A new survey released by Trinity College (Hartford, CT) shows that while Catholic population has increased in several regions of the country, especially in the South and West, it has fallen in other parts of the country, mainly in the Northeast.
The biggest drop was felt in the New England area, where the percentage of adults identifying themselves as Catholic dropped from 50 percent in 1990 to 36 percent in 2008.
In the Mid-Atlantic area, the percentage of Catholics fell from 41 to 36 percent, with New Jersey Catholics declining from 46 to 42 percent from 1990 to 2008.
The survey also found that the Catholic Church lost ground nationally within every ethnic group from 1990-2008. Like last year’s Pew Forum Survey, the Trinity survey found that if the Hispanic population had not expanded in those years, the overall share of the Catholic population would have “significantly eroded.”
“The survey confirms the population and demographic realities that our parishes are seeking to address through reconfiguration,” said Andrew Walton, spokesman for the diocese. “There is a compound effect taking place,” he said. “The overall population in many parts of the diocese has declined, while the percentage of that population that identifies itself as Catholic also has declined.”
In Camden County, for example, where many of the dioceses’ parishes are located, 26 of that county’s 37 municipalities have experienced overall population declines in recent decades. Thirty-four of the diocese’s 48 Camden County parishes-or 71 percent-are in those locations that have experienced population declines, Walton said.
“When overall population decline is factored with the decline in self-identification and religious practice (almost three quarters of Catholics attended weekly Mass four decades ago, while only a quarter do today), you have a major impact on Catholic parishes, many of which are now struggling to sustain themselves,” he said.
The Trinity College survey, “American Religious Identification Survey,” was conducted from February-November 2008 among 54,461 respondents. The survey was funded from grants from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the Posen Foundation.
For more information about the Trinity College survey, see www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org. For more information about parish planning in the diocese, see www.GatheringGodsGifts.org.