Auntie Charo's Soapbox

I've lost count of the years I've been writing my thoughts on why the Catholics have been jumping the fence from Catholicism to other 'Christian' sects. Like the shores at Inarajan that the tide slowly erodes over time, so goes the Catholics. Easy, though, to understand the erosion of the shoreline....complicated the diminishing number of Catholics.
My gut feeling is that the clergy has lost its hold on the provebial 'flock'. Used to be, the Bishop was close to the priests and the priests were close to the parishoners. These days, there's the new Catecumen group that seems to be dividing the church into two groups and if you're not in the 'neo' group, you're not in the 'in' group. The Bishop is in the 'in' group. A few priests aren't in the 'in' group.
The Christian sects are 'user friendly'. They are hospitable, they're friendly, they're happy to be around and seem sincere and helpful and seem concerned about your problems, offering to pray over whatever it is that ails you. They make it comfortable for you to be around them.
So, if the Catholics have lost ten percent of their flock, it's a surprise that they've not lost more than that. As I write this, I'm willing to bet that there's no one at the Chancery doing one darn thing to do anything that would bring any one of those lost souls back to the flock........oh well...at least they're still worshipping the same God! (only thing is, the Christians don't pay tribute to Mary....I'd miss that if I ever switched!)