Saturday, Aug 2, 2025
BQ 3A News
  • Home
  • USA
  • UK
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain
BQ 3A NewsBQ 3A News
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • Home
  • USA
  • UK
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
BQ 3A News > Blog > USA > Even with Pope Leo XIV in place, US Catholics stand ‘at a crossroads’
USA

Even with Pope Leo XIV in place, US Catholics stand ‘at a crossroads’

May 9, 2025
SHARE

Shortly after 6 P.M. in Rome, the longed-for sight appeared above the Sistine Chapel: white smoke.

Over the course of a day and a half, the more than 130 members of the College of Cardinals had come to a decision on who should lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. On May 8, 2025, they elected Cardinal Robert Prevost, who chose the name Leo XIV – becoming the first pope from the United States.

The Conversation U.S. asked Maureen Day, a researcher at the University of Southern California who has written several books about the contemporary church, to explain what Catholicism looks like in the U.S. at this high-stakes moment.

How is Catholic identity and practice in the U.S. changing, compared with a generation ago?

- Advertisement -

In 1987, the year of the first American Catholic Laity survey, nearly half of American Catholics said that faith was “the most” or “among the most” important parts of their life. Now, only 37% say the same.

Others are leaving the Catholic Church completely. The General Social Survey, a national survey conducted every year or two since the 1970s, asks people about the faith they grew up with, as well as their present religious identity. According to our analysis of its data, in 1973 only 10% of Americans who grew up Catholic had changed religions, and another 7% had left religion altogether. By 2018, each of those percentages had increased to 18%.

A Pew Research Center study conducted in 2024 found that for every American who converts to Catholicism, another 8.4 leave. The only reason that Catholicism is able to maintain a relatively steady share of the U.S. population – about 20% – is due to the high percentage of immigrants and migrants who are Catholic.

So my co-authors and I chose the title of our 2025 book, “Catholicism at a Crossroads,” quite intentionally. The church has been facing a variety of challenges for decades, both nationally and across the globe. It’s not just about disaffiliation, but also issues such as the sexual abuse crises and bishops’ decreasing influence on lay Catholics’ personal decisions.

A priest in pink and white robes stands near the altar in front of a congregation.

- Advertisement -

The Rev. Athanasius Abanulo celebrates Mass in Lanett, Ala., in 2021. Many international clergy, like Abanulo, are helping to ease a shortage of priests in the U.S.
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski

In response, church leaders have mostly offered minor adjustments, such as encouraging parishes to become more family- or young adult-friendly. They have not yet made larger shifts that could substantially alter some of those trend lines.

Some of your work focuses on what you call ‘cultural Catholics’ − defined as Catholics who attend Mass less than once per month. How would you describe cultural Catholicism in the U.S. today?

- Advertisement -

A big concern of Catholic leaders right now is decreasing Mass attendance, as weekly Mass is an important precept of the Catholic Church. Sunday Mass is a place for Catholics to participate in the sacraments, strengthen their faith and build relationships with other Catholics.

One of the things Catholic leaders tend to attribute this drop in attendance to is a broader trend of secularism. There might be some merit to this, but it can’t be the whole story. In our analysis of General Social Survey data, for example, the percentage of Protestant Christians who say they attend worship services weekly was 35% in 1950 and 40% in 2023. Among Catholics, however, weekly Mass attendance has declined from 63% to 30% in these same years.

“Cultural Catholics” who say they attend Mass “a few times a year” or “seldom or never” account for 53% of U.S. Catholics. Many of them demonstrate strong ties to Catholic teachings in other ways. For example, around 70% to 80% of cultural Catholics say that it is “essential” or “somewhat essential” to Catholicism to help the poor, have a devotion to Mary and practice daily prayer.

There are findings that can lend themselves to either a “glass half empty” or “glass half full” interpretation. For instance, it might be heartening to Catholic leaders to know that 62% of cultural Catholics say it is important that future generations of their family are Catholic – although this is much lower than the 89% among those who attend Mass frequently.

A woman in a white dress and black head covering sits at a table in a classroom with five teenagers seated around her.

Sister Maris Stella Vaughan teaches a religion class at St. John Paul II Catholic School in Phoenix, Ariz., in 2020.
AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

And when these cultural Catholics imagine future generations of their family being Catholic, what does that mean? Perhaps it entails simply a few milestones, like receiving baptism, First Communion and possibly Confirmation – the three sacraments that initiate a person into the Catholic faith. The way many cultural Catholics are loosely tethered to the church, without much involvement in parish life, is a great concern for many Catholic leaders.

What main challenges do you see for the American church under the next pope?

I would argue that the American church’s biggest challenge is how to heal the factionalism within itself.

On the one hand, there is a great deal of common ground among the most active Catholics, even with the diversity still found here. According to our analysis, 20% of Catholics are “high commitment”: those who say they attend Mass weekly, are unlikely to leave the faith, and that the church is very important to them. These Catholics are more likely to depart from their political party’s position on an issue if it does not align with Catholic teachings. For example, high-commitment Catholic Republicans are much more likely to support the bishops’ position on making the immigration process easier for families. High-commitment Catholic Democrats, meanwhile, are more likely to be against abortion than are their moderate- or low-commitment counterparts.

In other words, these high-commitment Catholics tend to be less polarized and could find common cause with one another.

People in pews kneel in prayer, with some holding their clasped hands up toward their faces.

Catholics pray during Mass at Benedictine College on Dec. 3, 2023, in Atchison, Kan.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

However, there are more extreme pockets – such as those who called into question the legitimacy of Francis’ papacy – that are more militant about their vision of Catholicism. While these Catholics are few in number, they are very vocal. There are fringe groups that mobilized to try to change the direction of the Catholic Church after Francis’ papacy, which they saw as a series of liberal reforms.

Within more mainstream Catholicism, there are divides over styles of worship, with media attention on some young Americans flocking to more conservative or traditional parishes. However, sociologist Tim Clydesdale and religion scholar Kathleen Garces-Foley found that young adult Catholics are split: While some are attracted to churches with pastors who demonstrate “orthodoxy,” a similar number prefer “openness.”

What do you wish more people understood about Catholicism in the U.S.?

I think the “missing piece” for many is the incredible diversity of U.S. Catholicism, from race and ethnicity to politics and practice. Many Americans tend to associate the religion with one or two issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, and assume that Catholics are fairly monolithic, both in their demographics and their politics.

Catholics themselves can also forget – or never learn – that their small slice of Catholicism is not the whole of Catholicism.

Recognizing and elevating what unites this vast family of Catholics, both personally and collectively, is going to be critical as the church moves forward.

This article was updated on May 8, 2025 to include Pope Leo XIV’s election.

Previous Article 4 information that embrace the enjoyment of the double album – from the Beatles to Outkast 4 information that embrace the enjoyment of the double album – from the Beatles to Outkast
Next Article Sudan: UN Safety Council calls for quick finish of the combat in southern Sudan Sudan: UN Safety Council calls for quick finish of the combat in southern Sudan
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


- Advertisement -
Enlargement of the contract: Media: Dončić stays on the Lekers for $ 165 million
Enlargement of the contract: Media: Dončić stays on the Lekers for $ 165 million
Germany
Excursion de France Femmes: Ferrand-Prevot wins Gelbes jersey and is dealing with a complete victory
Excursion de France Femmes: Ferrand-Prevot wins Gelbes jersey and is dealing with a complete victory
Germany
In towns of the way voters can take part within the struggle towards overheating
In towns of the way voters can take part within the struggle towards overheating
France
Vintage Competition: Hundreds on the Kabaret Competition in Schlosspark in Ludvigslust
Vintage Competition: Hundreds on the Kabaret Competition in Schlosspark in Ludvigslust
Germany
Norist on Sand Eu Championship: Svije Muller and Cinnja Tillmann misses the identify EM once more
Norist on Sand Eu Championship: Svije Muller and Cinnja Tillmann misses the identify EM once more
Germany

Categories

Archives

August 2025
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jul    

You Might Also Like

Trump’s transfer to nearer ties with Russia does no longer imply betrayal of Ukraine, but – in his first time period, Trump used to be beautiful difficult on Putin
USA

Trump’s transfer to nearer ties with Russia does no longer imply betrayal of Ukraine, but – in his first time period, Trump used to be beautiful difficult on Putin

February 20, 2025
What a sunny van Gogh portray of ‘The Sower’ tells us about Pope Leo’s message of hope
USA

What a sunny van Gogh portray of ‘The Sower’ tells us about Pope Leo’s message of hope

June 4, 2025
Meet phosphine, a gasoline recurrently used for business fumigation that may harm your lungs, middle and liver
USA

Meet phosphine, a gasoline recurrently used for business fumigation that may harm your lungs, middle and liver

January 28, 2025
Our trans fitness find out about was once terminated through the federal government – the results of abrupt NIH grant cuts ripple throughout science and society
USA

Our trans fitness find out about was once terminated through the federal government – the results of abrupt NIH grant cuts ripple throughout science and society

June 2, 2025
BQ 3A News

News

  • Home
  • USA
  • UK
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookies Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Trending

Enlargement of the contract: Media: Dončić stays on the Lekers for $ 165 million
Germany

Enlargement of the contract: Media: Dončić stays on the Lekers for $ 165 million

Excursion de France Femmes: Ferrand-Prevot wins Gelbes jersey and is dealing with a complete victory
Germany

Excursion de France Femmes: Ferrand-Prevot wins Gelbes jersey and is dealing with a complete victory

2025 © BQ3ANEWS.COM - All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?