THE DECLINE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FROM A BRAND POSITIONING PERSPECTIVE

​The decline of the Catholic Church in terms of loyalty to the brand from those who define themselves as Catholics began in the early 1960s with the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), when in an attempt to modernize the overall institutional apparatus, a few consolidated theological practices and beliefs coming from the Council of Trent were considered disused.

TO BE NOTED: My analysis isn’t a theological dissertation but a mere analysis made on the basis of a brand positioning approach. 

What was said in the introduction can be explained with specific examples.

1. Since Vatican II, the priest celebrates the ritual of the Catholic mass by standing with his back to the tabernacle, which in the past was considered an act of profanation symbolising the arrogance of someone who turns his back to God.
2. People who attend the mass are no longer required to receive the Host directly in their mouth while kneeling, but may receive it standing and have it placed in their hand, thus showing (according to the previous symbolical rules) the attitude of someone who can stand in front of God and receive the Host in his unblessed hands.
3. The Bible was translated into multiple languages, and anyone is allowed to have his own copy. Before Vatican II, only consecrated religious people were allowed to have a Bible: it was a kind of monopoly of truth, The Truth. The ownership of the Bible was one of the controversial pillars of the Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther, and Catholics at the time didn’t want to let anyone who wasn't properly trained to interpret the Holy Scriptures.
4. The Catholic Church decided to avoid talking about Hell directly, as if it was an ancient idea that in the time of Reason cannot be believed anymore. Indeed, if you ask ten Catholic priests the identity of the evil being that possessed people in the New Testament, seven of them will give a psychological explanation of the phenomenon rather than justifying it as a case of possession by an evil spiritual entity.

This last point has emptied the confessionals, places where people were required to go in order to obtain mercy from God. Denying the existence of Hell as a spiritual world where you will spend eternity if you do not adhere to a specific behavioural conduct enlightened by God has moved the moral question from a spiritual MUST to a philosophical SHOULD.

Consequently, there is no one that needs to be saved anymore.

Anyone is the master of his own life and there are no eternal consequences due to conduct.

What has strengthened this belief is the conception of God as infinitely merciful, a different image than the justice-seeking God that prevailed pre-Vatican II.

This is the first controversy the Catholic Church has denied: the polarisation of Paradise/Hell.

As a consequence of the denial of the first controversy, a second controversy has come to be denied: the polarisation of right/wrong.

Let’s move in time a few decades after Vatican II with the arrival of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis has a socialist background with clear anti-capitalistic views on the economic configuration that has taken place in the last 30 years as a single worldwide ideology, and he was elected after a conservative pope.

From the beginning, Pope Francis’s goal has been to create an inclusive church.

In just a few years, he has “depenalised”:

1. Abortion: He has allowed ordinary priests to absolve the sin of abortion when it was previously absolved only by the bishop (or by ordinary priests with the permission of the bishop).
2. The sacrality of marriage: He opened a conciliatory dialogue with the homosexual community (“Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?”) and those couples who stay in a civil relationship rather than a formal marriage, disappointing the majority of the most radical Catholic movements.
3. Divorce: He has stated the necessity to reintegrate those who got divorced and were previously excluded from the sacrament of communion.
4. Other religions or beliefs: Firmly believing in inter-religious dialogue (that started right after Vatican II), he has indirectly admitted the relativity of the Catholic Church truth, which is its theological conception of God.

What has been the tangible result of his political program and his religious positioning so widely acclaimed by the media?

It has been calculated that during the Wednesday Audience, compared to the previous pope, there has been an average of 600,000 fewer people attending the event.

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, that should have mobilised millions of people to Rome, has been a total failure in terms of presence, according to the tourism associations which represent the travel business in Rome.

What is the reason for this decline in customer loyalty towards the Catholic Church brand?

Pope Francis, who is called to be a business man managing a property empire in addition to being a spiritual leader, has committed the mistake of most entrepreneurs on this planet:

aware of the crisis of consent (read: revenue), he opted for the solution more products more revenue, thus defocusing the brand.

Since my revenue is less and less consistent on a gradual basis, I widen the reach of people I can appeal to, reducing the degree of controversy and making it for all.

RESULT?

More and more loyal consumers started to decrease their sense of identification with the values of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis has positioned himself at the head of the denial of any polarisation.

Polarisation, indeed, is the essential mechanism that leads to the creation of self-perception and personal and social identity.

Being someone necessarily means not being someone else.

Standing for something necessarily involves not standing for something else.

Both in personal and social terms, your own identity is built by also not claiming someone else’s identity.

I recognize myself also for what I do not recognize as part of myself.

What did Pope Francis think instead?

If, for example, in Italy 80% of the people define themselves as Catholic but just 10% of them go to church once a week, I reduce the requirements to get membership of the exclusive "loyal to God" club, and my numbers will start to make sense once again.

Well, he hasn’t been that right.

It is better to own 45% shares of a single market than 10% in five different markets, Al Reis would say.

How could Pope Francis have increased the number of the Catholic products’ consumers?

1. By talking to his target audience without trying to appeal to those who have never cared about what the pope has to say.
2. By increasing the polarisation.

How could he have increased the polarisation and strengthened the sense of identity of his people?

1. Affirming that Hell exists and if you do not accept the Truth of our God, you will experience it for all eternity.
2. Reintroducing pre-conciliar ritualistic practices.
3. Condemning the practice of abortion in the strictest terms.
4. Defending the religious family as a spiritual union, the only one with the blessing of God, and closing the doors to any other legislative decision opposing it.
5. Permanently banning those who got divorced, who are people that were unable to keep a promise made in front of God.
6. Interrupting any sort of inter-religious dialogue that doesn’t establish Catholicism as the only true religious belief.

This would have brought so much controversy that he would have been able to consolidate the relationship with the most radical Catholic movements (which are those that really care about the Church as an institution): the raving customers.

Indeed, claiming that Hell exists and Satan is a spiritual entity rather than the symbol of some moral or psychological inclination would have generated publicity. The same could be said about the condemnation of abortion as homicide in the era of feminism and women's rights. Not to mention the tons of free publicity that could have been raised as a consequence of denying the legitimacy of relationships outside the so-called traditional family.

If you want to win in business and politics, you shouldn’t be afraid to divide. The average person has a black and white approach when it comes to matters he can’t fully understand. Controversy is what allows your voice to be heard. It’s a disturbing factor that generates attention. Indeed, if you stand for something, it’s automatically said that you stand against the opposite.

Radicality is the basis of victory.

The most lasting start-ups in the US are religious organisations.

What should Pope Francis have done to strengthen the brand positioning of the Catholic Church?

1. Redirecting the Catholic Church as the leading organization with the salvific mission of saving souls from the pain of Hell. The majority of men and women of this plane act according to their fears. If you consider the existence of God a rebus with a 50/50 chance to be true, the benefit of doubt would have helped the Catholic Church to monetize over the risk of the real possibility of the existence of God and the fear of burning in Hell for eternity. This is the cornerstone of any propaganda: making a simple idea, concept, affirmation as if it were true without any real counter proof.
2. Being in favour of a long lasting peace as blessing of God, it automatically means considering war as the factual action of the Devil. I do not remember who said this, but a man defined war as the favourite instrument Satan uses to undermine God’s credibility: if God does exist, how can he allow war? A marketing campaign in this direction would have been a big gain in monopolizing the anti-war sentiment now owned by a few political and civil movements that are religiously neutral.
3. Reintroducing a few ritual practices from the Council of Trent and abolished by Vatican II. If you empty the ritual of the mass from any transcendental meaning, the mass itself becomes just a chance for the community to meet without any ideological glue.
4. Lining up in favour of life. Strenuously defending life means condemning abortion as homicide. I can’t imagine how much publicity would have been generated by this controversy in 2017.
5. Fighting in favour of marriage between a man and a woman as the natural order established by God. I mean radically. Without any exception.
6. Ending interfaith dialogues. If the Catholic God is the real God, why would the Church need to open a conciliatory dialogue with those that, in this case, are logically those who spread belief in a false God, considering the premise?

Opening is the beginning of any end.
Focusing is the beginning of any success.

Unless the Catholic Church decides to go back to its origins and close the borders it has opened in recent years, the decline will be irreversible.

And you do not need to be a prophet to foresee it.

With the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church decided to adapt to the cultural circumstances that were taking place in the westernised world. After 2000 years, the Catholic Church made the conscious decision to move from a position of leadership to a position of fellowship.

If you are not a leader, you are a follower.

However, people seem to dislike followers as much as they love leaders.