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Thanks. That's a good idea, to speak up during the prayer of the faithful, with your mass intention. I don't think they should require people to pay for that, though.
Well, I don't have any statistics onhand, but I can tell you that all of my cousins went to Catholic school. NONE of them even go to Church anymore, except maybe one, and she didn't marry in the Catholic Church. I'm not sure if the others believe in God anymore, believe it or not. And they're good people. They just don't go to Church. IMO, it was a big waste of money on their parents' part. They should have saved that money for the kids' college. (This is just my opinion.) And my God, one of my cousins described some of the punishments he went through and I'm sorry, NO ONE would do that to my kids and get away with it. Here's an example: one of the nuns put him in a garbage can. He was put in there upside-down. I repeat, NO ONE will ever do that to my kids and get away with it. (I don't have any children.) Another one of my cousins went through horrific abuse by school bullies. This was a Catholic school in Chicago. When his father went to talk to the powers-to-be about it, they told him straight out it was about money. They said that was four tuitions (for the four bullies) that they would lose, if they expelled the bullies. My cousin was suicidal because of the abuse. His father pulled him out of school. And he also beat the door down. I don't blame him one bit. I would have done the same.
Your hypothesis is correct I believe, and not only for children. I think as time passes, more and more adults will not put up with all the legalism and head games clergy use to manipulate people. And then again, look at the marriage issues board on the oncecatholic.org website. It's amazing what people will go through. I think all of that annulment business is a farce. (Again, just my opinion, folks. And I'm not married, either.)
I think a question was asked on this board (before I joined) about the Bishops being concerned that Mass attendance was low. Well....I don't know if they're concerned about that. IMO, if someone leaves the Church, the only reason they would be asked to come back is if they have some serious money to give. I'm sorry to be so cynical, but that's how I see it. OK, how many people do you know that have left the Catholic Church? Have they been asked to come back? Probably not, unless they're rich. They'll say they want you back, but it's really all lip service. I mean again, look at oncecatholic.org. They say they want to hear from you, and then they censor the heck out of you when you say something they don't want to hear. So I'm at the point where I have other things in my life going on. If the Church really rejects me, it really doesn't bother me anymore. Even if I were banned from receiving communion, for some reason I would be at peace with that. If I do good deeds, it's to help others, and not to pacify (or impress) some angry God or Medieval Institution.
It's very ironic to me how clergy complains about secular influences. I've been more encouraged to be honest by the secular world than by the Church. The Church kind of subtly encourages people to "put up a front." It's like "don't ask, don't tell" that you have problems with some of the teachings and the character of God Himself. In other words, lie. LOL And live in fear of hellfire. When my gosh, there is just as much nastiness going in within the Church as outside the Church. Case in point: no matter how many hoops they make people jump through in the world of annulments, the fact remains that Catholics divorce just as much as any other people in the US. And my gosh, look at the recent scandal involving child abuse.
Again, this is all just my opinion, folks, and I tend to be very cynical.
Roxanne
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