Truth is, many parishes in Europe are growing. But others are dying. As one theologian noted in a 1969 German radio interview, Catholicism was entering a time of painful decline in the modern world.

Of the 52% of Massachusetts adults in the study who identify as Christians, 29% of them are Catholic. That's higher than the nationwide total of 19% of adults.

I sat down and began writing this essay on the morning of April 21, 2025, less than thirty minutes after learning of Pope ...