The Archbishop's "To-Do" List

A new blogger, "Get Up and Get Moving," has provided a number of suggestions for Archbishop Dolan's "to-do" list--at the Seminary, in parishes, in high schools, and with the priests of the Milwaukee area.

So far, we've only suggested (repeatedly) that he send "Fr. " Richard McBrien a Dear John letter for his column of bilious intellectualoid rants and remove it from the pages of the Catholic Herald Citizen.

At the risk of overloading the Archbishop, I'll add another little project to his pile: Alverno, Mount Mary, Cardinal Stritch, and Marquette.

These figures are slightly old, (2001) but likely still very valid:

In 1997, 45 percent of incoming freshmen at Catholic colleges said they support keeping abortion legal, with 55 percent opposed. Four years later, the same students were 57 percent pro-abortion, 43 percent pro-life.

Similarly, students' support for legalizing homosexual "marriages" increased from 55 percent to 71 percent. Approval of casual sex increased from 30 percent to 49 percent.

In 1997, more than two-thirds of Catholic freshmen at Catholic colleges attended religious services frequently, while the remaining third attended occasionally. By senior year, 13 percent stopped attending services altogether, and nearly half attended only occasionally.

Similarly, only 37 percent of seniors at Catholic colleges said they prayed or meditated more than one hour a week. Almost one-third of the students reported that they do not pray at all.

Wonder how the numbers work out here...