Maybe people are leaving religion behind because they are (subconsciously) realizing that if God made such a shitty world, why worship him?

(July 2, 2025 at 9:07 pm)Ahriman Wrote: Maybe people are leaving religion behind because they are (subconsciously) realizing that if God made such a shitty world, why worship him?

That's certainly a part of it, though that sentiment has only been allowed to flourish in recent times. We all have this sense that this world is a bit broken and we probably could have done better than this.

Irish people are having fantasies about the Catholic Church that is scaring the priests.

Quote:When Ireland Erases Its Catholic Inheritance

The findings of a recent survey commissioned by Ireland’s Iona Institute for Religion and Society have shed new light on attitudes there toward religion and the Catholic Church. The results are revealing. Sixty-one percent of respondents describe themselves as “religious and/or spiritual,” but only 16 percent are regular Mass-goers. (A higher number, 18 percent, have a positive view of astrology.) Half of adults pray, while three in ten meditate. But one finding stands out for its admirably brutal clarity. Participants in the survey were asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement: “I would be happy if the Catholic Church disappeared from Ireland completely.” Twenty-five percent answered “agree.”

In other words, one in four of the Irish (about 1.3 million people) walk around wishing to see the Catholic Church not simply further weakened or diminished, but wiped out.

A desire like this does not, of course, simply sit passively in human hearts awaiting the day of its fulfillment. It will seek laws and regulations to hasten the time of the Church’s final disappearance. Its blast will be felt in exhortations to withdraw all support for the outdated institution.

https://firstthings.com/when-ireland-era...heritance/

Good riddance. It certainly doesn't help that they are evil bigots who fire teachers if they are gay or have an abortion or have children out of wedlock and other nonsense.

Quote:4 more N.J. Catholic schools just shut down forever. See the full list of recent closures.

It was a poignant but proud farewell to a Catholic high school that endured for exactly a century in Essex County.

It joins a growing list of Catholic schools across the country closing their doors, including at least three others this year in New Jersey. Most closed as enrollment declined and financial pressures mounted.

The three other Catholic schools in New Jersey that closed in June were: Aquinas Academy in Livingston; Visitation Academy in Paramus; and Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood.

More than 30 other Catholic schools have closed aince 2020 in New Jersey in a broader national trend that has vexed church officials and educators for years.

The all-girls Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi closed after 108 years in June 2023, three years after its most celebrated alum, “Snow White” actress Rachel Zegler, received her diploma.

There were 5,852 U.S. Catholic schools in operation during the 2024-25 academic year, down from 5,905 the prior year and approximately 11,000 in 1970, according to the National Catholic Education Association.

Nationwide, enrollment increased in 2022 for the first time in two decades, but has since leveled off.

Some schools that closed have found ways to continue under different setups. In some cases they have reopened as independent schools or charter schools.

https://www.nj.com/education/2025/07/4-m...sures.html

German bishops brace for budgetary blow amid financial crisis

The Catholic Church in Germany is facing a cascading financial crisis as declining revenues force dioceses nationwide to implement drastic spending cuts, with one diocese projecting a staggering deficit of over 100 million euros (about $117 million) by 2035.

The Diocese of Limburg — led by the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing — recorded its first annual deficit of 810,000 euros (about $937,000) in 2024.

Only recently, however, the German Church was awash with cash. Church tax revenue peaked at 6.76 billion euros (about $7.92 billion) in 2019, up by more than 100 million euros on the previous year, despite a record exodus of 272,771 Catholics that same year.

The windfall reflected Germany’s robust pre-pandemic economy, which temporarily masked structural weaknesses now coming sharply into view.

The financial crisis increasingly reflects the reality in the pews, namely, a precipitous decline in German Catholic membership and practice.

For the first time, the number of Catholics in Germany has dropped below 20 million, with a total of 19,769,237 recorded in 2024 — a decrease of more than 576,000 from the previous year. Catholics now represent less than a quarter of Germany’s population of 83.6 million.

Even more striking is the collapse in active faith practice. Only 6.6% of German Catholics — just over 1.3 million people — regularly attend Sunday Mass, meaning less than 2% of the entire German population participates in weekly Catholic worship.

The Church in Germany recorded more than 321,000 formal resignations in 2024, compared with approximately 6,600 new members and readmissions.

The spending has proven particularly contentious, given that the Catholic Church in Germany is funded by both state payments and a mandatory church tax — 8% to 9% of income tax for registered Catholics — making it one of the world’s richest Catholic institutions.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/...etary-blow