According to a recent Gallup Poll, after stabilizing in the mid-2000s, weekly Church attendance among U.S. Catholics has resumed its downward trajectory over the past decade.
This confirms conclusions published by CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
Particularly noteworthy is the finding that older Catholics have become less likely to report attending Mass in the past seven days -- so that now, for the first time, a majority of Catholics in no generational group attend weekly.
Given that young Catholics are even less devout, it appears the decline in church attendance will only continue.
One advantage the Catholic Church has is that the overall proportion of Americans identifying as Catholic is holding fairly steady. However, that too may not last given the dwindling Catholic percentage among younger generations.
Protestant church seats may also be less full, but for a different reason. Although weekly attendance among Protestants has been stable, the proportion of adults identifying as Protestants has shrunk considerably over the past half-century. And that trend will continue as older Americans are replaced by a far less Protestant-identifying younger generation.
All of this comes amid a broader trend of more Americans opting out of formal religion or being raised without it altogether.
In 2016, Gallup found one in five Americans professing no religious identity, up from as little as 2% just over 60 years ago.
The speed with which American society has grown more secular and amoral is alarming. We are clearly following in the footsteps of Europe where Catholicism is moribund.
Unfortunately, burying their collective heads in the proverbial sand, the Bishops suggest that there is no crisis in the Church.
As long as they content themselves by living in a virtual reality of denial, the Bishops will fail those entrusted to their care.
What the Church needs is a serious dose of honesty by both its leaders and its members, calling us to a committed effort to revive our lukewarm discipleship with the power of the Spirit’s Grace which can only come from prayer and a penitential heart.
The Church and the judgment of future of her generations is squarely upon our heads!
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