Saving the Catholic Church

The Church Life Journal from Notre Dame recently published statistics from the General Social Survey regarding the religious practice of cradle Catholics.

The report, outlined by Michael Rota and Stephen Bullivant, provides damning evidence about the status of faith among American Catholics. Rota is a philosophy professor and Bullivant is a professor of sociology. Their report and advice are grounded in reason, thoughtfulness, and faith.

Ultimately, its findings translate to one fact: The Catholic Church is hemorrhaging active participants, and the impact can be felt. Rota and Bullivant explain: “In 1973, about 34% of all those raised Catholic were attending Mass weekly (or more often) when they were surveyed as adults. By 2002, the number had fallen to 20%. By 2022, it had plummeted to 11%. We are losing nine out of 10 cradle Catholics.” 

While these numbers are extremely troubling, for someone like me whose career is Catholic education and ministry it is not exactly surprising. Given the number of Catholics in America, weekly Mass attendance is abysmal. Parking lots across the country remain empty and pews remain vacant. For those who do attend weekly Mass, it seems like the crowd is mostly gray-haired or adorning no hair at all. 

The report from the Notre Dame journal provides the data that proves many who work in the Catholic Church are correct: We are losing tremendous ground each year. However, even more importantly, Rota and Bullivant cite some reasons why people leave the church, along with proven ways that families can keep their children Catholic.  

First, we know that children form strong or weak religious beliefs based on those around them. “As they grow into adolescents and young adults,” the study notes, “their religious commitments are strongly influenced by their close personal relationships, as well as by the wider culture.” If one’s parents don’t take their faith seriously and the society one grows up in does not take faith seriously, children typically don’t grow up taking faith seriously either.  

There is not much that can be done regarding the nationwide culture. For this reason, Rota and Bullivant highlight the critical importance of a family’s impact and a parish’s impact on the next generation of Catholics. They cite consensus, certainty, and credibility as the largest factors.  

Children need to see that those who are closest to them believe in God, are sure about their belief, and truly live their faith. “Young children have a natural disposition to believe what their parents and other trusted adults tell them. Yet even while still children, they track the credibility of their informants, largely by attending to the level of consensus present among informants and the level of certainty conveyed by informants.” 

Children are phenomenal at recognizing the authenticity of adults. For the faith to be passed on, it takes a married couple that truly knows Jesus Christ as a real living person. It takes a life of commitment and persistence in guiding one’s children to see that life has no meaning without God.

“Social psychologists,” writes Rota and Bullivant, “refer to ‘CREDs,’ or credibility enhancing displays, which are behaviors performed by the person making a claim—behaviors which indicate that the person making the claim really does believe it.” 

Turning the tide in the American Catholic Church will take a generation that has fallen in love with their faith. Parents who bring their children to Mass on Christmas and Easter but never pray before meals, casually speak about the faith at home, or conform to the church’s moral code will raise children who don’t practice their faith. Families who spend the majority of their time scrolling aimlessly on their phones instead of speaking to each other about the beauty of life will inevitably raise children who are led to believe what the culture believes rather than experience the truth that flows from God’s words and His Son. 

The reports highlighted by The Church Life Journal are troubling and they are clarifying. The only way to renew the American Catholic movement is to go all-in on investing in the faith of parents. Leading them to experience the love and truth of God in a life-altering way will impact their children and their children’s children.  

This means that local parishes must become strongholds of orthodox faith and beacons of inspiration for parents. This will only occur if the life of the parish is facilitating Eucharistic and apologetic methods that will bring people to experience the living Jesus as real and empower them to spread the truth of the faith to all they meet—starting with their own spouses and children. Then, and only then, will those in the cradle remain Catholic.  

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