Archbishop blames secularization for drop in religious membership

Published: 2004-06-08

CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- A Vatican official said much of the blame for a 12 percent drop in membership for Catholic religious communities in Canada over the past two years was due to secularization. "The situation is tragic," said Slovenian Archbishop Franc Rode, the newly appointed prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Archbishop Rode, speaking at the Canadian Religious Conference's general assembly held June 3-7 in Cornwall, said he was surprised that "no one has asked why the numbers have diminished." He suggested that "secularization of society and religious communities," and Catholic families having fewer children have "contributed to the diminishment of members in Canada." Archbishop Rode said in a June 4 interview that the number of consecrated men and women has dropped at a rate of more than 1,000 a year since the assembly met two years ago.

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