Another look at the numbers tells a slightly different story.

In this study, those raised in a Catholic-Protestant family tend to prefer Protestantism to Catholicism by a significant margin (38% to 29%). That suggests Catholics are losing a seemingly fair competition. 

And there's more bad news for Catholics here. In Protestant only families, we see more "affiliated" overall (86%) and only 3% crossing over to Catholicism. Compare that to Catholic only families, where we see 81% total affiliated and a whopping 16% crossing over to Protestantism.

Not a good report card for our religion. Catholics are losing head to head, and Catholic families produce more unaffiliated kids than Protestants do.

Just one study, I know. But this does not suggest that everything will be ok if we just marry Catholic.

The "other guys" seem to be beating us.

Enjoy this latest opportunity to blame either VII or JPII according to your personal taste and prejudice. Then maybe try some thoughtful reflection.