Canada set to lose 9,000 churches in the next decade, roughly a third of all faith-owned buildings in the country
In rural areas, congregations are shrinking as members age or move away. In cities, the increasing secularization of society coupled with new spiritual practices has cut into traditional Christian church attendance. Even rising immigration hasn't been enough to offset the trend. With fewer people in the pews, and less money in the coffers, rising maintenance costs on old buildings have overwhelmed many congregations.
In eastern New Brunswick, for example, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese has predicted 20 of its 53 parishes will likely close if congregations can't find a way to generate more money.
Likewise, more than 30 of 54 Catholic churches near Montreal were slated for closure in a 2018 report by the Diocese of St-Jérôme, with local congregations now crunching the numbers to determine their fate.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/losing-ch...-1.5046812
In rural areas, congregations are shrinking as members age or move away. In cities, the increasing secularization of society coupled with new spiritual practices has cut into traditional Christian church attendance. Even rising immigration hasn't been enough to offset the trend. With fewer people in the pews, and less money in the coffers, rising maintenance costs on old buildings have overwhelmed many congregations.
In eastern New Brunswick, for example, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese has predicted 20 of its 53 parishes will likely close if congregations can't find a way to generate more money.
Likewise, more than 30 of 54 Catholic churches near Montreal were slated for closure in a 2018 report by the Diocese of St-Jérôme, with local congregations now crunching the numbers to determine their fate.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/losing-ch...-1.5046812
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"