- Feb 5, 2002
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We have a working-class problem in the Catholic Church today. Not a problem with the working class, per se, but a problem because they are absent. I quickly noticed this as a parish priest. The vast majority of weekly Massgoers at our parish had white-collar jobs. And this didn’t reflect the neighborhood, which had plenty of blue-collar families. And then I noticed it wasn’t just true of that parish, it was true of many parishes where I said Mass. In a world marked by shifting cultural values and evolving religious practices, one noticeable trend has emerged: a decline in attendance at Catholic Mass among working-class individuals.
Researcher Ryan Burge has noticed this trend, broadly. In a recent post at GraphsAboutReligion.com, he argues that religion has become a luxury good. Using the Cooperative Data Study, which includes 570,000 total responses over 15 years, Burge demonstrates that the less education a person has, the more likely he or she is to identify as a “none” or an atheist. According to this data, it is just not true that the more educated a person is, the more likely they are to disaffiliate.
In fact, Burge’s research reveals another striking conclusion: “The people who are the most likely to attend services this weekend are those with college degrees making $60K-$100K. In other words, middle-class professionals.” The problem, however, is that the Gospel is not just for the middle class. So what happened? Why have we lost the working class?
Continued below.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
Researcher Ryan Burge has noticed this trend, broadly. In a recent post at GraphsAboutReligion.com, he argues that religion has become a luxury good. Using the Cooperative Data Study, which includes 570,000 total responses over 15 years, Burge demonstrates that the less education a person has, the more likely he or she is to identify as a “none” or an atheist. According to this data, it is just not true that the more educated a person is, the more likely they are to disaffiliate.
In fact, Burge’s research reveals another striking conclusion: “The people who are the most likely to attend services this weekend are those with college degrees making $60K-$100K. In other words, middle-class professionals.” The problem, however, is that the Gospel is not just for the middle class. So what happened? Why have we lost the working class?
Continued below.
How to fix the working-class problem in the Catholic Church
Your income bracket might be an indicator of whether or not you go to Mass. In his latest column, Father Patrick Briscoe writes about a recent analysis that demonstrates that the less education a person has, the more likely he or she is to identify as a none or atheist. According to this data...
www.oursundayvisitor.com
