I live outside Portland, Maine.

It is amazing and troubling as to the number of Catholic churches and schools closing. They just disappear. One after the other. I speak with Catholic friends who are so sad

Per AP, '1,267 Catholic schools that have closed since 2000. Enrollment nationwide has dropped by 382,125 students, or 14 percent, according to the National Catholic Education Association.'

Fourteen percent now. What will it be in ten years?

The present percentage may not seem alarming; but it really is. Heretofore, the percentage went up year after year. Not now.

Molestation cases have done in so many Catholic institutions.

Secularism in American society has increased.

Some Catholics have turned to Protestant denominations such as evangelical and Pentecostal groups.

Priests' numbers are dwindling for a variety of reasons, one being that many young men don't buy into celibacy as a lifestyle any more. They see the biblical definition of marriage and sex in marriage as God's way for a man and woman.

Nuns and their orders have disappeared from communities.

Whatever the reason, the Catholic presence is fading. Not much is made of it for it is a fearful foreboding. However, facts are facts.

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