Episode 163 — The Coming Catholic Collapse: What Happens When The Boomers Are Gone? — W/ TLM Ryan

The Boomer era of American Catholicism is rapidly approaching its end—and the consequences could be catastrophic for the institutional Church.

Over the next decade, the generation that has dominated parish life since Vatican II will continue aging out. As aging congregations shrink, who will fill the pews, fund the parishes, and provide the next generation of priests and religious? How many dioceses are prepared for the wave of consolidations and parish closures that may be coming?

On Episode 163 of The Backlash, Dave Reilly is joined by TLM Ryan, host of Pre-Conciliar Radio, to examine the demographic time bomb facing the Catholic Church—and whether young traditional Catholics can rebuild what the post-conciliar establishment leaves behind.

We also discuss the sorry condition of the modern Church: collapsing Catholic identity, institutional confusion, the marginalization of tradition, and a hierarchy that often appears more interested in accommodating the world than converting it.

Finally, we examine the Catholic Biblical Association’s election of Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish New Testament scholar, as its president for 2026–27—the first non-Catholic Jewish scholar to hold the position. What does her election reveal about the direction of modern Catholic biblical scholarship, and what does “Catholic” still mean when a major Catholic association chooses a non-Catholic president?

TLM Ryan’s Pre-Conciliar Radio explores the richness of the Traditional Latin Mass, the forgotten inheritance of pre-conciliar Catholicism, and the realities of navigating the modern Church during an unprecedented period of confusion and crisis.

https://www.youtube.com/@PreConciliarRadio
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