Mass Exodus av Stephen (Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion St Mary's Univers

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Of those raised Catholic, just 13% still attend Mass weekly, and 37% say they have ''no religion''. But is this all the fault of Vatican II, and its runaway reforms? Or are wider social, cultural, and moral forces primarily to blame?In 1962, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council with the prophecy that ''a new day is dawning on the Church, bathing her in radiant splendour''. Desiring ''to impart an ever increasing vigour to the Christian life of the faithful'', the Council Fathers devoted particular attention to the laity, and set in motion a series of sweeping reforms. The most significant of these centred on refashioning the Church''s liturgy¿''the source and summit of the Christian life''¿in order to make ''itpastorally efficacious to the fullest degree''.Over fifty years on, however, the statistics speak for themselves. In America, only 15% of cradle Catholics say that they attend Mass on a weekly basis; meanwhile, 35% no longer even tick the ''Catholic box'' on surveys.