From The Deacon’s Bench: 68.1 million, and counting… with my commentary interspersed.

The 2009 Official [Roman] Catholic Directory is out, and the numbers are in:

The number of patients served in Catholic hospitals and the number of clients assisted by Catholic charitable agencies went up. Fewer baptisms, first Communions, confirmations and marriages were performed in Catholic churches last year. The number of Catholic parishes and elementary schools in the U.S. continues to decline.

While numbers are great, and I work with statistics and reports all day, you have to really understand what they mean before you can give them any credence.

The Directory speaks of Catholic hospitals and charitable organizations as if they are — Catholic. For the most part they are no longer so. Vasectomies, a tubal ligation — as available in a Catholic hospital as in any other — as well as other “services” that would fail to meet the standards of Catholic teaching. The hospitals play a game of “separating” sections of hospitals into Catholic and non-Catholic floors, or areas, as if this somehow justifies everything.

In the same way, institutes of Catholic charity have become less and less Catholic at the behest of government and large donors, who hold the purse.

Of course the Catholic hospital and charitable organization is a construct carried forward from the days where sisters, brothers, and a few lay people worked in these institutions, dispensing Christian charity. In our minds we see old films with sister and the priest bedside in the hospital. All very quaint, all from a better time. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. These organizations are completely tied to government and big donor funding; and he who pays the bill calls the tune — a tune distinctly non-Catholic.

By the way, that loss of dedication to ethics as outlined by the Roman Church plays out in the faithful. The contraceptive mentality and adherence to secular norms is chiefly responsible for “Fewer baptisms, first Communions, confirmations and marriages.”

The totals for priests, permanent deacons and diocesan seminarians each experienced a small increase in the 2009 book. There were more students in Catholic colleges and universities; in private, Catholic-run high schools and elementary schools; and in high school religious education programs.

A good sign in terms of vocations. Again, as to colleges and universities, I would venture to say that there is not even one, of any renown, left that is truly Catholic (Steubenville folks – you’re not on par with the big boys). The recent Notre Dame scandal is just one example (see here, here, and here for others). Universities gave up their Catholic character long ago.

And at 68.1 million, an increase of nearly 1 million over the 2008 directory, Catholics continue to make up 22 percent of the U.S. population.

Which seems odd in light of the statement in the first paragraph regarding the decrease in Roman Catholic parishes. If there are these many more people where are they going to church? The point is that while there are more people who self-identify as Roman Catholic, and go through the ritual of joining, the pews in many parishes are empty. The parishes that are full are more likely suburban and affluent — places where minorities don’t fit and can’t get to on a Sunday. See Church attendance studies by Hadaway, Marler, and Chaves at How many North Americans attend religious services (and how many lie about going)? from Religious Tolerance:

Hadaway, Marler, and Mark Chaves counted the number of people attending four Protestant churches in Ashtabula County, OH, and in 18 Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S. In their 1993 report they stated that actual attendance was only about half of the level reported in public opinion surveys: 20% vs. 40% for Protestants, and 28% vs. 50% for Roman Catholics.

They later returned to Ashtabula County to measure attendance by Roman Catholics. They physically counted the number of attendees at each mass over several months. They concluded that 24% of Catholics in the county actually attended mass. They then polled residents of the county by telephone. 51% of Roman Catholic respondents said that they had attended church during the previous week. Apparently, most were lying.

The post goes on to say:

The more than 2,100-page Official Catholic Directory, also known as the Kenedy directory after its New Jersey publishers’ imprint, P.J. Kenedy and Sons, is due out June 17. Catholic News Service obtained an advance copy of the statistical summary compiled from annual reports provided by the nation’s 209 [Roman Catholic] dioceses and archdioceses…

The numbers reported are interesting but, the value of the numbers is compromised when they do not truly represent allegiance to the both the letter and the spirit of what it means to be Roman Catholic among all the elements in the report. Certainly, the number of parishes, clergy, and religious represents the face of committed Catholics. The number of followers, and the extent of conformity among hospitals, charities, colleges, and universities may not be accurately represented. Adherence to the call of faith is more than numbers, or as Jesus said (John 4:23-24):

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”