During his upcoming visit to the United States, Pope Francis will attempt to instill some fresh energy into American Catholicism, which desperately needs his holiness' help. According to a new Reuters analysis, the Catholic Church in the U.S. is dealing with deep financial problems, as well as shrinking congregations—52 million self-identified members this year, compared to 55 million in 2007.
While multiple factors underlie these trends, a recently published study suggests the clergy sex-abuse scandals of recent years have played a major and lasting role.
Economists Nicolas Bottan of the University of Illinois and Ricardo Perez-Truglia of Microsoft Research report there was "a significant decline in religious participation as a result of the scandals," as well as a parallel decline in charitable donations.
"The indirect cost of the scandals through the decline in giving is an order of magnitude higher than the direct costs of the scandals to the Catholic churches, such as the cost of lawsuit settlements," the pair write in their study, published in the Journal of Public Economics. (more...)
This is a tragedy, a disaster for the church and for the spiritually lost. The church has lost the confidence of many...
Posted by Truth Alliance Foundation on Sunday, September 13, 2015
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