A SNAPSHOT OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM

Two recent studies offer a very interesting snapshot of Catholicism in America.

A study of churches and religious affiliation in the United States called the, “2010 U.S. Religious Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study” was recently released by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. 

It is the most comprehensive study of its kind. 

The study provides detailed county-by-county information on congregations, members, adherents and attendance for 236 different faiths groups. The survey even differentiates between specific denominations within the same tradition.

What does the research tell us about Catholics?

Slightly more than 58.9 million Catholic adherents and 20,589 congregations were reported in 2,960 counties across the country. 

The researchers found Massachusetts to be the most Catholic state with around 44.9 percent of population identifying as Catholic. The researchers found Tennessee to be the least Catholic state with only 3.5 percent identifying as Catholic.

The researchers defined as Catholic those with an affiliation to a parish including children, members and attendees who are not members.  

Except for a few scattered counties in the West and in the Bible belt, the rest of the country uniformly has at least 5 percent of Catholic adherents.  The highest concentration of Catholics is in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest.

Interestingly, the largest Catholic dioceses are now in the West. 

In 2010, Catholic parishes in the West reported an average of approximately 4,200 members. Thirty years ago, Catholic parishes in the West had slightly less than 2000 members on average, meaning that churches in the West have grown by over 100 percent in the last 30 years. 

Catholic parishes in the South have also grown about 67 percent in the same time period.

Another study conducted by the Pew Research Center indicates that the median age of Catholic adults in the U.S. is 49 years old – four years older than it was in 2007. Catholics are significantly older than members of non-Christian faiths (40) and people who are not affiliated with any religion (36).

Just 17% of Catholic adults are under the age of 30, compared with 22% of U.S. adults, 35% of religious “nones” and 44% of U.S. Muslims.

The face of the Body of Christ in the United States is changing, sometimes at a surprising pace. 

One thing is certain.  The Catholic Church of the future in America will, without doubt, look, sound and feel different from the Church I knew for most of my life.

This fact should not disturb us, but remind and convince us yet again that the Holy Spirit is the Source of Life, the Paraclete, Who inspires Faith and nourishes and strengthens that Faith with the truth of the Gospel and the empowerment provided by the Sacraments.

God bless our Church, today and always.  Let us thank the Lord for His gift to us of our Catholic Faith, the greatest treasure in our lives.