The demographic balance in Catholicism has shifted decisively and irrevocably away from Europe as the number of Catholics in the world increases rapidly. Culturally and politically, the change could be as significant as Christianity's passage from a sect of Judaism to a gentile movement, some 19 centuries ago.
For a thoughtful consideration of the question, see Ian Linden, Global Catholicism (Columbia UP 2009). From the review in the current TLS--
"A generation ago, mainstream Christianity was widely dismissed as démodé. This verdict itself looks old-fashioned today. Whether you view recent developments with relief or unease, it is clear that the Catholic Church, in particular, remains remarkably robust. There are now almost as many Catholics as citizens of China. Secularists might be surprised to learn that the Church is the largest single supplier of health care and education on the planet, the principal glue of civil society in Africa, the strongest bulwark of opposition to the caste system in India, and a leading player in global campaigns for sustainable living. It provides almost the only charitable presence in Chechnya, and other blackspots often forgotten by the rest of the world. Yet these marks of health contrast sharply with the often poor standard of the Church’s leadership..."
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6057334.ece
Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Apr 20, 2009, at 5:16 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>
>> With the collapse of official Marxism-Leninism and the growth of
>> Liberation Theology among the increasing number of Catholics in what
>> used to be called the Third World, while neoliberalism grew in the
>> developed world, Catholicism might be seen ca. 2000 as the largest
>> body of anti-capitalist thought in the world -- followed perhaps by
>> Islam...
>
> If you overlook the troglodytes in the Vatican.
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