Fr. Roger Landry on Praying for Fallen Away Loved Ones

"On October 17, the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey that showed that 65 percent of American adults now say that they're Christians, down 12 percentage points in just the last ten years. Those describing themselves as atheists, agnostics and 'nothing in particular' are now at 26 percent of the population, up from 17 percent in 2009. And while Catholics were 23 percent of Americans a decade ago, they constitute today - despite large-scale immigration from Catholic countries - just 20 percent of the adult population.

"These are staggering declines, and we have all seen the troubling consequences of these shifts. Many Catholic churches, schools, convents and seminaries are now shuttered. Masses in those parishes that have survived often have plenty of empty pews on Sundays. Family members and friends whom we know and love are no longer practicing or believing. Most everyone recognizes that these are not anomalous blips, like an occasional down economic quarter for a major company; they are worrisome trends that give few signs of reversal.

"At an institutional level, these tendencies occupy the attention of bishops and chanceries, pastors and parish finance and pastoral councils, Catholic superintendents, principals, and teachers, and many concerned faithful. At a personal level, however, they occupy a great deal of the minds and hearts of parents, grandparents godparents, spouses, siblings, sons, daughters and friends as they pray for their loved ones whose choices have helped establish those trends. Many are discouraged. Many don't know what to do or to say. Many lament that their prayers and interventions do not seem to be bearing any fruit. . . .

"Prayers for loved ones do work miracles.

"We see it throughout the Gospel. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Father Roger J. Landry (a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, MA, who works for the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations) reflected on the importance of praying for and offered some suggestions about praying for those who moved from the practice of the faith and for those who need prayers to take it up for the first time.

To access Fr. Landry's complete essay, please visit:

Boston Pilot: Echoes: Father Roger J. Landry: Praying for fallen away loved ones (6 NOV 19)