The North Country remains a predominately Roman Catholic region, with the Church filling niches in our cultural and social lives that go well beyond the pews.<\/p>\n
Which is why this article from Commonweal<\/a> is so fascinating, placing in context the struggle of the Diocese of Ogdensburg to sustain its important insitutions.<\/p>\n It’s not just the sex scandal, or the declining number of priests.<\/p>\n Author Peter Steinfels points out that one-third of Americans who grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition have drifted away from their faith, or rejected it outright.<\/p>\n This record makes the percentage of bad loans and mortgages leading to the financial meltdown look absolutely stellar.<\/p>\n It dwarfs the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler.<\/p>\n Thomas Reese, SJ, the former editor of America<\/a><\/em>, recently described this loss of one-third of those raised Catholic as \u201ca disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cYou wonder if the bishops have noticed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n