Prolific plant may lead campaign of spiritual regrowth as bishops try to attract back the lapsed
THE Roman Catholic Church is facing a Eucharistic famine in England and Wales with a dwindling number of priests ministering to falling congregations, according to a new report published today.
Bishops are to set up a new agency for evangelisation in an attempt to halt the decline. One proposal is to adopt the buddleia plant as a symbol for spreading the Gospel in a neo-pagan society.
“Our complex modern, post-modern, post-secular world is not so polarised (as before) but is partly Christian, partly pagan, yet all within the love of God. We may find grace blossoming in unexpected places,” the report says.
The report represents a tacit admission of the failure of the much-heralded decade of evangelisation to revitalise the Catholic Church, in this country at least. During the decade, which ended at the start of this millennium, Mass attendance fell by nearly a quarter, from 1.3million in 1990 to one million in 2000. Over the same period, the number of priests fell from 6,261 to 6,090.
Apart from some Free Baptist and evangelical churches, the Protestant Churches experienced a similar decline during their parallel decade of evangelism. The report suggests that the more pressing work might be to persuade people to belong rather than believe.
But the Church must address the problem of the declining number of priests. From the perceived danger of being an over-clericalised Church, the Catholic Church might find itself without enough priests to celebrate Mass, the report says. “This eucharistic famine is a long way off but it is necessary to address it now.”
The report urges the adoption of the buddleia tree, Buddleia davidii, as an appropriate metaphor because of its vitality. “That vitality is such that it has gone wild, it appears all over the place,” the report says. “In travelling over most of England and Wales this past year we have repeatedly encountered a companion which has stimulated an inchoate series of musings.
“The bushy Buddleia davidii has accompanied us from presbytery gardens to railway embankments, on waste ground, even on the roofs of factories.” Appropriately, they note that the plant, known as the “butterfly bush” because it attracts so many butterflies, is named after a Basque missionary, Père Armand David, and an Anglican clergyman, the Rev Adam Buddle.
“Contemporary evangelisation cannot be about proselytism or ‘sheep-stealing’ but a co-operative, dialoguing movement of faith working with other Christians and all men and women of goodwill,” the report says.
Senior Catholic bishops will go on retreat to Guernsey in October to discuss ways of enticing more of the country’s 4.12million baptised Catholics back to church. The Church is expected to avoid attempts to augment the faithful through instant conversions or mass Billy Graham-style rallies. Bishops are studying research into the faith and practice of more than 1,200 regular churchgoers and hundreds of priests, bishops and diocesan workers. The research showed that the most effective means of winning converts was through pastoral work with families and young people.
The researchers, Philip Knights, of the Catholic Missionary Society and Andrea Murray of Ushaw College, the Catholic seminary in Durham, asked churchgoers what came to mind when they heard the word “evangelisation”. Responses included “Billy Graham”, “happy clappy”, “pressurising people” and “form of showing off”.
Mission had come to be regarded as politically incorrect because of its association with colonialism and imperialism. As a result, the Church is tending to play down the importance of “making new Christians”. The report says: “The Gospel is not alien to England and Wales.” Yet there is a feeling that contemporary Christian practice is a minority option. “Indeed some would claim that the UK population, in terms of adherence to organised religion, is one of the least religious in the world.”
Research has shown that as much as two thirds of the population believe in God, are conscious of sin and will pray.