One in three

No, we’re not talking about the Trinity but about the one in three adult Americans raised Catholic who have left the Church.

Peter Steinfels writes an excellent piece in Commonweal (h/t to Fr. James Martin, SJ) about this reality, the blindspots we hold about it, the silence of the US Bishops on it, and the sporadic and inadequate response we as leaders in the US Church have made. Some clips…

One can also point out that Catholicism enjoys numerous converts. …[but] We celebrate those coming in the door; we don’t note publicly those going out; perhaps no one notices at all except saddened family members. In reality, three Catholics leave the church for each one who enters.

And…

But it would be inane to hold the bishops or any other specific group in the church responsible for the social and economic forces that dissolved the Catholic subculture, or for “the sixties,” or for the inevitable succession of generations. We can only be responsible for the ways we have responded, or not responded, to such huge shifts—with energy, sensitivity, and creativity, or with timidity, inertia, and stock formulas. I doubt whether any diocese is without some energetic, sensitive, and creative initiatives to improve pastoral practice, liturgy, catechetics, preaching, faith formation, financial support, social witness, and all the other things that could reverse the current decline. I continue to hear of successful programs, learn of valuable research, meet inspiring individuals, and see ads for attractive guides and educational materials for clergy and lay leaders alike. Yet somehow all these initiatives seem too scattered, too underfunded, too dependent on an always limited number of exceptional talents to coalesce into a force equal to the forces of dissolution.

I’m in one of those dioceses that is trying to use the new translation as a catalyst for widespread liturgical renewal, including renewal in our catechetical practices, hospitality and evangelization efforts, ministry to youth, and social action. But will it be enough in the face of “one in three”?

Toward the end of the piece, Steinfels gives obvious answers for addressing this reality: “A quantum leap in the quality of Sunday liturgies, including preaching; a massive, all-out mobilization of talent and treasure to catechize the young, bring adolescents into church life, and engage young adults in ongoing faith formation; and regular, systematic assessments of all these activities.” But he ends with this: “What matters is not this set of proposals—or any other. What matters is merely some kind of acknowledgement from the hierarchy, or even leading individuals within the hierarchy, of the seriousness of the situation.”

So what is on the docket for the Bishop’s November meeting?

Read the full article here.

Diana Macalintal

Diana Macalintal is the Director of Worship for the Diocese of San Jose in California and holds a Master of Arts in Theology, cum laude, from Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. She has served as a liturgist, music, and catechumenate director in campus, parish, and diocesan ministries for over 25 years and has authored numerous articles on liturgy, music, and the catechumenate. She was a contributing author for <em>The Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers</em> and wrote <em>The Eucharist Catechist's Guide</em> (both Saint Mary's Press, 2009). She is an adjunct faculty member of the Institute in Pastoral Ministries of Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (Winona) and serves as a team member of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. She founded and maintains a blog for the Diocese of San Jose called "Work of the People" and is a co-founder of TeamRCIA.com.

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Comments

24 responses to “One in three”

  1. Nick Baty

    So you’re doing better than the UK! Over here, 92% of youngsters who go through the Catholic schools system have no further contact with the Church!

    Reply
  2. Tom Poelker

    ‘obvious answers for addressing this reality: “A quantum leap in the quality of Sunday liturgies, including preaching; a massive, all-out mobilization of talent and treasure to catechize the young, bring adolescents into church life, and engage young adults in ongoing faith formation; and regular, systematic assessments of all these activities.” ‘

    None of these will be achieved so long as the RC in the US clings to the medieval concept of geographical parish.

    So long as pastors can count mere residents as members and residents feel compelled to accept membership as inevitable, there will continue to be little incentive to improve parishes or to rise above the lowest common denominator.

    Many of the “liturgy wars” are parochial civil wars because the residents feel that they have to get their needs met in the local parish because it is not legitimate to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, this is a winner take all situation.

    Allowing the equivalent of medieval guild chapels for RCs with distinct social or liturgical needs, and allowing the selection of pastors appropriate to these chapels, would be a huge improvement.

    How much better if an urban area, instead of 50 parishes, had 20 geographic parishes and twenty legitimate Sunday chapels for specific ministries and liturgical inclinations. How much more peaceful!

    REQUEST: How might I have better set off the above quote?

    Reply
    1. Leo Connor

      I don’t think a self-selective parish meets the requirements of the Gospel or the Catholic tradition. The territorial parish is simply more “catholic”.

      Reply
  3. Ray Marshall

    What we need is a Vatican III. The last one was so successful, a third one would have to work.

    Granted that the cataclysms and changes of the 60s, the birth control pill and abortion, no-fault divorce, prosperity with cars for everybody, delaying of marriage, the flight to the suburbs and other political, demographic, cultural and sociological factors assisted in the changes.

    But the dismantling of the educational and liturgical ministries of the Church accelerated the process tremendously.

    Jesus said he would be with us until the end of time. But he didn’t say that we would always grow bigger.

    Reply
  4. Nancy Nugent

    As a GenXer, I was taught little of the faith as a child from parents confused and petrified at all the changes the Second Vatican Council brought. I only became truly interested in my faith after a conversion/re-version experience. When I attended graduate school for theology, I could see the fundamental disconnects between the left and the right in the Church. (It exhausted me to no end to see that tension, and I once had a brief career in politics!) As an institution, we can no longer treat our faith as an academic exercise or the rationale of a belief system to be argued and debated.

    Christian spirituality may help young adults connect the institutional aspects of the Church to their individual spiritual journeys. Introducing spirituality into all types of Church offerings may help. Many young adults are unfamiliar with aspects of their own faith but are searching for a spirituality that brings meaning to their lives and a Church that provides them with community.

    Of course, the implications for this approach mean that young adults’ search for religious experience, meaning, and community will require people in positions of responsibility and authority to internalize the message of the Gospel themselves, and that may be the biggest challenge of them all – evangelizing our leadership.

    Reply
  5. Todd Flowerday

    “But the dismantling of the educational and liturgical ministries of the Church accelerated the process tremendously.”

    Really? Did this dismantling take place at age four? Or age two? Or maybe six? Catholics schools have long been irrelevant in the determination of someone sticking to the faith or not.

    The US never had liturgical ministry of any significance before Vatican II other than in very select and dedicated places. And even then, it was pastor-driven. New guys show up all the time to sweep the deck.

    US Catholics have, by and large, yet to get serious about retention and evangelization. I think the last solid effort at retention was right after the council.

    Jesus might not have said we would always “grow bigger” but he did say to spread the gospel to all corners of the earth. I know Ray that your intention isn’t malicious with your last statement, but it strays dangerously close to anti-gospel.

    I know my reaction is anger when Catholics seem satisfied with a smaller church. Prove to me you’re not just lazy and suffering a sense of entitlement.

    Reply
    1. Brigid Rauch

      Todd – your comment “New guys show up all the time to sweep the deck.” raises a new question for me. How many Catholics leave when a parish home is hit by the neutron bomb of a new pastor? The pastor comes in, fires the staff, discourages the volunteers who aren’t total sycophants, eliminates those programs and aspects of the liturgy he doesn’t like and frequently redecorates the sanctuary. When he is finished, the buildings are all still there, but the people who made the parish are all gone.

      Reply
      1. Leo Connor

        Just like the movie “Going My Way”.

      2. Todd Flowerday

        I’d like to think that your neutron bomb is survivable, and more people stick it out. But I can’t be sure. Certainly a post-conciliar factor would be people encouraged under a good pastor, who find the replacement less palatable. My observation is that people will generally cut a new priest a lot of slack. If the neutron bomb is working, it’s almost surely because of the leadership.

  6. Jack Rakosky

    The de-facto business strategy of most parishes and dioceses appears to be to give more and more services to fewer and fewer people at a greater and greater cost per person.

    As long as Catholics continue to respond to stewardship appeals for sacrificial giving to financially maintain this inward looking strategy there is no incentive for outreach to increase Mass attendance and bring back Catholics who have left for greener pastures, and thereby increase the collections and reduce the cost per person.

    We will just continue have a bunch of self satisfied bishops, clergy and laity who may lament the decline of our culture and the Church but locate the causes of all that in other people rather than in themselves.

    While I would go far beyond Steinfels in criticizing the lack of leadership of the hierarchy, expecting leadership there, or even in our clergy is a large part of the problem not the solution.

    Recently the pastor of a nearby parish began expressing concern in his bulletin about decreasing Mass attendance (and collections), asking the people to begin a discussion about what is going on. A tiny ray of hope.

    So far the only result has been that they have decided to pray for God’s help. While it is fine to pray as if everything depended upon God, they seem to not have yet discovered the other part about working as if everything depended upon us.

    Reply
  7. Roy V. Eco

    This is an interesting article. Incidentally, October is the month when Catholic churches do the counting of Mass attendees. Early on when I arrived here in US, I was fascinated with this practice since in the Philippines from where I come, it is simply impossible to count our Mass goers. Later on, I was curious about its rationale since at one church, ushers would count, with their distracting “clickers” during the preparation of the gifts, men apart from women, and apart from children. I would surmise then that these figures might have something to do with the collection, and thus, might have an impact on the “pastoral effectiveness” of the parish priest. This in mind, there is a reason to focus only at those present and forget those who have left, otherwise, the parish priest will receive a slap on his wrists from the bishop that jeopardizes the priest’s status in the ladder of success. And the mindset moves on to bishops who are driven with ambition to get closer and closer to the Vatican’s ladder of success. Indeed, the church has succumbed to the worldly criterion of “productivity.” No wonder why bishops do not address this alarming truth. In as sense we have turned “our temples into a marketplace” of pastoral trends and mutiple programs, yet missing the spiritual hunger of our faithful.

    Reply
  8. Bill deHaas

    IMO, this continues the polarization and the stark differences in ecclesiology. It would appear that a key element of the gospel, of the life of Jesus, and of the early church was spreading the good news. Yet, this appears to have morphed into those who interpret and impose “proof of membership” requirements and call out “lax” catholics while praising a smaller, purer church. IMO, this smaller, purer church has little to do with the gospel, Jesus, or the 1st century church – it operates within a completely different context that is based on litmus tests, condemnations, etc. rather than openness, invitation, mercy. The smaller/purer appears to be a knee jerk, fearful reaction that has little to do with the core gospel message.
    Faith by definition means trusting when we are unsure of the outcome; when we have no guarantees; when we have no litmus tests that assure us that we are saved. It seems to be an ongoing tension between “religion” and “faith”. It would require bishops/parishes/pastors to do a paradigm shift and be willing to let go and trust.

    Here is an article that pretty much summarizes the smaller, purer church:
    http://azstarnet.com/news/national/article_b200a734-a73f-53b1-a092-dd438e4d1f25.html

    Reply
    1. Vic Romero

      Two thousand years ago, some tried to require “proof of membership” in the Club of the Saved:

      From the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11:
      ===
      So when Peter went up to Jerusalem.
      the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
      “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”

      Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
      . . .
      a voice from heaven answered,
      ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
      ===

      Jesus came to save all–circumcised or not.
      Membership is open to all.
      The only requirement is wholeheartedly accepting the invitation.

      Reply
  9. Todd Flowerday

    Smaller, less catholic, more heterodox.

    Yes, that sums it up.

    Reply
  10. Jeffrey P. Regan

    What I find largely lacking in the Roman Catholic tradition is a desire or ministerial commitment to KNOW the baptized ecclesia. We (i.e. scholars, ordained ministers and lay ministers) would be wise to follow our Protestant brethren in taking up congregational studies more assiduously in order to understand who it is we’re serving, what their spiritual and sacramental needs are, and how the church is either meeting or failing to meet those needs in light of the Gospel message and church tradition. Given the diverse demographics of today’s church, these studies must be taken up on the parish level.

    Yes, Catholics are leaving in SILENT droves and the church is in crisis. However, before we implement any liturgical or catechetical strategy to stanch the bleeding, we must first assess the nature of the wound and how best to treat it!

    Reply
    1. Leo Connor

      We also have to be willing to admit that we’ve made pastoral mistakes.

      Reply
      1. Todd Flowerday

        Leo, I find that Catholic parishioners are willing to forgive many mistakes … *if* they have a sense that leadership making those errors is open, humble, and especially willing to listen. Those qualities are hard to find in today’s curia.

    2. Jack Rakosky

      Jeffrey: Congregational studies are more useful in Protestant congregations which are more self selective than Catholic territorial parishes. If a parish attracts people from surrounding parishes because of its Gregorian chant program, then it is useful to ask if those attracted share other things in common. A study may be useful, especially if it finds out against stereotypes that the majority of Gregorian chant devotees are liberals.

      Tom Poelker’s model of the medieval guild chapels (above) is a good suggestion. My impression is that for a long time the model for the Catholic Church was the “city” with its Cathedral, some other prominent churches, and many neighborhood churches, monasteries, and chapels. People likely sampled all. We should be wary of making our modern ethnic, territorial, and suburban parishes into a tradition that stretches back through the ages.

      As Todd and Brigit point out above, because of the powerful role of pastors, Catholic parishes do become specialized, except that they do not publicize it. Fr. Liberal and Fr. Tradition both claim they have the right way of doing things. They can lord it over their parish but not easily market themselves to other parishes without getting into trouble. So they alienate more people than they attract.

      The clustering of parishes that is being promoted in many dioceses because of the priest shortage may permit parishes to openly specialize and people to be more choice of their parish.

      Reply
  11. Must Remain Anonymous

    One woman here, leaving, walking out…K-12 Catholic school education, BA in theology (Catholic woman’s college), MA in theology )Catholic seminary), certified spiritual director…once you’re educated enough to see what’s really going on, you can’t be true to yourself & God without walking out…there are so many good & Godly people, but the institution prevents any true relationship with God unless you can ignore it, which has become far to difficult to do.

    Reply
  12. Joe O'Leary

    The Church has destroyed itself by an obsessive focus on quantity rather than quality. Masses are multiplied absurdly, leaving no space for other forms of prayer, worship, bible meditation etc. The situation was better before Vatican II, when Masses were confined to the mornings.

    Counting the number of worshipers is another self-defeating strategy. A musician does not count the numbers at his or her performances. His or her concern is with understanding the music, loving it, playing it well, with quality in short. Religion should not be forced into routinized grooves; if it is a meaningless routine people will drop it altogether.

    Reply
  13. Jonathan Day

    One of the most thoughtful economists in Britain is John Kay. His recent book, Obliquity is highly relevant here. Its thesis is that in an uncertain world it is best to pursue complex goals indirectly. The “pursuit of happiness” is not a good way to achieve happiness. A business whose foremost goal is “to make money” will do worse than one whose managers focus on making good things and serving customers well.

    A good summary of the idea can be found here.

    Obliquity is important because, deep down, we don’t know how the world works. We can’t conduct controlled experiments on large social systems. There are too many interacting forces to enable even roughly accurate predictions of cause and effect. Assertions about the causes and cures of “1 in 3” or of sexual abuse are a good example. Would the churches be empty or full if the Novus Ordo had never been promulgated? Would there be more or fewer abuse problems if we had more “tough” cardinals like Burke and Pell?

    An oblique approach sees that these are unanswerable questions. Better to focus on what we can improve – prayer and preparation for the Sunday homily, the quality of the music, a warm welcome at the coffee hour, priests with enough time to do what only they can do. The numbers will follow.

    Reply
  14. Jack Rakosky

    Thanks Jonathan for this refreshing link. Economists usually emphasize mathematical models relating variable A to variable B when everything else is held constant (which never happens).

    Psychologists and sociologists are very happy if one variable accounts for 5% of the variance in another variable, and overjoyed if less than 10 variables account for half the variance. The problem about research findings: many things produce changes in many other things.

    But data can help us to sort things out. Take my favorite data: the Cleveland Diocese Vibrant Parish Life study. Clearly Liturgy (#1), the Parish as “supportive ”(#2) and as “welcoming” (#4) were in the top five items ranked important but halfway down the list of 39 items ranked well done. Major improvements are clearly needed here.

    Respect Life (#3) and Religious Education (#5) were in top 5 in importance and top 10 in being well done. Maintain these efforts.

    Clearly some things were not regarded as important by the people: An understanding of major world religions (ranked #39); Devotions (#38), Religious Vocations (#37), Confession (#36), Annually publishing a parish financial statement (#35) An annual stewardship appeal, asking for time, talent, and treasure (34): Invitation of members to share the responsibility of leadership (#33); Encouragement to become involved in parish ministries (#32), Encouragement of parish members to work for social justice (#31). These are not promising areas to emphasize.

    Reply
    1. Kimberly Hope Belcher

      Jack, this is great! For others:

      Cleveland Diocese Vibrant Parish Life study.

      Thanks for the pointer.

      Reply
  15. Jack Nolan

    I guess this could be read as evidence for the needed new translation.

    Reply

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