Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby interprets trends in Catholics’ relationships with the church. Photo provided

By J. Michael Parker
For Today’s Catholic

Large numbers of cradle Catholics in both the United States and Canada continue to identify with their Catholic roots even if they’ve become largely inactive in church life, Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby said in San Antonio recently.

And what’s more, large numbers of them express openness to getting more deeply involved if parishes provide ministries that are meaningful to their family members, he said.

Bibby, professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, revealed those findings to more than 100 listeners in a keynote address in late June at the Oblate Renewal Center in conjunction with Oblate School of Theology’s 2008 Summer Institute, “Megatrends in the Church and Society.”

His address and three by National Catholic Reporter Vatican correspondent John Allen Jr. were free and open to the public, thanks to a grant to the theology school by the San Antonio Area Foundation.

Bibby, a Baptist, said that Catholics by their sheer numbers occupy a privileged position. They have maintained a steady position at 24 percent of the U.S. population while in numbers they’ve jumped to around 75 million. Canada’s Catholics number just 15 million but account for 44 percent of the nation’s population. “You keep hearing that Catholic numbers are slipping,” he said. “But if this is slipping, a lot of other groups would love to be slipping like this.

“Large numbers of Catholics are not actively involved in the life of the church,” Bibby said. “But ask them about their openness to switch traditions, and the vast majority say no.”

In the Pew Landscape Survey in 2007, he said, data for the United States show that on the surface some 7.5 percent of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic no longer identify themselves as Catholic. While 31.4 percent of U.S. adults say they were raised Catholic, only 23.9 percent of them identify with the Catholic Church today, he said, again citing the Pew data.

“That kind of talk is bound to get some evangelistically-minded groups excited about what (the data) imply is a growing mission opportunity among former Catholics,” Bibby said.

But he said approximately one-half of them claim “no religion,” and a majority of those will re-identify as Catholics as they get older and prepare for marriage and parenthood.

“The real story is the inclination of a growing number of people who were raised Catholic to move temporarily into the no-religion category, versus switching to another group. Since many will re-assume their ‘Catholic’ identities as they get older, the mission-field notion is largely illusory,” he said. “If somebody says he’s no longer Catholic, keep the camera rolling and it will change.”

Thus, the Catholic Church has both a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous responsibility to get those people more regularly involved.

While about one in five Catholics say they attend Mass only once in a while or never, Bibby said, “that may not make you happy, but you still have them. The question is, what are you going to do about them?”

Huge numbers of those people are receptive to greater involvement if the right ministries are offered — 62 percent of those who attend less than once a week and 40 percent even among teenagers. What’s needed to ensure that those temporarily “lost” from the Catholic fold, Bibby said, is solid ministry that’s in touch with the importance that Catholics place on family life. “They’re open to ministries that touch their family’s life and that they feel are worth their time and resources,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bibby noted trends in attitudes from generations past. For example, whereas it once was widely believed important to obey church teachings even if one didn’t understand them, many people consider gratification more important than obligation.

“People in authority have to earn respect whereas 50 years ago, it was automatic,” he said.
People increasingly are failing to internalize Catholic values, so they feel less guilty if they violate church teachings.

J. Michael Parker, religion writer for the San Antonio Express-News for 23 years, is director of communications for Oblate School of Theology and a freelance writer. Contact him at mparker@ost.edu.