Catholic Conversion Efforts Increasing

I'm Catholic myself, and have noticed that the Church's conversion efforts have greatly increased over the past few months, partly thanks to television. These are a few things I believe are helping the Church get new members:

• The Death of Pope John Paul II
  
• The Election of Pope Benedict XVI
  
• Revelations on NBC
  
• Bart and Homer becoming Catholic on The Simpsons
  

Being Catholic, I'm going to say that this is both a good and a bad thing. A good part about it (for me) is that my religion is getting more believers, but a bad thing is that there are a lot of people in the world that just don't like Catholics.

[edit on 25-5-2005 by invader_chris]

The media could play a role in the sudden increase in conversions but I think there are other reasons.

I have always been a member of the Episcopal church but also have attended the Catholic church. Both felt like 'home' to me. In the last few years things got chaotic and I stopped attending on a regular basis. I was digusted with the politics of ALL churches and just needed a break. Occassionally when visiting my family I would go to the Episcopal church where I was baptized, confirmed and married. It felt comfortable and right and I decided to start going back to church on a regular basis.

I went to my local Episcopal church last Sunday. I was horrified at how different it was from any other Episcopal church I had attended. Things as basic as the Lords Prayer were changed so much I hardly recognized them. It didn't feel like an Episcopal church, it felt like some touchy-feely, dumbed down, pop-psychology seminar with a few religious statements thrown in. I left there feeling so depressed and sad.

IMHO, church should be consistent. If you go there every week or you go every 10 years, it should be the same rites and rituals, and the Lords Prayer should not change from church to church within a denomination. I thought the Episcopal church was consistent, but I was wrong. I know that if I become a Catholic I WILL have that consistency. The service will be the same if I am in California or New York. Granted there might be slight differences, but at least the prayers will all be the same and I can be sure that the Catholic church will stay true to their morals rather than bend and change them to be politically correct which is just what the Episcopal church has done.

Jemison

wait, are you claiming that the vatican is directing and arranging these things????

The RCC has 'recently' stated that its going to become more evangelical. That is, looking for converts, not be more like the Evangelicals.