Bringing the children to mass

 

When I was a child, going to Mass was simply what families did. In this part of Ireland, well over 90% of households attended every Sunday. When I stopped going as a teenager in the 1970s, it was unusual enough to be noticed.

About thirty years ago, I first became aware of a real shift. Sunday congregations were suddenly older. Families still came, but in smaller numbers, and the age profile was unmistakably changing.

Today the situation is stark. I don’t have precise figures to hand, but I would be surprised if more than 15% of families with young children attend Mass regularly — and in some social groups and urban areas, the proportion is almost certainly lower.

My focus here is on households with school‑going children, parents mainly in the 30–50 age bracket. This is the generation that has largely stepped away from regular religious practice, apart from participating in the established sacramental milestones of primary school. It is difficult to imagine that, apart from a minority, their children will rediscover faith or regular practice in the near future.

There are reports of a modest rise in attendance among people in their twenties and early thirties. If that is happening, I have not seen it — not in Dublin, where I lived for most of my life, nor now in the south‑east. What I do notice is the presence of the new Irish: people from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, many of them young or middle‑aged, who bring a vitality to parish life. Among the clergy too, there is a small but significant number of priests and religious arriving from abroad, missionaries in the footsteps of St Patrick.

In many country towns, it is not unusual to have two to four funerals a month. In some places, congregations are literally dying out — and so, slowly and sadly, are the clergy.

These patterns are not confined to Roman Catholic parishes. The same ageing profile is evident among congregations in the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, and Methodist communities. There are exceptions, of course, but the overall trend is unmistakable.

How did we get here, and what can be done? More on that in the coming days.

Pic: Going to Mass with My Son Who Has Tourette’s - Busted Halo