Diocese of Brooklyn: Today and Tomorrow

Who Are the People of God?

By Robert Choiniere
Director, Pastoral Planning Office

Second in a Series on Pastoral Planning

In 2006, as the parishes of the diocese were preparing for the pastoral planning process, a parish survey was conducted in each parish. This survey was comprised of 15 questions of two sorts. The first sort were questions that compared the parish or, to be more correct, the Mass-attending population, with the total population of the neighborhood. These questions were worded exactly like the questions in the U.S. Census and therefore allowed for a true comparison. The other sort were questions about people’s life in the parish.

We received over 130,000 responses to this survey from almost every parish in the diocese. This information was developed into a series of demographic reports which were distributed to each pastor. Many of these reports were also used during the parish assembly to assist parishioners as they reflected on the life of the parish.

The Pastoral Planning Office, in an attempt to provide a wider view of the local Church, combined all of the parish reports into a single diocesan report which provides an overview of the Mass-attending population of the diocese at the time the survey was taken.

Many of the charts here are taken from those surveys. Additional information, such as the number of children in religious education and sacramental information, is taken from reports that are sent to the bishop by the pastors on an annual basis.

A review of this information reveals some important insights for all Catholics to consider as we plan for a vibrant future for our faith communities.

The first chart is quite dramatic. This represents the number of active women compared to the number of men over the age of 18. The Census data is very different from this chart. The gender distribution of Brooklyn and Queens is about equal – 50/50. This is not so for Mass-attending Catholics. There is a significant absence of men in our churches.

A second chart demonstrates the age breakdown of Mass-attending Catholics. An examination of this data shows a healthy percentage of Mass attenders between the ages of 35-75, but a much smaller percentage in the younger cohorts – ages 18-34. Some may see this as a natural course of life, that people come back to the Church when they are older, but this important group of young adults needs to be addressed.

A third chart is very relevant for our multi-cultural diocese. This chart on languages represents the languages spoken at home by Mass-attending Catholics. While the majority are English speakers, Spanish is a very prominent and growing language. Polish, Creole and Italian also have a significant representation. Finally, Korean and Chinese are spoken by a growing number of Catholics. The diocese is committed to providing pastoral services, including the celebration of Mass, to Catholics in their own language. This commitment will certainly continue in the future.

A fourth and fifth charts focus on the celebration of the sacraments. These numbers are the most helpful quantitative figures which assist parish and diocesan planners to assess the health of a parish. Other factors are certainly important, but often not as quantifiable as the number of people who receive the sacraments.

Mass counts are taken twice a year, in May and November, in each parish. These numbers are averaged together to come to a final total count of Mass-attending Catholics. Our current Mass count has decreased in the last seven years, but seems to be holding steady over the past two years. Our hope, of course, is to increase this number. The celebration of Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion is also telling. The numbers decreased significantly in 2003 and 2004, but we have also seen a large increase in 2005 and 2006.

The final two charts demonstrate the number of participants in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and for Children (RCIC), as well as Religious Education and Catholic Elementary school enrollments. The RCIA and RCIC numbers are very hopeful as they represent new converts to the Catholic faith. The enrollment numbers represent children within our faith formation and educational institutions.

In the next part of the series, we will look at the total population of Brooklyn and Queens and compare some of these numbers to the total population. It is our hope that this statistical overview of the people of the diocese provides a wider scope as we all plan for the future. While the Church of Brooklyn and Queens remains vibrant, there are many more people for us to welcome into our faith communities. We will discuss these folks in more detail next time.

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