Cardinal Dolan: Packed Easter pews counter ‘atomized’ individualism
March 29, 2024
» Continue to this story on Wall Street Journal
CWN Editor's Note: In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said that “when Christians worship at their best, their wandering brothers and sisters tend to come home.”
Many Americans “tell us they want to believe but not belong; that they want faith but not religion; that they prefer spirituality, whatever that might mean, to communal worship,” the prelate wrote. “They seem to want God as a Father but to remain an only child; Jesus as the Good Shepherd if they’re the only lamb in the flock. They want a God by themselves, Christ without his Church. Sorry, but that isn’t how God works.”
“In the Scriptures it’s clear God prefers to form a people, a community, and not simply a collection of atomized individuals,” he explained. “Faith must always be internalized, but it is always expressed, strengthened and lived out with others.”
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Posted by: feedback -
Mar. 29, 2024 12:05 PM ET USA
The cardinal presents good points but he shouldn't be blaming the laity for low church attendance, lack of vocations, etc. The laity did not decide to abandon Sacraments and close churches during the covid hysteria. Many Catholics felt completely abandoned by their shepherds in a time of need.
