WBZ-GLOBE POLL REVEALS SCANDAL, ALL RIGHT!

On February 8, 2002, The Boston Globe published the results of a poll sponsored by that paper and WBZ-TV, claiming that the respondents represented "Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston." The poll concluded that a "plurality" of Catholics believe that Cardinal Law should resign.

A look at the break-down of the poll participants is, at best, interesting, at, at worst, shocking.

From the article by Globe staffer Michael Paulson:

"Among weekly churchgoers, who make up nearly 4 in 10 local Catholics, a majority fault Law for the way he has dealt with priest pedophiles, say the problem of sexual abuse by priests is more widespread than is currently known, and believe the church has covered up cases of misconduct by priests, the poll found."

Hold on a second. Let’s examine the first twelve words of the above paragraph again.

"Among weekly churchgoers, who make up nearly 4 in 10 local Catholics..."

In other words:

Less than 4 in 10 local Catholics participate in the celebration of the Eucharist on Sundays. Or, more than 6 out of 10 local Catholics do not participate in Sunday Eucharist.

My first reaction to this was to simply dismiss the poll’s findings as the absurdly inaccurate representation of the faithful Catholic community’s attitude toward our Cardinal Archbishop that it, in fact, is. That the Cardinal has the support of the overwhelming majority of the faithful in his flock is patently obvious. Even the Globe admits that in the very same article, reporting that "Law's support is strongest among weekly churchgoers".

"So," I thought to myself, "people who don’t attend Mass don’t like the Cardinal. Big deal." And I sought to put the whole thing out of mind.

May the merciful God forgive me for that.

Because I almost turned my back on a phenomenon far more scandalous than the horror of pedophile priests.

Most Catholics in our Archdiocese don’t go to church!

This is not good news.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"On Sundays and other holy days of obligation are bound to participate in the Mass."

And:

"The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin."

And yet, more than 7 out of 10 local Catholics — more than 1.2 million of them — do not participate in Sunday Eucharist. (Not incidentally, reports the Globe, "The percentage of self-identified Catholics who told the Globe pollsters they go to church once a week or more...is higher than the archdiocese's own estimates of the percentage of Catholics who comply with the church requirement for weekly Mass attendance.")

Who’s really being rejected here?

Mind smashingly, the majority of Catholics in our Archdiocese are missing out on the most precious gift imaginable: The Blessed Sacrament. They are depriving themselves of the most intimate union with Jesus Christ possible here on earth. When one considers the possibility that over 1 million of our Archdiocesan brothers and sisters are rejecting Jesus, the relative popularity or unpopularity of the Cardinal seems like a secondary issue, if that.

We’ve got to get them back!

Even with just a cursory look at Luke 15, it’s glaringly clear what our job is. Bringing them back is not just the responsibility of the Church hierarchy. It’s one for you and me...the folks in the pew.

How do we do that? How do ordinary, everyday Catholics bring back our 1 million+ inactive, alienated, "recovering," "former," or whatever-they-want-to-call-themselves Catholics back?

I don’t have a clue, frankly. But I don’t intend to remain clueless for long. There are people who have tackled, with some success, this problem, and I’m going to talk to them. And listen. I’d like to hear from you, too. If you’ve got some insight you’d be willing to share, write me!