Sacrifice or Prosperity?

Canadian News (CBC) leading up to the Pope's election commented on Catholic decline in Latin America - particularly in Brazil - a decline from 84% to 69% in the last 10-20 years. (approx.)

What struck me was one of the reasons: that many are no longer interested in the message of sacrifice and suffering coming from the Catholic church, instead, they are drawn to the message of prosperity from Evangelicals.

I fit into being an evangelical (broadly speaking), yet when I heard this my heart sunk.

1. I don't believe the main emphasis of evangelicals is prosperity, however there's a large charismatic movement that centers much of its message around prosperity.
2. It saddens me that the main evangelical message coming from Latin America is that Christianity (in those forms at least) has become materialistic (i.e. interpreting God's blessing as material accumulation or personal achievement)
3. There's enough emphasis from Jesus to help us know the difference: "die to yourself," "take up your cross," "give up your life if you want to lose it," "don't store up treasure in this world," "don't worry about tomorrow,"
4. I don't adhere to some of the traditional Catholic message that are 'works oriented' (suffer/sacrifice in order to receive from God); however, this broad stroke news from Brazil is discouraging.
5. If Christianity draws people in with a promise to prosper materially, where will that lead the church.

I wonder if this new Pope's emphasis on the poor will draw Catholics in, or if in places like Latin America it will draw them out to find prosperity elsewhere. He was recently quoted: I would like a poor church, for the poor. Curious to see how this message is received in those places.

Interestingly enough this doesn't mean he wants the Catholic church to become a non-profit organization only focused on compassion and poverty. The new Pope stated he wished to see the church go back to it's root centered in Christ so it doesn't merely turn into a large NGO (cautioning that such a move away from the gospel will weaken the church into a house of sand).



Thoughts? Questions?