AHC: Evangelical Catholics

[Swan Station]

While Catholicism is a proselytizing faith, it seems relatively quiet compared to several other Christian religions in the U.S.

What would it take to make a large number, if not a majority, of Catholics in the U.S. as 'evangelical' as some of their protestant counterparts: laypeople openly talking about their faith even when not asked, distributing religious tracts, setting up booths at local events, etc. And, all of this going back to very early in the 20th century, if not before.

Points go to those who can create a world where two well-dressed people walking up to your door carrying a leather bound book could make you think LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses or Catholics.

Bonus points if something like Vatican II still happens.

Double Bonus points if young Catholics are expected, or at least asked, to do some sort of long-lasting mission work, if not a year of mission, not just a few hours of service work, for their confirmation.

(As a sidenote, I am aware of the existence of an evangelical movement already within the church, endorsed by recent Popes, as well as groups like the Knights of Columbus, but all of these are much smaller than what I'm looking for)

 

[Falecius]

Uhmmm... catholicism simply has no need for that in most places outside US. They'd only manage to piss off a lot of people, including some European Catholics.
My bet is a far more succesful Old Catholic Church and probably also Traditional Catholics.

 

[Swan Station]

Uhmmm... catholicism simply has no need for that in most places outside US. They'd only manage to piss off a lot of people, including some European Catholics.
My bet is a far more succesful Old Catholic Church and probably also Traditional Catholics.

Well, I'm looking for it to happen in the US, not necessarily the rest of world. In the US, it would still piss off some people, but in general we're somewhat used to getting pissed off by people trying to push their religion on us.

 

[archaeogeek]

That would be Jansenism, the Charismatics, etc.

The Old Catholics are not in a great position for evangelicanism, mainly because of their insistence on a formal hierarchy, making them closer to high church anglicans/episcopalians.

 

[Cryptic]

Well, I'm looking for it to happen in the US, not necessarily the rest of world. In the US, it would still piss off some people, but in general we're somewhat used to getting pissed off by people trying to push their religion on us.

I dont see any significant change in the number of Catholics. Nor do I see a huge potential to piss people off. Sure, some people might not like Mormons or JWS evangelizers, but most just accept them as part of the landscape and give a "not interested" response rather than a rage. Ditto for the Hare Krishnas

Door to door evangelization programs whether Mormon, JWS or potentially Catholic are not worth the enery put into them. The Mormons have faced reality and now accept the fact that the number of converts gained from the "door to door" program has been greatly exaggerated for decades.

 

[Errnge]

The Jesuits evangelized many of the native american tribes. Maybe if they continued to evangelize, maybe based out of Louisiana in America, they could convert some protestants in the south and west earlier on.

this could butterfly away the No-nothings