Catholicism is imploding across the world because it doesn’t provide community to its members, fundamentally. Which is deeply ironic considering it is called The Church. Yet this is the truth.

Despite a wave of recent conversions, there’s no durable community to receive those converts, and many will wash out. Those that don’t, their children will leave the faith in droves, just like the children of current Catholics. No matter how devout they may be raised, Catholicism fails in the 21st century very simply because there isn’t a Catholic community.

I converted in 2020, and despite years of searching for community it was impossible to find. Eventually I gave up, and turned towards a Christopagan outlook and began worshipping Aphrodite in order to be free of a Catholic framework that made enormous demands on me, but which yet didn’t provide me with a community, didn’t provide me with people in my corner who would be nice and respectful and I could in turn serve. My current place where I’m at I am establishing a community for the worship of Aphrodite and so far it’s going good! I’ve got further with this than I ever did with a Catholic community where we have to seek permission to do anything and thus nothing ever gets done.

Catholicism offers good deeds for poor and indigent people, which is great and I tried that, and it’s awesome they don’t just serve themselves, but here’s the thing they don’t serve themselves they don’t foster their own people to take care of them. They don’t take care of their own family. It’s Mass and Confession and outside that you aren’t going to find much. I ultimately stopped serving the poor at my local Catholic food bank because I wasn’t making any friends doing that. It was a different set of volunteers every week. It’s something I would be willing to do if it was part of a greater mission with a group of us, but I am not willing to do that on my own indefinitely. And judging by what I saw, most people aren’t.

There are some young adult groups we tried but unfortunately we encountered cliques and it became a hierarchy and we were treated poorly and systematically excluded. We weren’t the only ones. We also witnessed extensive racism towards minorities from the right wing converts that came out overtly in private contexts but which came across in other contexts. A lot of these people didn’t convert believing in loving everyone they just wanted an ideology to allow them to feel righteous for hating on liberal values and that includes some racism.

But the right wing converts aren’t the real problem even, the real problem is they are the only ones even active in the Church because there isn’t any real Catholic community. The deadness of the Catholic community is why Catholicism is imploding and will probably continue to implode until they figure out how to integrate to be a real community. Without a radical reform I don’t think Catholicism will even survive to 2200. Christianity broadly WILL definitely survive to 2200 because they have small groups and even though many of them are toxic for profit business, there’s still enough there that through survival of the fittest Protestantism will evolve and wil survive and may even grow. I can’t say the same for Catholicism, which is a shame because it’s much deeper and more spiritual but it can’t seem to get its act together

Today I went for a visit to a popular marian shrine in the city and saw this tender statue of Saint Joseph cradling the Lord Jesus against his chest ☺️

The passage in the photo is from Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi. A friar of his order was concerned about predestination. The devil visited Brother Ruffino appearing as a crucifix telling him he and everyone he knew were destined for hell. This upset Brother Ruffino greatly and he became overwhelmed with spiritual darkness. When Brother Ruffino visited St. Francis the Saint gave him some advice. I think it’s an appropriate response for those preaching damnation rather than salvation.

Hi everyone, I’m just now getting into Catholicism from a leftist perspective. I am processing my first confession currently as I type this in 18 years. I’m 33. The priest was very sweet and for penance he asked me to pray the Our Father once and slowly and to really meditate on the words, their meaning and to pray to God in a way where I truly mean it. I wanted to ask how I can start? I want to study the bible but I also know there are so many versions and after so many years I don’t even know what the prayers are or what companion books I should have for mass. I love the faith and feel this calling back but what initially drove me away was the right wing politic, queer phobia, and anti feminist biases. I know there’s also different bibles like one where it highlights how we’re caretakers for the land I think it’s the green bible and a feminist bible I believe. I suppose I would like some advice on what reading materials are essential (ofc the bible) and anything else. I did grab a few pamphlets at the reconciliation chapel for the rosary and a mini my prayer book. Thank you.

Went to Confession today after a really rough week that included a really hard decision. For my penance, the priest asked me to find a photo of myself when I was a child and pray with it, meditating on what I would tell my younger self about my life/this moment.

The best part about this whole story? I had taken an old photo of me when I had just started elementary school to work a few weeks back to hang on one of our poster boards (a “Back to School” board for all the employees) …and I realized in the pew that I had an extra one still in my wallet that I’d forgot to take out…Easily the most moving penance I’ve ever had, and, for me, a new way to pray! 🙂