With American Roman Catholics leaving their church in record numbers, it will be up to laypersons – not just bishops and priests – to revitalize the faith, a panel of speakers told an overflow audience Sunday at St. Joseph’s University.
“The church has acted like a lazy monopoly,” the Rev. Thomas Reese told the crowd at Mandeville Hall, noting that one in three baptized Catholics now leaves the church in adulthood.
Reese, a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and former editor of the Jesuit magazine America, was one of three panelists invited by the university to discuss “The Future of the Church.”
The church I attended last Sunday is having a parish is having a parish supper this Wednesday. The highlight is said to be a visit from Santa. As long as we teach children and play with adults, we will have the same problem.