Nice to see what the new presiding bishopess of the Episcopal Church, USA (USA! USA!) thinks about us low-brow Catholics. (From the New York Times Magazine via Rod’s blog.]
How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?
About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children.
Episcopalians aren’t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?
No. It’s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.
I hate to admit this now, but did anyone else see Monty Python’s “Meaning of Life”? (Yes, yes, I know, terrible movie ... hilarious, but very, very bad and you should never see it if you have had the misfortune not to see it before my warning of its sinfulness.) It reminds me of the scene where the prudish, stuck-up and obviously childless Anglican couple deride the rough, uncouth Catholic peasants surrounded by children for their refusal to use contraception.
Apparently Bishopess Kathleen Jefferts Schori believes Episcopalians are too smart and responsible to have kids. I wonder how their 1.2 children feel about that? Maybe Catholics just love their children more than the bishopess’s crowd does.
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