Catholics went from having clear identifiers of belief and practice within a strong community that anchored a whole way of life to a very changed landscape with few demands, incentives or cultural practices to support faith. Since the early 1960s, when 75% of Catholics attended Mass regularly, there has been a steady, annual decline in attendance to less than 25%.

ItвЂ™s been a rough 60 years, with so many self-inflicted wounds. More recently, revelations about the cover up of the sex abuse crisis and a growing distance between doctrine and society have alienated even more Catholics. Alongside of unprecedented upheaval in society, confusion also reigned for decades in the Church following the Second Vatican Council, which stemmed from a revolution in worship, conflicts over morality, a collapse of catechesis and a flight from the priesthood and religious life - all leading to general turmoil.

One surprising example stems from the breaking up of ethnic Catholic enclaves in cities in favor of the more isolated and anonymous suburbs. Huge cultural changes certainly set the backdrop. Bullivant describes the major forces -both internal and external - that have combined to form a perfect exit storm. In taking stock of the crisis, Stephen Bullivant traces the steps of our decline for us, drawing together the many contributing factors, in his book Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II (Oxford, 2019). We can assess why things have gone off track and then adjust, focusing our attention on what can help us reverse course. We are not simply helpless in the current freefall. Even though Jesus told us that he will never abandon us, he also calls us to do our part. We could wonder, has the bottom fallen out with this huge exodus? Or put more theologically, has Christ abandoned his Church? Moments of crisis test us, calling us to exercise great hope and trust in the LordвЂ™s providence. This slide, set off during the 1960s, has accelerated with the rapid rise of the вЂњnones,вЂќ Americans claiming no religious affiliation. However, there is still a numerical decline in each age group.The Catholic Church, along with every major Protestant denomination, has witnessed a precipitous decline in Church attendance. This figure has climbed from 8% in 1998-2000 to 21% over the last three years.Д¬hurch membership also wildly fluctuates across age groups, with it being the strongest amongst people born before 1946 at 66%, dropping to 58% amongst the Baby Boomer generation, 50% amongst Gen X, and finally dramatically collapsing to just 36% amongst millennials. In their survey, Gallup asked an array of questions, the key question being, вЂњDo you happen to be a member of a church, synagogue, or mosque?вЂќ Gallup says that the major reason for the church membership decline is an increase in the number of Americans who express no religious preference. Just in the past 20 years, the figure has dropped off dramatically from 70% to 47%. The highest ever figure on record is 76%, just after the 2nd World War. The polling agency, Gallup, has tracked the church attendance data for the past 80 years, starting in 1940. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a house of worship, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999. A recent poll had found that American church membership has fallen below 50% for the first time ever.

Decline in church attendance