- WaPo Confused Why It’s Bad If Catholic Priests Use Hookup Apps (Federalist, 3/11/23)
- BREAKING: 300th Catholic Church Attacked Since 2020 (CatholicVote org, 3/13/23)
"Pope Francis was elected to the papacy 10 years ago, on March 13, 2013. How has the worldwide Catholic Church changed since then?
"Statistically speaking, the Church has grown, keeping pace with and even exceeding overall world population growth....
"Despite this increase, the Church performed 2 million fewer baptisms in 2020 than in 2013. The number of marriages declined by 702,246, or nearly a third. Confirmations and first Communions also dropped by 12% and 13%, respectively, despite relatively stable levels of Mass attendance in the world’s 13 most Catholic countries....
“Despite overall growth in the number of Catholics worldwide, that growth has not been evenly distributed. Overall, Africa has a higher baptism rate than Europe and a far higher rate of Mass attendance in countries with large Catholic populations. Another recent analysis by CARA found that Nigeria, Kenya, and Lebanon have the highest proportion of Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more, with Nigeria as the clear leader. Ninety-four percent of Catholics in Nigeria say they attend Mass at least weekly. In Kenya, the figure was 73%, and in Lebanon it was 69%. In comparison, countries like Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are all under 15%.
"In addition, Africa bucks the trend of declining vocations by showing an increase in seminarians and religious brothers, according to the 2021 Vatican statistics. Africa also saw the only increase in seminarians and religious brothers across the globe from 2020-2021, at 0.6%. The number of religious brothers in Africa increased by 2.2% during the same time frame....
"the number of diocesan priests in the U.S. dropped 8% from 2013 to 2021. There are 27% fewer sisters, 19% fewer brothers, and 15% fewer religious priests compared with a decade ago, though the number of permanent deacons has increased slightly, by 3%. Gray said the United States disproportionately relies on immigrant priests to address its own shortages" (Catholic World Report, 3/13/23)
- Mercy was also quite present in the papacies of John Paul II (see his Dives in Misericordia i.e., “Rich in Mercy”) and of Benedict XVI (“Mercy is in reality the core of the Gospel message; it is the name of God Himself, the face with which He reveals Himself in the Old Testament and fully in Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of creative and redemptive love.’). But in the past ten years, it has morphed into something else: 'inclusion' and 'openness,' in the current secular not their authentic Christian meanings – contrary to historic Christianity....the Francis Effect has resulted in a Church that has not, as hoped, attracted people from outside and has left those within even more confused and divided" (First Things, 3/13/23).
Woke Priorities Borrowed Trouble for Belly-Up Bank (Washington Stand, 3/13/23)
Oscar For Best Actor Goes To Volodymyr Zelensky (Babylon Bee, 3/13/23 [satire])
"In Nigeria, Christians face unthinkable horrors at the hands of jihadist militant groups. Christians are gunned down as they worship; pastors are burned in their homes. Last year in Nigeria alone, 4,020 Christians were killed and another 2,300 were abducted, including defenseless children.
"In Afghanistan, the Taliban is directly telling Christians, 'We will find you and we will kill your entire family.' It has been ranked the #1 worst country for Christians in the entire world. The Taliban is responsible for "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments" of Christians, while ISIS-K violently attacks churches" (ACLJ, 3/14/23).
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