Vatican challenged - Response may define pontificate

The western world has not seen an empire collapse as spectacularly as the Catholic Church since the Habsburg and British empires began to lose their unquestioned — and unquestionable — power just over a century ago. On this historical scale the relatively brief terror of communism is irrelevant.

Vatican challenged - Response may define pontificate

Caught in a pincer movement between strengthening pluralism and the hubris that convinced it that it need not recognise democratically appointed civil authorities, the Catholic Church has seen its influence and active membership in the West dwindle to unprecedentedly low levels. How else could an Irish Minister for Education — Ruairí Quinn — suggest that the school time given to religion be reduced to allow for greater focus on the sciences?

This loss of influence has not occurred in swathes of South America, the developing world, or indeed in the lives of millions of Europeans whose beliefs and faith have withstood the acid tests of recent decades. Because of this, especially under this pontificate, the Church’s focus seems to be moving away from Europe. Yesterday’s scathing report from the UN will do little to alter that policy or the drift away from formal, institutional Catholicism in the West. However, Catholicism’s response to it might.

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