What events contributed to the decline of the Roman Catholic Church?

Answer 1

I am not sure what you refer to in your question. The Catholic Church has not fallen. Has the Church had failings over the years? Of course it has. The Church is composed of humans and humans are weak and very prone to temptations from Satan. Satan has made the destruction of the Catholic Church his prime mission. We know from the promise of Christ that he will never succeed but he will also never give up trying. Satan will attack the Church from both inside the Church and the outside until the end of time.

'St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.'

Answer 2

The catholic church does not believe that you must be born again. Jesus said to Nicodemus, a pharisee that you must be born again. The catholic church doesn't take a strong stand on anything, abortion, pedophile priests, homosexuality, and gay marriage to name a few topics. If you are are born again Christian you have a strong stand on all of these. There is little leeway. All of these are supported by the democrat party. A large percentage of Catholics vote democrat. If you don't have strong beliefs you will decline. Jesus said be you hot or cold or I will spew you out of my mouth. How can you condone killing babies, 1.2 million a year, know that there were pedophile priests in their ranks and cover them up, not condemn homosexuality, when that was what they were. When you as a church become corrupt from the inside, you will decline...

Answer 3

Christianity was variously known as 'Catholic' and 'Orthodox' before the Great Schism of 1054, but it was this split that founded the Roman Catholic Church as a Church separate from the eastern Churches.

The first major event that began the decline of the Roman Catholic Church was the Protestant Reformation. Not only was the Church no longer master over all of Western Europe, it could no longer enforce its rules and decrees with impnity.

Another event that contributed to the decline of the Roman Catholic Church, in fact to all Christian denominations, was the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century.

The introduction of the contraceptive pill in the 1960s freed women from fear of unwanted pregnancies. This has had such a positive impact on the lives of modern women, that Catholics have adopted its use equally with non-Catholics, although the Roman Catholic Church teaches that its use to prevent pregnancies is sinful. Having experienced the freedom of rebelling against Church teachings, Catholics became more willing to question its other teachings.

The advent of modern education has probably caused all the Churches much harm, especially in Europe. Well educated people tend to be far more likely to adopt Atheism as their world view.

Events that have recently gained much publicity and which are likely to have a major impact on the decline of the Roman Catholic Church come from within the Church itself. Hundreds of priests and other religious have been identified as perpetrators of sexual abuse against the children in their care. The Church could probably survive these revelations with minimal damage, but the real harm will be done by the attempts of the Church hierarchy to cover up the offences and to silence those who complain.

Answer 4

The catholic church is NOT loosing members. According to a 2011 USA today story (see link below) and the Vatican's own statistics the number of Catholics is gradually increasing.

There are now over 1.18 Billion Catholics globally.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church never fell, as a matter of fact, it cannot "fall" as it is personally guaranteed by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ to be here until the end of the world. He established it in 33 A.D. on the apostle Peter, and it has been in continuous operation since then.

Answer 6

The Church is not losing its relevance. However, some people today do not want spiritual or moral guidance in their lives and prefer to 'do their own thing' and are leaving any organized religion. They do not want to be told what is right and what is wrong.