On the Single Series-Six

For all those who wrote in personal stories of pain and suffering regarding the single state, I shall pray for you all. The feedback has been moving. Someone suggested I would start a Supertradmum courting site. No thanks, anyway. But, many single women of all ages have written to me in the past few days on this subject. Most are in cities. The same has been true of the single men, although less, who have sent notes. Of course, I do not publish the anonymous, or those who ask me not to do so. I also pray for those who have had a vocation, but it has failed, and find themselves alone in the world. Again, mostly women have written of this.

The Church needs to deal with this seriously and quit pretending that loneliness and childlessness is a normal way of life. I challenge priests to rethink the standard teaching of the last fifty years on this subject. Many years ago, I heard an excellent Tridentine Mass priest address the young men in the congregation at Mass. He said quite bluntly that if they were sitting all by themselves and had not considered a vocation to either the married or religious or priestly life, they should to it "now". The priest was being a real pastor.

48% of adult women in the States are single, a 2011 statistic. That is shocking to me. Here is a chart. I really do not believe that men cannot find the woman they want. What do they want? I know what Catholic women want: a protector, dependability, love, children, shared prayer life, shared Catholic Faith, leadership, commitment, security and some brains....and at least some ability to work and move in the big world. We Catholics may simply become an extinct group in some areas. I shall look up statistics for the EU for another post.

Here are two charts from the same site: one can see trends. Interesting that some of the women who have talked to me about these problems are from some of these areas.

Here is a list on cities with the most single men. It would be interesting to know if the Traditional Mass goers in these areas reflect the trends. I would also wonder if some of these places were meccas for gays, thus effecting the statistics from 2009. Women should not go looking for men. They will find the wrong types of they do this. The real Protectors will seek them out, if they are in the right place and if God is in charge.

1. Seattle, WA
2. Denver, CO
3. San Jose, CA
4. San Diego, CA
5. Austin, TX
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Minneapolis, MN
8. Dallas, TX
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Portland, OR
11. Houston, TX
12. Las Vegas, NV
13. Los Angeles, CA
14. Boston, MA
15. Chicago, IL
16. New York, NY
17. Miami, FL