Posted on 04/12/2018 9:13:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
And church attendance by Roman Catholics is on the decline again. So, in fact, is the religious affiliation among Americans at large.
The drop continues a long trend of declining attendance at mass. In the last three years, an average of only 39 percent of Catholics reported attending church in the past week. That’s down from an average of 45 percent just 10 years ago. And severely off from the mid-1900’s. In 1955, for instance, 75 percent of Catholics reported attending mass during the previous week.
On the other side of the aisle, the new Gallup survey found that church attendance by Protestants is holding steady, although the population of Protestants overall has declined. The average weekly attendance was 45 percent these last three years, the same as 10 years ago.
And here’s a disturbing stunner: In 1955, Gallup found only two percent of the country claimed no religious identity. In 2016, the same survey found that proportion had grown 10 times, to 20 percent.
Back in 1955 about three-quarters of Catholics of all ages attended weekly mass. But in the 1960’s younger Catholics reported attending mass increasingly less often, a trend that accelerated through the 1970’s, then slowed but continued.
Older Catholics also began a trend of attending mass less often. In fact, in the last decade alone attendance has been dropping 10 percent among Catholics age 50 and older.
Church attendance by Protestants was never as high as Catholics. Protestant attendance did dip in the 1960’s and 1970’s but, unlike Catholics, has since rebounded. Indeed, among Protestants age 60 and over, attendance has actually increased eight points since the mid-fifties.
What’s changed among Protestants, however, is the percentage of Americans identifying with that faith has plummeted from 71 percent in 1955 to just 47 percent more recently. The percentage of Americans identifying as Catholic has held fairly steady at 24 percent now instead of 22 percent 60 years ago, in large part due to the explosion of the Hispanic population.
One troubling sign for the future spiritual and financial strength of both churches is Americans in their twenties attending services less frequently–Protestants 36 percent and Catholics 25 percent. And a growing proportion in that age cohort have stopped identifying with any religion, 33 percent.
Yeah they do. First Church of Global Warming.
As Mr. Zimmerman sang, ‘you’re gonna have to serve somebody’.
I have no religious affiliation. I have a personal relationship with God the Father, the Creator of all things, through His only Son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His Holy Spirit dwells in me. It’s not about religion, it’s about the ultimate relationship you can have. Religion, like everything else, is corrupted.
“Everybody has a religious identity. You can’t get away from it. The only question is which one, not whether or not.”
That was my exact thought from that title.
More accurately their religions identity is ‘damned’.
That's only true if you consider the lack of a religious identity a religious identity. Which would mean that the concept is equal to its negation. Which would mean the concept has no meaning.
That's a religious identity. As described it is generalized Christianity, but it's not a lack of religious identity. Not everyone is some form of Christian. And I suspect you actually follow some particular branch of Christianity anyway.
Probably due to the flourishing of non-denominational, Bible-based churches - I’d wager there has not been a real decline in those who identify as Christian...
Atheism is a religion and communism is organized atheism.
How many of that 20% when something bad is happening in front of them will say “Oh God”?
Evolutionist is a religious identity. More than 20 percent are evolutionists.
And many people lie to pollsters figuring their lives are their own personal business.
Not that religious affiliation necessarily means anything.
Sure they do. It’s called “me, me, me, me first!”
What a bigoted statement.
A black priest? Oh the horrors.
An African accent? Is that like a North American or European accent??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.