Everyone on the altar was in their 20s, other than the priest. Maybe a few gray heads in the room. Everyone 30s and younger. And they have a u-tube channel, Facebook. And the priest was treated with the utmost respect.

Then again, the RCC is a largely Third World Church and has been for quite some time. Only 13 percent of Catholics live in the U.S. Two-thirds live in the developing world. That's where its future is.

The church I just mentioned was in the U.S., btw. And the mass was said in Spanish.

ties to the church seem stronger than ever.

regardless of denominational ties, at least here in the US.

At my parish, I would say the demographics at a typical Mass matches pretty much the surrounding community - a good mix of families, empty-nesters, and elderly. Our parish does not have a school - most of the children at Mass go to the local public school (a few live in our parish but go to a Catholic school of a neighboring parish). Our Christmas and Easter Masses are standing room only, as they have always been. But I've visited parishes where it is mostly older/elderly as you mention - I'm not sure what the difference but for sure in some cases the community itself is much older as kids move out once out of high school.

One difference here compared to where I grew up is that Catholics are more integrated into the general community. Community groups are happy to use our facilities for meetings, etc, and I think years ago it would not have been common.

I self identified myself as an Irish Catholic Democrat for years, I no longer do. I dont know if is because I have outgrown labels or if I identify myself much less with the Catholic Church. The Catholic part has dropped, I still strongly self identify as a Democrat.

of the RCC?

Is it still popular among younger folks, or is that also declining?

Any thoughts here from those in the know are greatly appreciated.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/15/the-popes-mixed-legacy-with-latino-catholics/?iid=article_sidebar

snip

Benedict’s opposition to liberation theology was ironic because he shared many of its concerns, others say. He was critical of capitalism and thought that Christian leaders should be concerned with the economic and political liberation of their followers.
Benedict spoke out against unrestrained capitalism, income inequality and global warming. As recently as December, he said in a speech that Christians should work for a more “equitable sharing of the Earth’s resources.”

“Benedict was a vociferous advocate for the poor and strongly opposed income inequality,” says James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life." “On that mark, he was as progressive as they come.”
Yet Benedict was suspicious of liberation theologians because some aligned themselves with political movements that sought to overthrow repressive governments in Latin America, other historians say.

The prospect of the church aligning itself with political movements alarmed Benedict because of his own upbringing, says Ramon Luzarraga, a religion professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He saw such an alliance between church and state destroy his native Germany. Catholic and Protestant leaders help put Hitler in power, Luzarraga says.

snip

There's also a discussion of liberation theology in Latin America itself. As always, the situation is more complicated than we think.

One bright spot in this story is the fact that most Latino Catholics support gay marriage. Given that 39 percent of all Catholics worldwide live in Latin America, that's a good sign.

If the Vatican were to do that, their next Pope might do what John Paul I did over 30 years ago in bringing the church up to the modern era.

so many of the Church's positions would be viewed as very liberal, particularly in America. I was unaware of his opposition to the Church being aligned with political movements, based on his experience in Nazi Germany (and he's completely correct in my opinion).

"Liberation Theology for white people from a comfortable middle class background"

An extreme oversimplification, and not entirely accurate, but kind of makes the point well. Most young people active in any church (like I am) are doing it not in any traditional established church.