Inactive Catholics can be family: parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces; as well as friends, neighbors, fellow workers. Though they may not be regular Sunday church-goers “YET,” they are still God’s children and our brothers and sisters in Jesus. And we still share the same Baptismal call: to know the everlasting covenant love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even though they have vacated our pews, we cannot assume what their reasons are. But rather respect their spiritual lives.
[WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT THE DECREASE AMONG CHURCHGOERS]
This means we are called to have a “deep” compassion for all who have decided to be absent from Sunday worship with us. This compassion is a crucial first step when reaching out to inactive Catholics. This concern is built upon living a missionary, evangelizing life-style. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops teaches that, “Every Catholic can be a minister of welcome, reconciliation, and understanding to those who have stopped practicing the faith.” (Go and Make Disciples, Section 40).
First of all, compassion means not using derogatory words to describe those who are not regular Mass-goers, such as: back-sliding, lapsed, fallen-away, baptized pagans, home-Baptists, lost souls, etc. Instead we are called to approach inactive Catholics in respectful ways and offer Jesus-centered invitations to consider the active practice of Catholicism, when the time is right.
Secondly, we need to have humility. The simple truth is that all of us are both active and inactive in some parts of our Catholic Faith: conversion, prayer, study, sacraments, community, service, works of mercy, social justice, and evangelizing others. We are all converted and unconverted, saints and sinners in some parts of our lives. So, we can assume that we may have faced some of the same struggles with faith.
Extensive surveys and studies about Catholic beliefs and practices have been conducted over the past 25 years. These studies indicate that only 15-23% of Catholics in the United States are regulars at Sunday Mass (at least in our part of the country). Studies indicate that many Catholics are not regular churchgoers for one or more of the eighteen reasons listed below.
Individual Activity (3-5 mins.):
- Circle the top three reasons why people in your parish seem to have become inactive.
- Check issues below that you have struggled with in your own faith, even though you have remained active or returned to being active in your faith.
Reasons for Becoming Inactive:
- Do not experience God’s presence in the Catholic community
- Do not experience caring relationships in encounter with Catholics in a parish
- Difficulty bonding with people who do not share the same culture
- See Catholicism as complex and unrelated to their lives
- Only had a weak Catholic identity in the first place
- Catholic Faith and creed seem unrelated to daily life
- “Spiritual, but not religious.” Turned off by organized religion
- See self as on a private, not communal, quest for personal meaning
- Experienced hurt from clergy or lay Catholics
- Came into conflict with Church teachings
- Misled by people who attack the Church
- Are in marriages not recognized by the Church
- Married outside of the Catholic faith (other Christian group or world religion)
- Do not come due to chronic sickness or advanced age
- Got busy and did not take the time to get involved
- Relocated (new college, job, or home) and never reconnected with a Catholic parish
- Unaware of a nearby Catholic community
- Home parish closed/merged when diocese reconfigured parishes
Share with an active Catholic family member, friend, or in a small parish/neighborhood group (10-20 min.):
- Invite three (3) active Catholic friends, family members, or acquaintances (individually or together) to read this article with you and share their top three reasons why they think some people in their parish seem to have become inactive.
- Just listen. After the other person(s) give their answers, share what your top three reasons are.
- Then share: “What has kept you living as an active Catholic or brought you back to being an active Catholic?” After they answer, give your own answer.