagine its understanding of human priests as divinely called and consecrated — a status that grants them special authority....'Take the Catholic Church. It’s very male, very patriarchal, and we have this whole sexual abuse crisis. So would I want a robot priest? Maybe!' she said. 'A robot can be gender-neutral. It might be able to transcend some of those divides and be able to enhance community in a way that’s more liberating'" (Vox, 9/9/19).  Ughhh!