Just with all of the recent problems the church has faced and the resulting loss of funds/reputation… Are we seeing the start of the end for the Catholic church? Or at least their fall from being one of the “big” denominations?
golly, i hope so…
now… if we can only get rid of the Protestants too–
Whew! At least the Orthodox will be spared! 
Seriously, though. I don’t really think so. The way this is going seems to indicate reforms will happen primarily in the US, but not as much in other countries. Not much will happen in Spain, for instance.
Just my opinion.
I am a Protestant but my family is Catholic. I haven’t even heard them talk about the situation within the church, although I’m sure they are disgusted. It has virtually nothing to do with what they actually believe.
When my daughter married for the second time, she and her husband-to-be went to a priest for pre-marital counselling. They had to take my six year old grandson with them. As soon as he entered the rectory and took one look, he blurted out, “So that’s where all that money goes!”
Hasn’t the Catholic Church been on a steady fall since a guy named Martin Luther nailed his 95 treatises to the door of his church? 
I doubt it. Nothing to take it’s place. And nature is nothing compared to dogma when it comes to a vacuum.
I believe that the Church remains the single largest landholder in the City of New York, as well as many other places on this pot of dirt. Apparently they also possess a few pieces of art that might be worth something. Unless they start to auction off things that fall into either of those categories, I can’t see them crumbling. They’ve weathered quite a few storms in their history.
Other than what you guys think, I don’t want the Church to fall.
I’m by no means a fan of the current Pope but the Church beats Phelps, Falwell, and Robertson.
I don’t see the Catholic Church turning into Enron. And you don’t hear about huge scandals regarding sexual abuse in other countries, although that all could be a factor of other countries’ tolerance of the Catholic Church and its power.
But if the Catholic Church could survive things like the Great Schism and the Reformation, this present scandal is a drop in the bucket.
The Catholic Church has been a target since Mr. Luther posted his suggestions for reform and every misstep the Church has made has been widely publicized as a result. Obviously, they have not been squeeky-clean. Far from it. But the Church has cleaned itself up quite a bit in the last last few hundred years. Compared to the sheer size and scope of the Church, this ugly, ugly situation with Cardinal Law is pretty isolated.
Also, IIRC, the Catholic Church is still one of the largest, most profitable businesses in the world. So it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
The Cardinal Law fiasco is only one of many related to abuse that is shaking the catholic church. Ireland used to be arguably the most catholic country in the world (as far as church attendence was concerned anyway). The widespread physical, mental and sexual abuse of children at the hands of the church has hastened the decline of the institution in Ireland. There are similar cases in France etc.
However I don’t think the Catholic church will ever disappear there are too many idiots in the world for that.
Mogiaw
Was there a trend before these recent scandals of other denominations growing faster than the Catholic church?
Start of the fall?
Damn, haven’t you heard about that English guy named Darwin?
Wake Up People!!!
Yeah, but, buzzz_kill, as the Catholic church as a rule accepts Darwinism, how’s that a problem? 
Last I checked, the Catholic Church has more members than every other Christian denomination combined. Additionally, it is the oldest institution in the world. 2,000 years and still going strong. Even with the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the Great Schism, and dozens of the stupid, human things that the all too human humans running it have done, it still manages to hold a strong fan base.
No, I really don’t see this as the end, nor at least their fall from being one of the “big” denominations.
I find that statement extremely offensive, and inappropriate (IMHO of course) for Great Debates. If you have actual facts to support your side of an argument, use those instead of insults.
Oh, and for the comments before that sentence… cite?
Their worsening financial problems may be a more serious issue.
Sorry I apologise for that insensitive throwaway remark.
Mogiaw:smack:
Not to be nitpicky, but the Catholic Church can’t be considered to be two thousand years old (even if we dismiss the claims of the Orthodox).
Arguably, no Church (Catholic, Orthodox, or whatever) existed before Emperor Constantine established it as the state religion of the Byzantine Empire. Whether Christians existed before this time is immaterial.