I am one of those people identified, although I never was contacted, by the Pew survey. Unlike the respondents thus far, I think that, therefore, I can lend an unique perspective to this subject. If the RCC is to staunch the flow, let aside to reverse it, she must understand from those who left why they did, not what the faithful, either native born or converts, believe is the problem or problems.

I remember the moment when it all became clear to me that for my sake and that of my children I had to leave. I was at a leading Boston parish's first communion mass. The priest decided to have a discussion homily (never a good idea) and held up the chalice. He asked the children what it was...he was unsatisfied with "chalice" and continued to ask until someone piped up "a kiddish cup." The priest beamed. Yes, he remarked, all we are doing is having a seder. He then asked all of the children together around the dining table as he prepared "Jesus' food" for us.

If this was a single incident I would have shaken it off but it was the end product of Saint Louis Jesuit music, a pseudo-Lutheran approach to the Sacrament and a general lack of any desire for recognizing the Transcendent nature of God. I need and I demand that my children have a real strong understanding of God in their lives. I want a worship that worships God, not the community (as one priest said to me--"we, not the host, are the real communion).

We left. We found a wonderful (in all senses of the word) Anglo-Catholic church that keeps fast to the faith delivered to the Apostles. I knew we were in the right parish when I took my then 4 yo daughter to mass for the first time. As we left I asked her what she thought. She was quiet for a moment and then said, "Well, I'm not exactly sure what when on, but if it had all of that smells and all of those colors and all of that singing, it had to be very important."

I smiled. We had come home.

Jim: Thanks so much for sharing your experience. You're right -- those who leave certainly possess a particular insight on their reasons why, which none of the rest of us can claim (though, as Eve Tushnet points out in her excellent response, those reasons will be as varied as the people citing them, if they recognize them at all).

It pains me to hear your story, though, because what you've found in your Anglo-Catholic community is what I believe the Catholic Church should be, always and everywhere. It seems precisely those "innovations" that most of the respondents here have rejected that chased you away as well, something that truly saddens and angers me.

I'd be interested to know: What, if anything, would entice you to come back?

Jim - that quote from your daughter is excellent.

Bishops, Bishops, Bishops---Most bishops are too involved in various forms of mental masturbation to attend to the spiritual needs and futures of Catholics.

Jim, I am a convert from agnosticism. I had a cultish upbringing which I barely survived. I came to the Catholic Church mainly through the writings of C. S. Lewis, an Anglo-Catholic. Many times I wondered why Lewis had such as strong influence on my conversion. I found the answer recently. It is his authenticity and his awe of the Presence of the Lord in the Catholic Tradition. The Anglican Church of his time (I believe he died in 1963) still held to most of what Catholics hold dear. I wish I could repair the damage done to people like you. I can only offer acts of reparation and ask you to pray for all of us inside and outside the Catholic Church who simply want to worship God and hope to see His Holy Face one day. Pray for us. I shall pray for you.

Dear Margaret,

I have felt the faith so strongly that I am now "under care" and will be ordained, so I suppose I cannot return until Anglican orders are recognized which will be long after I have left this life, I'm afraid. Also I have come to love the Book of Common Prayer as a beautiful and reverent way to speak to the Lord.

As for the children, I am not sure what the future will hold. The Anglican Communion is breaking apart and traditionalists are under attack. However, without any central authority like a Rome, the Communion has always had ways to let peoples' churchmanship alone. If they cannot remain, I am sure that they will find the "extraordinary" (I am offended that the NO is the "ordinary" form, but so be it...) form a place they can find solice. If not, then Orthodoxy has been reclaiming its Western heritage with a western rite that is the Book of Common Prayer.

Of course, Ut Unum Sint.

Blessings,
Jim

Jim, Australia is a wasteland when it comes to the Catholic Faith. The Mass is celebrated well in some places, tepidly in most places and badly in some places. Our schools are Catholic in Name only and most baptised Catholics are indifferent to religion but...

I could never leave the Catholic Church because I believe that it is the Church which Jesus founded; it is the one True Faith. We don't leave Jesus because of Judas. I will stay on the barque of Peter, bailing with all my might and praying, always praying "O that today you would listen to His voice: harden not your hearts."

Poll those how left and stop asking us...
One can see from some of the cited bloggers in part that we tell people why they left. We tell them and we are not them. We will not be zealous about listening to their reasons if we already know their reasons better than they do.

Why do Catholics leave? Here's 20 reasons:

1. We have an effeminate pastor who says things like, "Blessing galore." I don't want him near my son. I'm sure I'm not the only father saying this.

2. Catholic Church is politically correct-- people like to say things like "Creator God" instead of God the Father.

3. A majority of Catholics support Hillary Clinton, like it's okay. No priests/pastors speak out. I have more liberal friends who are more amused by this than thinking Catholics who see the absurdity of this.

4. Fruitcakes running pre-cana and parishes; the self-ordained laity set who never outgrew their childhood fantasies of being a priest. Sort of like me donning a policeman's uniform when I'm not a cop.

5. Misinformation on birth control.

6. They'll take your money and leave you wanting.

7. Bishops are cowards.

8. Most Orthodox Catholics are cowards. Orthodox Catholics will politely sit through whatever nonsense goes on the "stage" (oopsie, I mean altar) and still pluck their coins in the basket. Some orthodox Catholics will complain and the bishops/pastors will make a reference to the silly 1970s and say something like, "It's coming back."

9. Too many theologians dabbling in Teilhard de Chardin and Hegel are hoping they will somehow be the next Aquinas. The "intellectual" vanity in the Church, on both sides, is a parody of itself.

10. Too many kooks in the Roman Catholic Church. It's a suburban gig for parents of altar girls to gaze upon their daughters like they're all do-gooders.

11. The textbooks used in religious ed are insulting to any fifth-grader-- and I'm talking about books written for 9th graders.

13. Two words: social justice.

14. Vapidity. While even secular colleges have moved on from neo-Marxian interpretations of history, Catholic seminaries and colleges still teach this stuff as if it's cutting edge (see "Liberation Theology."). This stuff is like wearing dessert boots and keeping a Fonzie comb in the back pocket. Some of these "professors" still have their perms.

15. "Rock Eucharistic Celebration." Or "Rap Eucharistic Celebration." Whatever. If I want to have a "celebration," I can call my friends and split a few 12 packs. No need to wake up on a Sunday morning for some feel-good "celebration."

16. The devil and hell have been erased. No villain, no story. My mom can tell me Jesus loves me-- I don't need to hear it from some guy with a Roman collar. (Cross reference with item # 15).

17. There's little visual and syntactical difference between the new order mass and a protestant service.

18. Everybody goes to heaven because God loves everyone. You don't need a church to do this.

19. Catholic Church is modern and hip, but in a 1970s kind of way.

20. What ever nuns are left, are LEFT (of course not all).

I know lots of Catholics who have left the church. The understandable reasons include the vague, boring homilies, the lack of community in parish ('cold')and that the youth groups can't match protestant youth groups in Bible study, commitment, number of youths, and expensive fun. Kids want to go to the big church where the cool kids go, and parents follow. Parents enjoy the community of adult Sunday school and Bible study. People try to live their faith. The new young Catholic priests, however, have a tough, intense commitment and speak the truth. People are coming back. As Sheldon Vanauken once told me: "It's the barque of Peter. Come and help bail." I too have been tempted by the comforts of Anglo-Catholicism and the book of Common prayer, but why abandon ship when she needs help with the leaks?

Eric,
the Holy See's ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC) is partially due to there being no instrument whatsoever in some countries by which a child is understood as bearing even fundamental rights. In short,the CRC is dangerous if misused, but the Holy See Mission to the UN understands that it a half loaf. (hence John Paul II's "aimed at" )

However, the provisions of the CRC are what the general public reads (if they investigate at all). What is unseen is the CRC Implementation Manual --and that is hair raising.

The USA has not signed the CRC (yet) because our domestic policy already insures basic (and more!) rights to the child --except our unborn, of course.

The implementation of Vatican II was the polar opposite of what the documents themselves intended.

-The Council wished to help laypeople have a deeper understading of the Liturgy. Today, most Catholics don't even believe in the Real Presence. Most Masses are banal and anemic with no reverence or awe for the reality that is taking place.

-The Council wished to help laypeople more actively participate in the Liturgy. Today, most Catholics sit quietly in the pews and listen to the cantor perform. I actually believe that we were better off when Catholics would pray the rosary through the Mass. At least they were praying something! Extraordinary ministers of communion and altar girls were also TERRIBLE ideas. Our birthright (or should I say "birthrite") as Latin-rite Catholics is the Roman Liturgy, and it is entirely unrecognizable from Protestant services. It's no wonder so many Catholics are leaving the Faith altogether or are converting to High Church Anglicanism or Eastern Orthodoxy.

-The Council issued a universal call to holiness. Today, most Catholics are just as ungodly as the rest of Americans. Sex scandals, divorce and remarriage, contraception, homosexual marriage...need I say more?

-The Council re-affirmed multiple times that the Catholic Church is the one true church established by our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, most Catholics think that all religions are equal, that they say essentially the same things, and that one is as good as another.

There is truly a crisis in the Church as a result of relativism and the abandonment of the Church's very own Tradition. Catholicism is suffering from an identity crisis. And it won't be resolved until all the "spirit-of-Vatican-II" hippie priests die.

I agree with you Jon. I would add to your list the supreme incompetence displayed by many on our side when it comes to evangelizing others. I converted in 2001 and since then I have been active in trying to show the truth of the Catholic faith to others. After all these years I have to admit sadly that Catholics are indifferent because most of their leaders are indifferent. There are positive exceptions to that indifference. There are also negative exceptions: those who use their positions of privilege and power within the church to derail any initiative aimed at improving the situation.

I know because I had a taste of that in the last few years. That kind of work is never easy or pleasant.

All we can do is wait for God to clean the Temple and try to promote the positive. The hippies, heretics, thieves, cheats, false worshipers, liberals and liars will eventually die off and face their final destiny.

We have to get busy trying to save souls by living in holiness and truth and actively promoting what is good to the extent we can. God will do the rest.

The reason most people leave the Catholic faith is the reason most people leave anything be it marriage,a job, or a family, it's just too hard to stay and work it out. What is unique to the Catholic faith is the real presence of Jesus. Without Him, none of us would stick around. People are fickle, imperfect, vainglorious, malicious, jealous (the list could go on and on) that's why we have Christ. We are all sinners, people have to put up with us and we have to put up with others. I think that is impossible to do without the supernatural grace of Jesus Christ, which He gives us so generously in the Sacraments. Praised be Jesus! I don't care how great your prayer book is or how wonderful the feel of a place of worship. I feel most fully a Christian when I can love those who are the most difficult to love rather than turning and running. For most Catholics in love with our Lord, the answer to the question is not why do we stay but "Lord, to Whom Shall we go?"

There is obviously some truth to the claim that forty years+ after Vatican II, its innovations have led some Catholics to believe that one church is as good as another and some other Catholics to be uncatechized in large measure. Yet so many of the posts above attribute the adherent drain to matters of consumer taste (the priests' sermons are not engaging enough, the Book of Common Prayer is a better praying tool, etc.)that it is also plain that people are using the Pew results as the jumping off point for extended scats on their pet peeves about the Catholic Church.

If that is where we are at, I'll give you my (informed) guesses too. I think that the great bulk of the defections from Catholicism (10.1% of the US Population per Pew, p. 26) stem from one of three issues: 1) Divorce-Remarriage; (2)general secularization; or (3) inter-marriage. Per Pew (p. 29), 27% of the 16.1% of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated were raised Catholic. That means 43.5% of the 10.1% of the US population that constitute "Catholic defectors" were NOT attracted by another religion at all but by atheism, agnosticism or indifferentism.

It is impossible to get beneath the reasons for the others' defections on the basis of the Pew's data. My own belief, though, is that a large portion of Catholic defections to other religions stems from the greater tolerance in other Christian sects of Divorce-Remarriage. Other studies (e.g., the Kosmin and Lachman Study, published as One Nation Under God,in the Early 1990s) have established the lower levels of Divorce among Catholics that remain. The one question asked by Pew on marital status(the phrasing of Pew's question on marital status was such that a previously divorced and remarried person could have simply answered that he/she was "currently married") again establishes, at least, that there are higher percentages of currently divorced people in Protestant traditions than in the Catholic Church. Yet, neither the K&L nor Pew study gets at the reasons for a particular interviewee's defection. In fact, I have not seen any study that focuses on the connection between defections and the differing positions of the Churches on Remarriage after Divorce. It would be a good issue to study.

As to Jim Nuzzo's love for the Book of Common Prayer, I respectfully disagree. That book is the blood-soaked product of Thomas Cranmer's ambition, the Duke of Somerset's influence and then more than a century's worth of political wars among the competing factions in the various English Parliaments that toyed with the book up until the Trimph of Restorationist Anglicanism in 1662. I call it blood-soaked because thousands of the good Catholics of Cornwall shed their blood protesting the unilateral imposition of that book on them in the killing Summer of 1549. I would much rather remember the sacrifice of those martyrs at slaughters like Clyst St. Mary (Aug. 5, 1549) than pray from such a blood-soaked book.

For those not familiar with the Prayer Book Rebellion, which should have led to Edward VI (rather than his half sister) being called "Bloody Eddie" there was an article in the very non-Catholic Guardian on the issue in August 2006 that was entitled "The People's Choice" by Tristam Hunt. It is available on line but I couldn't paste the link for reasons best known to the blogsite administrator.

Jim (and any others who bolted for High Episcopalianism (or "Anglo-Catholicism):

Right off the bat: I'm a cradle Catholic. Having gotten that out of the way, let me tell you that I did two plus years of graduate work at Cambridge University (King's College). For those of you who may not know it, the Chapel affiliated with King's is one of the splendors of Christianity—architecturally, musically, and liturgically. As a Roman Catholic musician, I KNEW there were serious problems with Catholic liturgical music and practice. What I hadn't been aware of was that High Anglicanism had taken much of the best of the music and liturgical practice (but not the theology) of traditional Roman Catholicism, supplemented it with its own wonderful fruits (e.g., the language of the Book of Common Prayer, the music of Howells and other things—the list is quite long!), and had something extremely appealing to me. The fly in the ointment—and it's a really big fly—was, again, the theology. It seemed almost intuitive to me that Roman Catholic liturgy could, SHOULD look, sound, and feel like this, with the added benefit of the Real Presence and the weight and beauty of Tradition behind it. Not long after, I discovered two important things: first, the Tridentine Mass. I was too young to have experienced it before its supression, but it seemed exactly to fill the need for the depth and reverence I'd found at Cambridge. The Latin, vis-a-vis the Book of Common Prayer, posed a beautiful solution to the vapid post Vatican II translations. Besides, the English translations of the Latin texts were as beautiful as BCP. This is where I found my home in the Church. The story doesn't end here, though. Some Anglican friends who had moved to the States after grad school had converted to Roman Catholicism here, but expressed the same dismay Jim did about "Saint Louis Jesuit music, a pseudo-Lutheran approach to the Sacrament and a general lack of any desire for recognizing the Transcendent nature of God." It was probably all the more distressing for them because of what they'd given up having come from "academic" High Anglicanism. The story has a happy, hopeful ending: There are several (not a lot, yet, but several) "Anglican Use" Roman Catholic parishes in the US. Some entire Anglo-Catholic parishes have swum the Tiber (priest included!!) and have been granted a slightly modified Anglo-Catholic liturgy that respects the traditions of things like music, language, and ritual, while making the necessary adaptations to make it truly Roman Catholic. The Masses are beautiful and reverent, the language will be familiar to you, the people are beyond wonderful, and, YOU'RE BACK HOME IN THE CHURCH. It's win-win. The two Anglican Use parishes with which I'm most familiar are Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston (http://www.walsingham-church.org/) and Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio (http://www.atonementonline.com/index.php). Check them out. I'm sure there are others in other parts of the country. God bless you!

Jim (and any others who bolted for High Episcopalianism (or "Anglo-Catholicism):

Right off the bat: I'm a cradle Catholic. Having gotten that out of the way, let me tell you that I did two plus years of graduate work at Cambridge University (King's College). For those of you who may not know it, the Chapel affiliated with King's is one of the splendors of Christianity—architecturally, musically, and liturgically. As a Roman Catholic musician, I KNEW there were serious problems with Catholic liturgical music and practice. What I hadn't been aware of was that High Anglicanism had taken much of the best of the music and liturgical practice (but not the theology) of traditional Roman Catholicism, supplemented it with its own wonderful fruits (e.g., the language of the Book of Common Prayer, the music of Howells and other things—the list is quite long!), and had something extremely appealing to me. The fly in the ointment—and it's a really big fly—was, again, the theology. It seemed almost intuitive to me that Roman Catholic liturgy could, SHOULD look, sound, and feel like this, with the added benefit of the Real Presence and the weight and beauty of Tradition behind it. Not long after, I discovered two important things: first, the Tridentine Mass. I was too young to have experienced it before its supression, but it seemed exactly to fill the need for the depth and reverence I'd found at Cambridge. The Latin, vis-a-vis the Book of Common Prayer, posed a beautiful solution to the vapid post Vatican II translations. Besides, the English translations of the Latin texts were as beautiful as BCP. This is where I found my home in the Church. The story doesn't end here, though. Some Anglican friends who had moved to the States after grad school had converted to Roman Catholicism here, but expressed the same dismay Jim did about "Saint Louis Jesuit music, a pseudo-Lutheran approach to the Sacrament and a general lack of any desire for recognizing the Transcendent nature of God." It was probably all the more distressing for them because of what they'd given up having come from "academic" High Anglicanism. The story has a happy, hopeful ending: There are several (not a lot, yet, but several) "Anglican Use" Roman Catholic parishes in the US. Some entire Anglo-Catholic parishes have swum the Tiber (priest included!!) and have been granted a slightly modified Anglo-Catholic liturgy that respects the traditions of things like music, language, and ritual, while making the necessary adaptations to make it truly Roman Catholic. The Masses are beautiful and reverent, the language will be familiar to you, the people are beyond wonderful, and, YOU'RE BACK HOME IN THE CHURCH. It's win-win. The two Anglican Use parishes with which I'm most familiar are Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston (http://www.walsingham-church.org/) and Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio (http://www.atonementonline.com/index.php). Check them out. I'm sure there are others in other parts of the country. God bless you!

Here are the reasons I left...

The biggest reason is I was born again in Jesus Christ, and I had been reading the Bible a year and half before leaving and questioning Catholic doctrine....But even beyond what are the typical ex-Catholic presently fundamentalist Christian reasons for leaving the RCC, I had many other reasons for leaving...{from the Christian side of things opposed to the reasons the secularists have left.}

One of the biggest was the Catholic church's view of other religions and lack of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and pushing the idea that Jesus Christ saves people via false religions {the whole "anonymous Christian" theory which is contained in the seemingly exclusive but not, Dominus Iesus} and the Vatican II pronouncements {ie Nostra Aetate} that the false spirits of other religions were "God" including "Allah" of Islam.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

Pope John Paul II:

It will be in the sincere practice of what is good in their own religious traditions and by following the dictates of their own conscience that members of other religions respond positively to Gods invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ even while they do not recognize or acknowledge him as their Saviour.)
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue-Congregation for The Evangelization of Peoples, Instruction Dialogue and Proclamation, 19 May 1991 n29; LOssertavore Romano English Edition, 1 July 1991, p.III).


Finding out about Assisi I and II, where the last Pope sponsored prayers to false spirits and "gods" via false religions for the sake of "peace" was another final straw for me.

Having spent some time as a young person dabbling in the New Age movement, I saw some of the very same trends happening in the RCC. Where God's Word was set aside for modernistic views of scripture, and vague ideas that everyone who is "good" goes to heaven being promoted. Find out about Catholic nuns visiting Hindu Ashrams online, clergy lighting a lamps to hindu "gods" and holding "Christian-Buddhist" prayer services to "Zen" Jesuit monks online. In the new universalist smorgasborg, why are any Catholic experts surprised, that people are clearing out? Some are fleeing to secularism or the exploration of other non-Christian religions and others who come into a true relationship with Jesus Christ, who love Him and realize God is a jealous god, just won't abide by such things? {I know other Catholics who ended up leaving disturbed by the same things, some were born again like me, acouple went to the Trads}

I believe churches that put more stock in the "culture wars" rather then in the preaching of the gospel and knowing hearts and lives WILL be changed via the Holy Spirit, and this includes mainliners and evangelicals going down this path as well, are going to find many members breaking away as well. Displace the Holy Spirit, with human plans for political theocracies, power or control, or even "PEACE" via human endeavors-- people will figure out something is missing. That includes ALL churches who forget what the first commandment was all about!

God Bless all of you.

An ex-Catholic writes that he left because the Catholic Church's "lack of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and pushing the idea that Jesus Christ saves people via false religions {the whole "anonymous Christian" theory which is contained in the seemingly exclusive but not, Dominus Iesus}...."

We know Christ founded only one Church. That church has existed since the First Century AD. That church cannot be a church founded in the Sixteenth Century or later. So, to leave the Catholic Church because it is not exclusive enough hardly seems the way to be in Christ's Church. IOW, being more exclusive than Christ's exclusive and only Church is not possible.

I also left the Catholic Church. I became born again of the spirit when I heard and believed the biblical gospel. And by the biblical gospel I am referring to the Truth that we are saved by what Jesus did, by His propitiary atonement, by the grace of God. We are not saved by our own works or any combination of works and grace. Secondary issues involve creating man-made doctrine to replace the authority of God's Word in the bible; praying to created beings(i.e. saints, Mary etc) and assigning them attributes attributable only to God; proclaiming "born again" status to infants without repentance and personal faith; worshipping the idol of the Eucharist instead of the living, risen God in heaven; replacement of the Holy Spirit with the magesterium; replacement of the personal relationship of Jesus Christ with man(priest); use of priestly hierarchy which Christ condemned(Nicolaitains); use of pagan idolatry and mysticism in statues, icons, etc; and on, and on, and on. Call out to Christ and ask Him to save you and then follow Christ and put your trust in Him alone - do not trust in yourself or in a religion comprised of man made activity.

Rev. Joseph Fessio S.J. correctly states the issue “So it is not so much the faithful that have left the Catholic Church; it is the Church -- at least in appearance -- that left them.”

And author Russell Shaw suggests a terrific start to a renewal strategy; “First, the Catholic bishops should declare a moratorium on most of the scheduled activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and spend the next two or three years reflecting on the Pew study…”

When the primary reason the Church has left the people is that the leadership led them away— deliberately or mistakenly—a reasonable solution is for leadership to rebuild its capacity for leading and in the Church that is faith to the magisterium, which deep reflection will help the bishops rediscover.

MNMom,
You claim to be an ex-Catholic. Perhaps. It is clear from your diatribe, though, that you are now a protestant. Poor you. One of the things that amazes me about protestants is that right after claiming that they would not be saved by their own works, they nevertheless claim to know that they are going to Heaven. As though Jesus had already judged them. What arrogance.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life stated that 33% of all Catholic Americans have left the Church. Some of the reasons speculated are that Catholics are moving into the mainstream of society which is accustomed to moving from one religion to another. Another reason cited was an American emphasis on tolerance for people of all faith traditions which has led to the attitude that one religion is as good as another.

Further, most Americans don’t pay attention to religious doctrine; they send their children to public schools and didn’t make their children attend religious education classes.

I take exception to the stated cause as apathy or lack of knowledge of our faith. Why should anyone be interested in religion or anything else which does not effectively communicate the positive and relevant aspects of participation?

According to Bishop Blasé Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., keynote speaker at the recent 2008 National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) annual convention in Indianapolis,

We need to capture, once again that at heart of what we do is a sense of mission, a mission that is driven by our own experience of the risen Lord. How can we provide an experience of God and of Christ and of the Church that shapes our hearts and enriches us.

If our Gen X children suffer from religious illiteracy it is because during the 80’s and early 90’s most parishes and dioceses did not provide adequate catechetical resources or trained leaders. This began to change in the late 90’s when catechetical leaders became more intentional and professional in providing quality parish based religious education. It is now mandated by our National Directory for Catechesis though some parishes have not taken up the cause.

I recall a time when holy cards were given out to a group of Catholic school teachers. Only 1 in 10 could identify any of the saints. We certainly have to do a better job of training those who are being empowered to teach the faith.
The American culture is one that provides freedom of choice. No one is likely to choose anything intolerant and served up with a “take it or leave it” attitude.

Yes, we are supposed to be evangelizers but we need to learn how to first be animators of faith. Our goal is to bring about in all Catholics such an enthusiasm for their faith that, in living their faith in Jesus, they freely share it with others.

Evangelization always precedes catechesis.

John Valenti

Dear Jim Nuzzo,
I am not surprised that you find the Anglican tradition reverent, and much better at keeping up Catholic liturgical traditions than most Catholic parishes(!). However, have you considered joining an Anglican-use community? (For example, in West Roxbury http://www.locutor.net/). I feel that their liturgy is something rest of us, who usually celebrate novus ordo liturgy, should learn from.

So far I have seen very little about some of the real concerns of Catholics who are leaving our Church. One of the reasons, I suspect, was because the question was asked mostly of those who are in the "employ" of the Church or closely associated with church officials.

Let's try to put this current situation in some sort of perspective. In the beginning, there was a good deal of equality among that new group called Christians. As time went on and the number of believers began to swell, the need for some sort of organizational structure became obvious, but equality still remained important. But eventually those at the top of the organization felt they needed more power. As everyone knows, that power began to corrupt and, in addition, earthly power also became "necessary". Eventually that temptation of earthly power was largely taken away from them by outside forces, but the love of power remained. The total control of every aspect of the Church's function resided in the hands of the few. This was not difficult to accomplish because the common Christians were by then totally uneducated and were easily persuaded that the church had all the answers to everything. They even knew that you could buy your way out of the penalty of sin.

But let's move rapidly to the present where the people in the pews are frequently well educated. In many cases they are even better educated than the clergy, and in some cases they are at least more qualified to handle some of the many duties that are required in the average parish. On top of that, most parishoners would like to hear meaningful and relevant sermons, but those are hard to come by these days. However, all serious control remains in the hands of the clergy. No wonder some people choose another Christian church. After all, we do believe that "wherever two or three are gathered....."

If that were not enough, we are now witnessing the extensive sexual corruption that exists within the ranks of our clergy, and financial mismanagement as well, and we are learning how the hierarchy chose to defend the church (money and power) at the expense of the Church (the people).

I have to admit that I also, at times, feel it would be easier to leave than to stay and try to do something about it. But in the end, I still succumb to the belief that the true intention of Vatican II can win out and we will be once again be something akin to that early band of Christians. By the way, I am a cradle Catholic.

I enjoyed Danny's comments, but it boils down to Vatican II and the (so-called) "New Mass." Ditch them both and everything else would fall into line.

I'm still waiting for the Pope to say the Old Mass himself. I didn't think I'd even have to wait until last Christmas, and here we've passed Easter.

My personal story is in stark contrast to many of the writers and commenters of this article.

I was raised in a small but vibrant Catholic congregation on one of the "dead" coasts, and when greater prominence was recently given in the media to the Pope's discussion of a smaller but more devoted American Catholicism, that parish of my childhood immediately sprang to mind. It had many of the qualities that posters express a desire for: solid catechism, a thriving and close-knit community, active and supportive congregation. And, luxury of luxuries, we also had a full time priest, wise and gentle, who kindly prompted shy children through their First Communion and engaged them thoughtfully in their First Reconciliation, who truly embodied the dedication and humanity necessary for pastoral care.

It may surprise many of you that this community was fostered by the Vatican II trappings you have been criticizing. Oh yes, we had altar girls, a folk group, and a big, light, clean 'barn' of a church. I have lived in Europe for years and am intimately familiar with the great architecture of the Church, and our 'barn' of a church shared many more of their properties than do more 'conservative' parishes: full of light and color, harmonious and balanced in aspect as in worship.

I am one of those altar girls whose presence in the service some of you have so derided. I am unrepentant that my fulfilment of those duties, that enhancement of my religious experience by being allowed to taste some of the glory and ritual of the Mass...and the potent pride and humility of being part of its performance...somehow damaged any fragile male egos. Why would any of you want to deny your daughters the deeply joyful and formative experience of such meaningful participation? I have found deeply troubling some of the comments that see 'feminization' of the Church as a problem to be corrected: the women who give of themselves in order to celebrate the Mass to the benefit of all the parish don't deserve to be treated or viewed in such a way.

My happy childhood experience was cut short by several events, now all too common in the American Church. On the retirement of our priest, no replacement was appointed. Instead, we got a string of "substitute teachers:" perfectly adequate visiting priests who said Mass and held confession, but could not possibly in a stay of 2 or 3 months take a meaningful role in pastoral care. That devolved of necessity to the laity, largely to female leaders who rose to the occasion with spectacular dedication. Finally, the archbishop simply closed our parish and instructed us to merge with the other congregation in our town. It had many of the qualities that other posters have praised, but was entirely 'cold' and unwelcoming, a quality felt also by long-term parishioners. They have lacked a full-time priest for at least 15 years now.

Two years after closing my parish, our archbishop came to speak at my Catholic high school. I have yet to hear a homily so ill-judged for its target audience, unless the intent was to alienate and humiliate 80% of the congregation.

The archbishop, after delivering a brief and uninstructive statement on the evils of premarital sex, proceeded to speak for 15 minutes exclusively to the male 40% of the student body, exhorting them to possibly, pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top consider the remote possibility that a tiny voice was caling them to a vocation. We were treated to a lengthy list of the resources available to boys considering this path, and how they might access them. Ending the homily, he mumbled a tacked-on statement to the effect that "of course, if girls feel a vocation, they should also feel free to speak to someone."

Well, thanks so much, Your Eminence. I feel really welcomed and spiritually fed. Really. Now that the Church hierarchy has shut down my parish, subjected me to a dizzying rota of impersonal part-time clergy, told me I'm going to Hell and effectively informed me and the female half of their impressionable young congregation (the half most likely, in future, to give money, time and effort to sustaining the Church community) that all our future contributions are unvalued beside the mere possibility of a single male vocation....well, honestly, I truly felt like a second-class citizen within my own faith. It was a pretty dizzying fall, and I'm still recovering from it.

I do believe in Benedict's smaller, more devout Church..but I worry what will happen to the Church infrastructure that supports so many in the development of their faith, should that 'smaller Church' become reality. A smaller Church means more closed parishes and closed Catholic schools...and a far lower likelihood that my children will ever have the wonderful experience that I did. And for all my disillusionment, that truly saddens me.

Still a Catholic, because I am a "cradle catholic"; but I dont participate anymore. I had faith once, but it has slipped away. Mostly because the official Church devalues women, I dont feel welcome there, and what I feel is important doesnt count. We go to Mass because my husband wants to; I believe in social justice, in doing right by the poor, and hope that my volunteer work will satisfy God when he judges me as having seen Christ in those I try to help. But the hierarchical, monarchical, clerical establishement that is The Church is not the church of the Apostles and the early christians who believed and lived by their beliefs. That is the church I yearn for but I am old now, and will probably not see it before I go.

Reading the blogs and the comments has helped me crystallize the reasons why I left the church and religion in general. I am (or was) a cradle Catholic. Raised by a staunchly Catholic family (aunt was a nun) I endured 8 years of parochial education, although I hesitate to call it "education". I was actually married by Bishop later Cardinal Bevelacqua ( amidst the full panoply of the Church (my best man was Jewish). the Bishop even delivered a personal - handwritten letter from Pope John Paul II to my wife and I congratulating us. All four children baptized and then the rocky road through their cathetical education. My daughter, now 18, was nearly kicked out because of the debate she had with the teacher over abortion (for it, as an option) and the role of women (appalled by the medieval stance). The church became increasingly irrelevant to us except during the sex scandals where we just felt disgusted. Then I read "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris and "the Happy Heretic". While not the most profound of texts they got the wheels turning. I read a lot and searched a lot and I just can't do it. I can't play the odds like Spinoza or take the "leap". Why do I have to? Like scales falling from my eyes I realized that Faith was nothing more than the suspension of reason. I could not accept belief in a system that rested solely on hope and ignorance - a blind acceptance of something that could not be proved or disproved. Wrap up all these conjectures, assumptions and cultural influences within dogma. Support it with reports of "miracles" that are in direct opposition to all laws of nature, chemistry, biology and physics. Mix it all up and serve it cold. No thanks. Belief in Santa Claus is more feasible since I love what he stands which is basically "do no harm" and when I pray for presents I get them! Try praying for world peace. I have returned my baptismal certificate and asked for an "actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica" which according to Canonical Law is basically a voluntary excommunication. Please note that this is a personal decision. I would defend to the death your right to believe what you wish. I just can't do it.

Reading the blogs and the comments has helped me crystallize the reasons why I left the church and religion in general. I am (or was) a cradle Catholic. Raised by a staunchly Catholic family (aunt was a nun) I endured 8 years of parochial education, although I hesitate to call it "education". I was actually married by Bishop later Cardinal Bevelacqua ( amidst the full panoply of the Church (my best man was Jewish). the Bishop even delivered a personal - handwritten letter from Pope John Paul II to my wife and I congratulating us. All four children baptized and then the rocky road through their cathetical education. My daughter, now 18, was nearly kicked out because of the debate she had with the teacher over abortion (for it, as an option) and the role of women (appalled by the medieval stance). The church became increasingly irrelevant to us except during the sex scandals where we just felt disgusted. Then I read "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris and "the Happy Heretic". While not the most profound of texts they got the wheels turning. I read a lot and searched a lot and I just can't do it. I can't play the odds like Spinoza or take the "leap". Why do I have to? Like scales falling from my eyes I realized that Faith was nothing more than the suspension of reason. I could not accept belief in a system that rested solely on hope and ignorance - a blind acceptance of something that could not be proved or disproved. Wrap up all these conjectures, assumptions and cultural influences within dogma. Support it with reports of "miracles" that are in direct opposition to all laws of nature, chemistry, biology and physics. Mix it all up and serve it cold. No thanks. Belief in Santa Claus is more feasible since I love what he stands which is basically "do no harm" and when I pray for presents I get them! Try praying for world peace. I have returned my baptismal certificate and asked for an "actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica" which according to Canonical Law is basically a voluntary excommunication. Please note that this is a personal decision. I would defend to the death your right to believe what you wish. I just can't do it.

There really is no place for me in the Church. I actively attend Mass, am active in Parish ministries, but it is my religion that is making me sick. I have been celibate for many years. If I masturbate, I go to hell. If I am too exhausted to make it to Sunday Mass because of chronic handicap conditions (I have several) I am in the state of mortal sin and go to hell - I may have gone to Mass four times during the week, but if I am so exhausted on the weekend I can barely move, I am cast into the lake of fire when I die. I think the Catholic Church is in the state of utter disaster. I reject that ever started with Vatican II. Why do I stay in the Church? The Church is the Church, God is God. God is perfect, the Church is not. The Church never will be perfect, and neither will I. The Church cannot admit wrongdoing and barks at people. That is why American Catholics, as the best educated in the world, question the lies, deceit, and lack of care by the Church, the holier-than-that pretentious and obnoxious attitudes of prelates, who belong to a Church that has evolved into something Christ, in my view, never intended. I remain in the Church because of some things the Church does, in spite of others. The Church IS NOT Christ on earth.

I must admit, I haven't read this article word for word so this may have been covered already and I apologize if that is so. However, I feel compelled to share some stories to illustrate why people are leaving the Church in droves:

-I've met several physically handicapped people (who have left the Church) have said the same thing: "Catholic kids are the meanest."

-I know of a 'good' Catholic woman who's now embarrassed to be seen with her disabled husband in public.

-I know several 'good' Catholics who wear skirts, have several children and go to Mass all the time and yet they lie, gossip, manipulate, steal and one I know of even committed adultery.

-I know of a group of 'good' Catholic women who refused to speak to another woman because she had psychological issues.

-A boy from a 'good' Catholic household acted out sexually in my house in front of my son, husband, daughter and myself!

-Another 'good' Catholic family begs money from their deceased daughter's doctors every year so they can go on vacation.

If I didn't know better, I'd leave the Church because the people in the Church tend to be phoney, stupid or plain darn mean!! But I do know better. Catholics have Jesus in the Eucharist and the graces from the Sacraments and the fullness of Truth. So I stay and I would die for the Faith. So many people DON'T know that, though, do they? (due to lack of instruction or just some really poor examples of Catholic living!) So they leave for a church where the people are nicer. Wake up, Catholics!! We need to have more integrity, more virtue, more compassion, more humility, more honesty, a stronger sense of justice than our Protestant counterparts. We should be the ones standing up for the handicapped, not the ones shunning them! We need to let go our of superficial holiness and our elitism and we need to start living our faith or more people are going to leave.

The media-The schools, the potrayal of the haves as leading a wonderful life. The anti-catholic propaganda machine has lured the wishy-washy catholics away. The silence of the bishops on issues of morals. The ignorance of the history of The English Speaking Catholic Church.

Fight not flight is the answer