STATE OF THE US CATHOLIC CHURCH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW YEAR

[Fr. C. John McCloskey, director of the Washington archdiocese's Catholic Information Center, likens his current job to his pre-ordination experience hawking stocks on Wall Street.

"I'm a salesman for the church," said the 49-year-old Opus Dei priest. Some of the nation's leading conservatives are buying. McCloskey is credited with facilitating the conversions of such luminaries as failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, "Crossfire" co-host Robert Novak, Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, conservative book publisher Alfred Regnery, economist and commentator Larry Kudlow, and one-time New York gubernatorial candidate Lewis Lehrman. Abortion doctor-turned-pro-lifer Bernard Nathanson was tutored by McCloskey, as was indicted Tyco International counsel Mark Belnick.

"It's just like the brokerage business or any business of sales," said McCloskey. "You get a reputation, you deal with one person and they mention you to another person...and all of a sudden you have a string of people."

One element of the Washington native's success: He knows his product. The Catholicism he preaches is as black and white as his cassock and Roman collar.

State of the US Catholic Church at the Beginning of the New Year is a very informative article written by Fr. John McCloskey on the State of the U.S. Church. There are some interesting percentages in our number of priests and religious. This shows us some of the reasons for the crisis situation we have now in our shortage of vocations.

Se puede leer una versión española preparada por el mismo autor que lleva por título: Estados Unidos se prepara para la Nueva Evangelización]

#358 Varios Categoria-Varios: Etica y Antropologia

by Father John McCloskey

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The Catholic Church in the United States is in a state of profound transition. A priest or layman transported through time from 1965 to 2005 would be astonished and most likely disconcerted by the dramatic changes that have taken place in the 40 years following the close of Vatican II.

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