Austrian Catholics Leaving in Record Numbers after Scandal

VIENNA, Austria -- Austrians are leaving the Roman Catholic Church in record numbers, according to statistics released last week.
Church officials attributed the 44,852 dropouts during 2004 to a scandal involving the discovery of child and other pornography on computers at a seminary in the diocese of St. Poelten, the Austria Press Agency reported.

The first thought that comes to mind is that I cannot help but think that those who are leaving or who have left have little faith or little understanding of the faith. And where will they go? The failures to teach the faith are evident as well as the failure to live one's life as a Catholic. This probably applies to both the clergy and the laity. This is such a terrible situation - all I know to do is to pray for them and for the Church.

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