ROCKFORD—The annual diocesan Mass count “helps take the temperature of the diocese,” says Dr. Michael Cieslak, director of the diocesan Office of Research and Planning.

The count is normally scheduled for the end of October.

“We usually count on the last two weekends of October,” he says. “Normally those would fall around the 16th and 23rd of October. But there is a fifth weekend this year (Oct. 29-30).”

This year, a large, special event on Oct. 15 — a Hispanic celebration for the end of the Year of Mercy — is seen as significant enough to skew any Mass counts for that weekend.

“Instead of doing another option of a one-weekend count, we are able to stick with the ‘last two weekends’ idea and not do the count during the Hispanic Year of Mercy event.”

A second, large diocesan event — the annual Youth Summit on Oct. 30 — will also happen during the Mass count, but it won’t be a problem, he says.

Those attending the summit will be pre-registered and they will be counted toward their parish’s Mass attendance figures.

10-year trends

In the past 10 years, Mass attendance at parishes has decreased by an average of 12.8 percent. Including non-parish venues — such as health care facilities and retreat houses — Mass attendance in the diocese is down 13.0 percent.

The high point in Mass attendance was in the year 2001 — one month after the Sept. 11 attacks. It was going up before 2001, peaked in that year, and since is steadily going down.

The Diocese of Rockford is not unique in these figures, which are similar in the Diocese of Green Bay and the Archdiocese of Chicago. But these dioceses also note an upward trend of people who are attending Spanish Masses, Dr. Cieslak says.

To check that trend here, beginning 10 years ago, Dr. Cieslak asked parishes to provide not just a total for the weekend, but a report on each Mass. This provides a history of the number of Masses at each parish and recognizes which are the most popular.

Reflected also in those statistics is the attendance at  Masses offered in languages other than English. “In most cases,” Dr. Cieslak says, “Spanish Masses are considerably more crowded.”

In 1992, Spanish Masses accounted for about 7 percent of all attendees. Now, 27 percent of all who attend Mass in the diocese are found at Spanish Masses.

Dr. Cieslak can produce charts that illustrate the changes experienced by parishes with high, low and no Hispanic ministry.

The small, yearly changes add up to a lot of change over 10 years. Reasons for the changes are elusive.
Dr. Cieslak says sociologists often point to secularization of the culture, of a growing “God on my terms” approach, and a pattern of less commitment in society in general.

The Catholic world would say the numbers also reflect effects of the sex abuse crisis, which was communicated in a great way to the population in the U.S. in 2002.

“This crisis was devastating,” he said, “and, for many people, severely impacted their trust in the Church.”

Illustrating special effects:

Of interest a few years ago were the effects of the “Catholics Come Home” media blitz sponsored by the diocese. To provide information, Dr. Cieslak’s office took a Mass count during Lent, a couple months after that media effort.

“There was a huge spike (in numbers),” he says, “but we wondered if some of that was because it was the holy season of Lent. The count the following Lent showed quite a drop from the first Lenten count.

“The interpretation was that people saw the ads and did visit a nearby Catholic church, but they didn’t stay. By October, they had left.”

He ponders it from a more positive angle. “If we were a business,” he says, “we would have 94,000 good, loyal customers, seen during the October count. The 21,000 others who attended after Catholics Come Home came for a ‘special sale.’ They do pop up sometimes; they still have a connection with the Church.

“This represents potential – an evangelization challenge to walk with them, as Pope Francis teaches.”
The Mass Count in 2016:

A large, special event on Oct. 15 – a Hispanic celebration for the end of the Year of Mercy – is seen as significant enough to skew any Mass counts for that weekend.

“We usually count on the last two weekends of October,” Dr. Cieslak says. “Normally those would fall around the 16th and 23rd of October. But there is a fifth weekend this year (Oct. 29-30). Instead of doing another option of a one-weekend count, we are able to stick with the ‘last two weekends’ idea and not do the count during the Hispanic Year of Mercy event.”

A second, large diocesan event – the annual Youth Summit on Oct. 30 – will happen during the Mass count, but it won’t be a problem, he says. Those attending the summit will be pre-registered by their parish, and they will be counted toward their parish’s Mass attendance figures.

Hope for the future:

From one point of view the October count provides sobering statistics – a 12.8 percent drop in parish Mass attendance over the last decade. Yet Dr. Cieslak chooses to view the decline through the lens of faith. “It is not as if 12.8 percent drop were due to Catholics who were attending Mass every weekend and then just stopped going,” he says. “National statistics show that the totals are lower because many of those who used to attend every week are now attending ‘almost every week’, and those who used to attend ‘almost every week’ are now attending ‘once or twice a month.’”

In other words, Cieslak explains, many of the people with lower attendance patterns haven’t given up entirely on the Church. “They’re on the edges, watching.”

What are they watching for? Dr. Cieslak pointed out that research has shown that Mass attendance is boosted when a parish has three qualities visible at liturgies: 1) excellent music; 2) enriching homilies; and 3) a welcoming attitude.

“The Rockford Diocese has taken some steps to recognize these qualities and address them,” he said, mentioning the recent Presbytery Day featuring the authors of “Rebuilt” and the October 21 Ministry Day, which will be on the topic of creating a warm and welcoming parish.

“The challenges are great,” he added. “But there is much that we can do.”