The Catholic Church is GROWING?!?

Hello, Coffee Talkers!

Hope you all had a restful and blessed Sunday! I saw this article on growth in the Catholic Church, and found it very interesting! The article shares one analysis of the data gathered by The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.

And in addition to the statistical data cited on those links, I can add my own experience of working for a parish office where people are coming in, with increasing frequency it seems, to become Catholic and/or have their children prepared to receive the sacraments. This always surprises me a bit, to be honest -- becoming Catholic is a much more involved process than becoming a member of almost any other church. (Although my Jewish convert friends assure me that they've totally got us beat by requiring that all converts learn Hebrew!) In any case, seeing new people coming to the Church to receive instruction and preparation for the sacraments (even in light of all the bad press the Catholic Church receives, and the comparative ease with which they could join other churches) bolsters my own faith, to say the least.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Be assured of my prayers.

Peace and all good,
Leslie