Almost two out of three Catholics in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky won’t go to church this weekend to celebrate Mass, an event they have been told since childhood is the center of their spiritual lives.
The church’s most recent count of people in the pews found that about 290,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and 60,000 in the Diocese of Covington skip Mass in a typical week.
The annual attendance count begins again next month, but church officials don’t expect dramatic improvement.
Mass attendance has been falling steadily for decades across the country as a growing majority of Catholics find other things to do on Sundays, from shuttling their kids to soccer games to hitting the snooze button and sleeping in.
The reasons for the decline have been debated for years, with fingers pointed at busier schedules, a changing culture and discontent with Catholic leaders.
But whatever the explanation, the absence of so many Catholics from the most important gathering of their faith is a major challenge for the church.
But whatever the explanation, the absence of so many Catholics from the most important gathering of their faith is a major challenge for the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment