Catholic America: Predictions for Catholic America in 2011

Predictions for Catholic America in 2011

Last year I was 10 for 15, not bad as a winning percentage, but only if you count the "won't happen" category.* With a bit more explanation, this year's predictions focus in on controversial issues I expect to surface in the next 12 months.

1. St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona fundraising will exceed the amount of 2010 contributions. This hospital was stripped of its Catholic affiliation by the archbishop over the application of Catholic teaching on the moral legitimacy of medical interventions that result in the death of a fetus. St. Joseph's joins other Catholic institutions that function outside of ecclesiastical control but with a commitment to the Catholic faith. I predict that the hospital will flourish in spite of the bishop's spite.

2. A new network of Catholic professional organizations will be formed to raise money on behalf of institutions and agencies that face hostility from individual bishops. The network will formalize the already working alliance of progressive Catholics, who read the National Catholic Reporter, and support Network, etc. The new entity will more closely coordinate statements that advance Catholic positions but without waiting for or following blindly the responses of the official bureaucracy of the bishops. I suggest that the new network name itself after St. Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake as a heretic by medieval bishops, but went to heaven and canonization anyway.

3. If Pope Benedict XVI has another health crisis in 2011, from which he will recover, it will set off a round of speculation about the next pope. Newspapers and blogs will offer lists of "papabile." I predict that no German or Polish Cardinal will be in the top ten.

4. Newt Gingrich will declare his candidacy for the presidency and his campaign literature will indicate that he would be the second Catholic president. This will set off a media critique of what being Catholic means in public life. Eventually the focus will be on the Supreme Court with its five Catholic justices, where Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas will be the most scrutinized in the blogosphere. People in the pews of Catholic America will yawn with boredom.

5. The Park51 Muslim Center, erroneously known as the "Ground Zero Mosque," will open with a multi-faith prayer service in New York City during 2011. Although invited, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and current President of the USCCB, will decline to attend, citing as a reason that to preserve its integrity as a moral guide, the Catholic Church must avoid issues that are too political.

6. The House of Representatives will vote in favor of a bill to defund the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 on the grounds that the legislation supports government funding of abortion. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and current President of the USCCB will actively lobby in favor of the defunding citing as his reason that to preserve its integrity as a moral guide, the Catholic Church must be engaged in more issues that are political.

7. Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the commencement address at the Jesuit run University of Scranton (or some other Catholic college). The Retro Catholic bloggers will compare the event to Notre Dame University's invitation to President Obama and demand the "de-Catholicizing" of the university if the invitation is not rescinded. The local bishop will instead welcome the Vice President by embracing him on the platform.

8. Representative Peter King (R-NY) will stage a series of hearings to investigate Muslim organizations and Muslims in the United States for connections to terrorism. The phrase "a witch hunt" will circulate widely in describing the hearings and compare them to the McCarthy hearings on Un-American Activities in the 1950s. The Catholic League will denounce the "liberal media" as anti-Catholic for resurrecting the bias against Catholic Senator Joe McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin.

9. The Dream Act will become the political rally issue for the 2012 elections, with the Democrats and President Obama calling for restoration of Democratic majorities to pass the act. Republicans in Congress and candidates for the presidency will be opposed. The strongest Catholic voices will not be from the USCCB but from progressive Catholic networks (see #2 above).

10. Two Catholic universities will send teams into the Elite Eight of the 2010-2011 Mens' NCAA Basketball Championships.

*(For those keeping score, #3, 4 were right on, #8 was half-right; #1 and 9 are still pending.)

By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo | December 28, 2010; 11:44 AM ET | Category: Catholic America Save & Share:
Previous: May your Christmas be Catholic and gay | Next: Was John Paul II 'The Great'?

Comments

Please report offensive comments below.

Note to LMTB4, according to the John Jay Report, the percentage of clergy involved in abuse was more in the 5% range, not 1% as you stated. Also 47% of the victims were under the age of 13 when they were first abused. So many of the priests were pedophiles. The number of teen victims (13-18) was 53%, 80% of victims were males but this includes male children. Some of the pedophile priests abused male and female children.

Posted by: MarkfromPA | January 8, 2011 10:56 PM
Report Offensive Comment

This column is a total waste of time. How can Stevens-Arroyo claim to be a Catholic when he is completely against Biblical and Catholic teaching? I would call him a CINO(Cheeno), meaning Catholic In Name Only. By the way, only 1% of all Priests were ever involved in any abuses of adolescents. What about the other 99% of all Priests who would never even think of doing such a thing? The wayward Priests involved in these scandals weren't Pedophiles (abusing children), but Homosexual men abusing adolescent males, which many Homosexual men (but certainly not all) view as simply fine and normal to take part in. Also, by the way, the Latin term "fetus" is defined as "a small child."
This column is a joke and the Post should get someone who is a real Catholic (not a Cino) to write for it!

Posted by: LMTB4 | January 7, 2011 8:15 AM
Report Offensive Comment

13. Another Pew survey will publish results indicating that 80% of Catholics think the pope is as cute as a hobbit, but don't believe for one minute that he gets to tell them what to do.

14. Pope Benedict will select the occasion of an address to an international women's aid organization to observe that women have a special role to play in the Church. They are to stay quiet and listen to men.

Posted by: MaryC4 | January 4, 2011 5:15 PM
Report Offensive Comment

It would have been a slam dunk to predict continuing steep declines in membership/affiliation and school/parish closings.

Posted by: razzl | January 4, 2011 11:26 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Breaking NEWS:

"By using Cruel & Unusual Tactics: Three-3 ALQAEDA members confessed to following Turkish/Pakistani ISLAMIC BROTHER HOOD's plot/plan to eject all KAFIR'S from All the 56-OIC-Nations before Saudi Arabia and the GCC create the new ISLAMIC CURRENCY...." Jan.4.2011. 07:15 GMT. WHEREFORE:
.
.
DEATH to: I S L A M i C -- B R O T H E R H O O D!

DEATH to: I S L A M i C -- S I S T E R H O O D too!

DEATH to: I R A N! (NOt Secular Persians).

DEATH to: PAKISTAN! (Not Secular Hurdu).

DEATH to: T U R K E Y! (Not Real Sekular)
.
..........#.## . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. |::|\|::|
..........(#c ..... _\|/_ . . . . . . . . . . .|::|/|::|
.......... #.\...... www . . . . . . . . . . .|::|\|::|
.......... \ .\-.. . (/. .\) . . . . . . . . . . .|::|/|::|
.......... /\. /,`\. /\ . /\ . . . . . . . . . ... |::|\|::|
.......... |.\/ . .. _) (_ . . . . . . .. |:|"|/|||::|/|::|\|||/||:|
.......... `\.' . ; . ; . ,. ;`\ . . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
............ `\; . ; . . . .. . ; /.\ . . . ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~
............. .`\; . . . . .; . ;| . .\ . "Give U.S. Liberty
............... ; . . '' ' ; . . . . . ./ . Or Give US Death"
............... |_.'' . . . . .; | . ./.)
.
.
....................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ./
...................... . . . . . . . / . . . . . . /
...................... . . ./ . . . / . . . / . . / . . . . . . . . . /
...................... . . / . . . . . . . / . . . . . / . . . . . . /
...................... , ---------------------- . . . ... . ,.-,
.................... / . . . . . .`--- . . . . . . . \ . __ . / . |
.................. [ . by: . K . A . F . i . R .. _|_ . . . |
.................... \ . t.h.e .---.Jyoktan / . . . . .\ . |
...................... `----------------------- . . .. ....`.-`
.
.
....................... ,--------------------,
................... ,' . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'|
................ ,' . K . a . a . b . a . '#| . . . "Never--Again
............ ,' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '# # | . . . PELEG-EBER
.......... :---------------------- '# # # |. . . .O' YaHaBeBe"
.......... | # # # # # # # # # | # # # |
.......... | # # # # # # # # # | # # # |
.......... | #ALLAHaKBAR#| # # # |
.......... | # [ البيت المعمو ر‎] # |[ الكعبة‎].|
.......... | # # # # # # # # # | # # # |
.......... | # # # # # # # # # | # # # |
.......... | # # # # # # # # # | # # # |
.......... |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| \_\_\_\
.
.
DEATH TO Al ISHLAMi's UMMAH in KAFIR Nations!
..

Posted by: letitbe | January 4, 2011 10:59 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Why is this guy considered "Catholic?" His bias against the church is right up in front with the phrase "resulted in the death of a fetus" (NARAL language) instead of saying outright that the baby was aborted in clear violation of the teachings of the church. I think On Faith should dump this guy as a columnist.

Posted by: Apoorsinner | January 3, 2011 8:18 PM
Report Offensive Comment

The catholic church in America, feeling desperation at the losses of buttz in the pews will find a way to import hispanic catholics illegally from countries south of the border.
Catholics owe their allegiance to a foreign power - some religious guy in a foreign country, first and foremost before any allegiance to the constitution of America. Don't be surprised to find the average catholic peasant in America, currently outraged at the number of illegal immigrants in our country, suddenly 'seeing the light' when the pope tells them these mexican catholics are more important than protestant americans.

Posted by: eezmamata | January 2, 2011 5:07 PM
Report Offensive Comment

I predict the RCC administration will never be able to turn the clock back as more of the truth comes out of the silencing the truth to protect the image.

Posted by: usapdx | January 2, 2011 7:30 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Add this prediction: Stevens-Arroyo will continue his anti-Catholic column and his Catholic readership will reach an all-time low while his dissident readership will grow.

Posted by: delusional1 | January 1, 2011 2:40 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Remember; PROCRASTiNATION iS THE THEiF OF Time. So keep busy if Ye can (Employed or Unemployed)!

IMPORTANT: Rich, Middle-class or Poor, If YE hath All these “4-Tetra-Needs“ then Ye hath No Worry’s on this Blesseth Holy Cosmic Miraculous, & zero biblical Sin'th, S.pace-S.hip Planet EARTH, aka S.S. GAiA, S.S. GEOiD, S.S. TELLUSng something!

BEHOLD: SEx is-not LOVE: LiFE iS! Nor is Man-Made Religion(s) LiFE: LOVE iS! "HOPE" is our Religion and G-D, if Any, is an "IT" (never a HE/HiM/HiS nor HER/SHE incarnate)!
____
╔╗─╔╗
║║─║║
║╚═╝╠══╦══╦══╦╗─╔╗
║╔═╗║╔╗║╔╗║╔╗║║─║║
║║─║║╔╗║╚╝║╚╝║╚═╝║
╚╝─╚╩╝╚╣╔═╣╔═╩═╗╔╝ EVERY-DAY
───────║║─║║─╔═╝║
───────╚╝─╚╝─╚══╝ LiKE A
╔══╗───╔╗╔╗───╔╗──────╔╗
║╔╗║──╔╝╚╣║───║║──────║║
║╚╝╚╦╦╩╗╔╣╚═╦═╝╠══╦╗─╔╣║
║╔═╗╠╣╔╣║║╔╗║╔╗║╔╗║║─║╠╝
║╚═╝║║║║╚╣║║║╚╝║╔╗║╚═╝╠╗
╚═══╩╩╝╚═╩╝╚╩══╩╝╚╩═╗╔╩╝
──────────────────╔═╝║
──────────────────╚══╝
-

█▀█░██░█▀█░█▀░██
█░█░█■░█▀█░█░░█■
█▀▀░█▄░█░█░█▄░█▄
█ &. . . . . . .
. . . . ╔╗ . . . . . .
. . . . ║║╔═╦╦╦═╗
. . . . ║╚╣║║║║╩╣
. . . . ╚═╩═╩═╩═╝. . NO
. . . . ╔╗
. . . . ║║. . .╔╗
. . . . ║╚╦═╣╚╦═╗
. . . . ║║║╬║╔╣╩╣
. . . . ╚╩╩╩╩═╩═╝●
.
.
Ommm, Aumm, Amen Now EKLAHt..
.
..
............................. ._.
........................ ._.|._.|._.
.................... , .|._.| .. |._.|._
.................... | .|. . |. . |. . |._.|
.................... | .|. . |. . |. . |. . |
.................... | .|. . |. . |. . |. . |
................ ._.| .|. . |. . |. . |. . |
........... | .| .) .\ . . ..^ ..^ ..^ . .|
........... | .| . .| . . . . . . . . . .. |
........... | .| . .| . . . . . . . . . .. |
........... |. | . .| . . . . . . . . . .. |
........... \ .\ . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
............ \ .\ . . . . . . . . . . . ../
............. ). \ . . . . . . . . . . .(
............ /. .. \ . . . . . . . . . . .\
.......... / . . . . \ . . . . . . . . . .. \
.
Credits "JJ" http://onwapo.wordpress.com/

Posted by: wiki-truth | December 31, 2010 5:59 PM
Report Offensive Comment

11. The Catholic League will denounce the "liberal media" as anti-Catholic from continued reports of more Church cover-ups of pervert priests.

12. Mariedivine, Dollyangel, and Sister Mary what's-her-name PR hack for American Bishops will continue to be clueless why the victims of these atrocities can not all be paid off like little-boy sex workers so they will shut up and go away.

Posted by: areyousaying | December 31, 2010 1:24 PM
Report Offensive Comment

The comments to this entry are closed.

Posts By Category

Posts By Date

Predictions for Catholic America in 2011

Comments