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[Nancylia]

I found this site while seaching for a catholic prayer room.  Join the chat several times and I really enjoy chatting with some people there.  I am a Land Dayak from Sarawak, in the beautiful island of Borneo. I am now in France, living here for 6 yrs now. Sad to see the beautiful and huge churches here almost empty.  More and more christians turn away from God.

[cajunrick]

What is happening with Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular in Europe is truly sad.  I read recently that only 23% of Christians in Europe go to church at all, and most of them do not attend regularly.  The patrons of my parish church (in Louisiana US) are St. Louis IX, King of France, and St. Joan of Arc, and it is sad to know that the country who's faith they fought to defend will soon be majority Muslim.

I'm sure Borneo must be a beautiful island.  Did it suffer much damage from the tsunami in 2004?  (My area was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and is still reeling 18 months later.)  And I have to ask, what is a "Land Dayak"?

I'm looking forward to learning more about your native culture.

[Nancylia]

Hi Rick,

Thanks so much for viewing my message.  Hope you are doing well.  Sorry for the late reply.  Just came back from adoration.  Talking about moslem, I feel sad of how they make their rules in my country (Malaysia).  In Malaysia, when you are married to a Moslem, you have to convert to moslem. You have to throw away your holy bible, forget about your baptism, communion, etc.  The bad thing about this is, it makes the 'population' of moslems becoming more and the christians becoming less and less.  Why do we have to follow such a rule, which is not even written in a Bible or Quran? Sorry to say the government don't mind giving lots of money to build the mosques and nothing to build the church.  why

Sarawak (my homeland) is a part of Malaysia.  Yes, Sarawak is situated  in a beautiful island of Borneo.  If you would like to know more about Sarawak, have a look here ; http://www.sarawaktourism.com 
Land Dayak is one of the ethnic groups in Sarawak.  They are also known as Bidayuh. Sarawak didn't suffer from the tsunami.

[JimAroo]

Nancylia- We are happy you found this site- Please  join us in chat if you can.  We have at least one othef regular chatter from Malaysia....a woman named Chris.  You might enjoy talking to someone close to home.  The persecution of Christians by Moslems in your country is a sad thing.  In the not too distant future the sane thing could happen in Europe!

Hope to see you in Chat.

Jim

[Nancylia]

Hi Jim,

I join the chat once a while because you know.. I am a busy mother with three kids  Thanks for the info. Jim.  I would love to chat with Chris and all of you.

Have a nice day.

[Nancylia]

Is there anybody from France / South East Asia here? 

Jim, I chat with Chris last Saturday. 

On Easter day, we organize eggs hunting for the kids. A day before Easter, we cook some eggs and our kids decorate them.  What do you organize for the kids for Easter in your place / country? Anybody out there has and idea / suggestions? Thanks in advance for your info.

[JimAroo]

Hi -

We also decorate hard boiled eggs the day before Easter. We have a tradition of hiding them and the children finding them.  We often give the kids excessive amounts of candy that day in the form of chocolates and sugar concoctions.  Many people still practice these customs even though they do not realize the connection to the Passion, Death, AND Resurrection of Jesus Christ.



Jim

[Nancylia]

Thanks for your message Jim.  Over here (France), the parents hide some chocolates in the form of egg around the house before the mass. I remember in my village in Sarawak, we don't have this custom.  Normally we help my mom making (lemang).. the glutonious rice mixed with coconut milk and a bit of salt, cooked inside the bamboos.  On Easter day, we gather together with our family and relatives. Every Friday afternoon during the month of Lent, there is the station of the cross in the church. 

[cajunrick]

Your customs seem a lot like ours (except for the lemang).  We also have the Way of the Cross during Lent, typically on Friday.  Our parish also has a Youth Way of the Cross on Monday.  In my childhood home, Easter morning meant chocolate in the shape of a bunny and other Easter candies; dyed, boiled eggs, and clothing.

My father was a manager of a retail store, so the candy we got was always the left-overs.  My first few years I thought the melted bunny rabbits were the best because only we got them.  Of course, I realized later he was getting them free.  When there were lots of melted bunnies, Mom would melt the chocolate down and mix in pecans and make "homemade" Easter candy.

[Nancylia]

Sounds like your mother is a good cook.  I miss my parents cooking  On Easter and Christmas day in my village, we often cook a lot and invite our friends, relatives and family members to come over to our house to eat together. Normally a day before Easter or Christmas, the villagers work together to decorate the small church in the village.  for christmas we donate some money for our church to buy the presents for the poor families and for the old people.

[RCWarrior]

I would like people to know that despite what you hear about Catholics dwindling, it simply is not so.  There are almost 1.6 Billion Catholics worldwide, there are 150 million converts every year just in America, and there are 1 Million converts in Africa every year.
Vocations are up almost double and Mass has also increased.

I get my numbers from the Catholic Register, as well as the Christian Source.  We are the largest religion in the world, although the Muslims are not far behind.

[JimAroo]

I would like people to know that despite what you hear about Catholics dwindling, it simply is not so.  There are almost 1.6 Billion Catholics worldwide, there are 150 million converts every year just in America, and there are 1 Million converts in Africa every year.
Vocations are up almost double and Mass has also increased.

I get my numbers from the Catholic Register, as well as the Christian Source.  We are the largest religion in the world, although the Muslims are not far behind.

wowie!!!150 million converts in the USA every year.... total population = 300 million....where did all these JWs come from???  LOLArent we all Catholic yet?

[RCWarrior]

The world isn't Catholic yet because a lot of people find the Catholic faith to hard and that is why I love my faith.  Jesus said "It is not easy to enter the Kingdom of heaven".  Although people try to avoid the hard doctrinal and moral truths the Catholic church offers them because HARD TRUTHS DEMAND THAT LIVES BE CHANGED, they nevertheless are attracted to the church.

When they contemplate the history of the Catholic church and the lives of its Saints, they realize there must be something special, maybe something supernatural, about an institution that can produce holy people such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Mother Teresa.

The Blessed Mother once told a visionary, in the end the world will convert to the Catholic faith.

[cajunrick]

Here are the latest statistics from the USCCB Office of Media Relations:

The Catholic Church in the United States At A Glance



Laity
There are 69,135,254 Catholics in the United States1 (23% of the U.S. population), and 1 billion Catholics worldwide2.

New Church Members3

Infant Baptisms: 943,264

Adult Baptisms: 80,817

Received into Full Communion: 73,684
Dioceses and Archdioceses
In the United States, there are 195 archdioceses and dioceses:


145 Latin Catholic dioceses

33 Latin Catholic archdioceses

15 Eastern Catholic dioceses

2 Eastern Catholic archdioceses
Clergy and Religious

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is an assembly of the hierarchy of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cardinals
There are 14 U.S. Cardinals


7 Cardinals currently lead U.S. archdioceses
Cardinal William Keeler – Baltimore

Cardinal Francis George - Chicago

Cardinal Adam Maida – Detroit

Cardinal Roger Mahony – Los Angeles

Cardinal Edward Egan – New York

Cardinal Justin Rigali – Philadelphia

Cardinal Sean O'Malley - Boston

5 U.S. Cardinals are not currently diocesan bishops
Cardinal Avery Dulles – Professor of Theology, Fordham University

Cardinal James Stafford – Major Penitentiary

Cardinal Bernard F. Law – Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, Rome

Cardinal Edmund Szoka – President, Pontifical Commission for Vatican City

Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

3 U.S Cardinals are retired

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua – Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia

Cardinal William Baum – Major Penitentiary Emeritus

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick - Archbishop of Washington
Bishops
There are 428 active and retired U.S. bishops in the United States (as of February 5, 2007) (note: not included in this number are three Cardinals serving the Holy See in Rome):


268 Active Bishops:
7 Cardinal Archbishops

28 Archbishops
1 Coadjutor Archbishop
153 Diocesan Bishops
79 Auxiliary Bishops


160 Retired Bishops:
3 retired Cardinal Archbishops
16 retired Archbishops
93 retired Diocesan Bishops
48 retired Auxiliary Bishops
Currently, 5 dioceses are vacant (sede vacante):

Birmingham
Great Falls-Billings
Lake Charles
Little Rock
Pittsburgh
Priests4
There are 42,271 diocesan and religious-order priests in the United States.
28,538 diocesan priests
14,520 religious-order priests (Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.)
Seminarians5
There are 5,642 seminarians enrolled in the United States.

3,929 enrolled in diocesan seminaries
1,713 enrolled in religious-order seminaries
Permanent Deacons6
There are 14,995 men who are ordained as permanent deacons in the United States. A permanent deacon is a man, either married or single, who is ordained to the order of deacons, the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. They assist priests in administrative and pastoral roles.
Vowed Religious7

Sisters: 67,773
Brothers: 5,252
Catholic Education8

Elementary Schools: 6,148 schools educating 1,674,317 students
High Schools: 1,354 schools educating 679,506 students
Colleges and Universities: 231 institutions educating 763,757 students
Non-residential Schools for Handicapped Persons: 79 schools educating 5,745 students
Public School Students Receiving Religious Education:
Elementary School students: 3,486,805
High School students: 729,421
Catholic Health Care9
Hospitals: 573 Catholic hospitals treated 84,723,272 patients
Other Health Care Centers: 392 centers treated 6,054,544 patients
Specialized Homes: 1,503 assisted 687,519 residents
Residential Care of Children: 235 locations assisted 77,926 residents
Catholic Charities
Social Services10
More than 1,789 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions provided services to 7,199,271 unduplicated individuals in need of help in 2004.

Provided Services that Build Strong Communities to 3,415,271 people
Social support services 1,850,366
Education and enrichment 618,712
Socialization and neighborhood services 506,878
Health-related services 183,983
Services to at-risk populations 255,332

Provided Food Services to 5,260,459 people
Food banks and food pantries 2,226,630
Soup kitchens 803,983
Congregate dining 1,463,718
Home delivered meals 307,901
Other food services 458,227

Provided Services that Strengthen Families to 1,172,225 people
Counseling and mental health services 542,483
Immigration services 323,762
Addiction services 138,428
Refugee services 51,995
Pregnancy services 70,998
Adoption services 44,559

Provided Housing Related Services to 544,039 people
Housing services 194,833
Temporary shelter 170,010
Supervised living 103,963
Permanent housing 34,344
Transitional housing 40,889

Provided Other Basic Needs Services to 1,521,597 people
Financial Assistance (not rent, mortgage, etc.) 12%
Clothing Assistance 34%
Utilities Assistance 12%
Assistance with Purchase of Prescriptions 3%
Additional Other Basic Needs Assistance 39%

Provided Disaster Services to 99,863 people

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note that the disaster services figures are from 2004, which does not include the massive Catholic relief efforts after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005.

The most recent Vatican statistics I've seen put the Catholic population worldwide at 1.15 billion.  I think the 1.6 billion would probably represent what the Vatican considers legitimate Churches (those with valid sacraments), Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Polish National.  I couldn't find a source for that figure, however, so I really can't say whether or not it's accurate.

The Christian faith is the largest on earth, and the second fastest growing (after Islam).  The Catholic faith (Catholic and Orthodox) is by far the largest component of Christianity.

[Nancylia]

Hoping more and more people convert to catholic.  Thanks for the info. Rick. Sometimes I don't understand why some catholics leaving their church and joining other churches or worshiping Allah, Buddha.. etc.