Pope launches council to fight secular 'Eclipse of God'

It is a good thing that the Pope is appointing Archbishop Fisichella to lead the new Commission to evangelize the 'secular' West. He at least had compassion for the little Brazilian girl.

It is my contention, however, that the primary reason for the decline of the influence of the Catholic Church is its attitude toward women. After all, it is primarily the mothers who teach the faith, with the support of the fathers. In our Western culture where women have achieved the status of heads of state, as in Germany, and Secretary of State, as in America, for the church to consider women as expendable certainly does not inspire a great deal of confidence in women in the teachings of the church.

The most egregious current example is the Phoenix, AZ, Bishop who was perfectly willing to sacrifice what could probably be the many years remaining of a woman's life for a few more months of life for the fetus she was carrying, does not inspire women to teach their children that the church has any answers to anything.

If it can be called 'radical feminism' that women are finally realizing their own value and worth and refuse to be considered expendable by some in the hierarchy, then so be it.

The Pope can estasblish all of the Commissions he wants, but until he appoints a well-qualified woman to the leadership position, it will be a long uphil battle to re-evangelize Western culture, if at all.

On a purely tangential, quirky, humorous, light-hearted note, "Eclipse of God" sounds like the translated title of music track from a Japanese role-playing game.

Some examples of titles from those games in a similar vein: "Birth of a God," "One-Winged Angel" (Final Fantasy VII); "Wanderer of Time" (Final Fantasy VI); "Angel's Fear," "Faith Total Machine," "Return to Forever" (Seiken Densetsu 3); "Eternal Recurrence," "A Prayer and a Whisper" (Secret of Mana); "Scars of Time" (Chrono Cross); "The Beginning and the End" (Xenogears), etc. "Eclipse of God" would be a good final-battle song. :)

his was done 50 years ago. It was called Vatican II.

A woman's rise in secular power is one thing and not to be confused with her moral fiber. Indeed, it is correct to state today as ever that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. I contend that Holy Mother Church is the singular place where a woman can go to understand her worth and dignity, and by doing so, she can pass this worth and dignity on via morality and in other ways to her children.
My career as a military officer, physician and mother has only been greatly enhanced by my humble practice of the virtues, particularly the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.
I am specifically raising my children to be well-equipped enlightened rationalists, the flower of Creation to be sure.
As for the vehicle of Grace, prayer is supreme. Prayers for our loved ones, our nation, our world, our neighbors, our enemies and the list goes on. Here, we understand Jesus' words to his disciples, and I paraphrase: Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Watch and pray - always. God bless.

The erosion of church-going membership in Europe is extreme, and that in the United States is troubling. Were we not the [at least initial] church choice of immigrants populations, the RCC in the USA would also be declining in membership. In my own case my belief in Church understanding of Scripture and faith outweighs any disgust at how things have been mismanaged.
One problem the Church has is in being thought relevant by 'modern' people in Western society. There's a real attitude of 'why bother going to church -- a subset of 'what's in it for me' as the major factor of choice in America and elsewhere.
The Church's devotion to liturgy and to the 'who' of Christ, and its relative failure to speak to the evils of society other than the Lightning Rods: abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research and the like, is leaving many simply bored with the irrelevant.
For a huge majority of Americans, seems to me, the doings that are the Lightning Rods do not reflect anything done to 'me' or that "I" want to do; whereas jobs, health, living conditions,and just treatment by society are the core of done to 'me' or that "I" want to do. Christ taught a great deal our relations with each other and with the 'others,' which while talked about some is never given the priority given Christology and given the Lightning Rods. Until the Church dialogues with the people, not refusing to talk to them unless they first come to Church, but talking to them where they are found and about their concerns, erosion will be steady.
I sometimes think Christ would weep if He walked into the 'average' RC Church some Sunday, unless lucky enough to walk into one of the Churches whose Pastor, Pastoral Council, and membership really 'get it.' In this regard we may have some things to learn from our Latino newcomers about how to do relevant Church.

Somehow the expressions "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" comes to mind.

This move is waaaaaaaayyyyyy overdue. The Church lost Europe many, many years ago. First came the working people. Then the intellectuals. Now it is a curiosity with nice tourist-attracting buildings of museum stature.

Once the US pew potatoes wake up to the sad state of how THEY are treated by the hierarchy, the doors will all be opening outwardly, with little if any influx. Each year the USCCB crows about the number of people received into the church at Easter. No one (if this is even known) has much to say about the numbers who simply get up, dust themselves off, and walk away. I suspect their numbers are legion compared to the relatively few who join the church. I'd also like to see stats on the retention rate of these folks after, say, 5 years.

If Benedict wants to re-evangelize the West, he can start by rehabilitating the dozens of talented theologians he's silenced over the years and let them do what needs to be done: articulate the Christian message in a way that speaks to an educated segment of the laity tired of the theological pablum the magisterium tries to pass off as the Christian faith.

The West will certainly not be re-evangelized by allowing those theologians who "woo" heterodoxy to further spread their errors - that's why we are in the mess we are in now! Moreover, there are many orthodox theologians whose writings are "intellectually" satisfying.

What good will this do? The RCC is dying and I dont think anything can be done to save it. The majority of its flock are mostly now in Africa where they have let them triple in numbers by demonizing population control but could not careless for the quality of the those lives.

I say let it die along with all the pedophiles it protected.

It's not so much that secularism has within itself the power of significant impact in the modern world; it's that the response of Catholicism is so weak.
This is so,in my view, because most of our bishops and most of our priests, especially the seculars, do not know how to point out the errors of secularism. They are trained to enter into their culture of entitlement and rule over the laity. Dinesh D'Souza had to come from Jesuit training in India to give
American Catholics an intellectual voice. Sad.