A depressing bit of news from not-too-Catholic-friendly RNS:
Roman Catholics decline in England, Wales
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The number of Roman Catholic adherents in England and Wales fell by more than 90,000 in 2012, despite a wave of immigrants from Poland and other Eastern European countries with historically Catholic backgrounds.
Prominent Catholics say the recent wave of sex abuse scandals involving priests and children is responsible for the decline. [Prominent Catholics? Uh huh. I wonder which flavor koolaid they drink. Anyone wanna guess?]
Read the rest there. There is even some ol’ fashioned class warfare worked in.
I wonder if the real reason there are declining numbers is that people don’t hear much clear Catholicism, hard-identity Catholicism from the Church’s pastors.