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Religious Trends

Research Studies

For additional research studies go to The Faith Formation Learning Exchange

Books

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American Catholics in Transition
William V. D'Antonio, Michele Dillon, & Mary L. Gautier (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013)

American Catholics in Transition reports on five surveys carried out at six year intervals over a period of 25 years, from 1987 to 2011. The surveys are national probability samples of American Catholics, age 18 and older, now including four generations of Catholics. Over these twenty five years, the authors have found significant changes in Catholics’ attitudes and behavior as well as many enduring trends in the explanation of Catholic identity. Generational change helps explain many of the differences. Many millennial Catholics continue to remain committed to and active in the Church, but there are some interesting patterns of difference within this generation. Hispanic Catholics are more likely than their non-Hispanic peers to emphasize social justice issues such as immigration reform and concern for the poor; and while Hispanic millennial women are the most committed to the Church, non-Hispanic millennial women are the least committed to Catholicism. In this fifth book in the series, the authors expand on the topics that were introduced in the first four editions. The authors are able to point to dramatic changes in and across generations and gender, especially regarding Catholic identity, commitment, parish life, and church authority. The authors, also, provides the first full portrayal of how the growing numbers of Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. are changing the Church.
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Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the Church
Christian Smith with Kyle Longest, Jonathan Hill, & Kari Christoffersen (Oxford U. Press, 2014)

Studies of young American Catholics over the last three decades suggest a growing crisis in the Catholic Church: compared to their elders, young Catholics are looking to the Church less as they form their identities, and fewer of them can even explain what it means to be Catholic and why that matters. Young Catholic America, the latest book based on the groundbreaking National Study of Youth and Religion, explores a crucial stage in the life of Catholics. Drawing on in-depth surveys and interviews of Catholics and ex-Catholics ages 18 to 23 - a demographic commonly known as early "emerging adulthood" - leading sociologist Christian Smith and his colleagues offer a wealth of insight into the wide variety of religious practices and beliefs among young Catholics today, the early influences and life-altering events that lead them to embrace the Church or abandon it, and how being Catholic affects them as they beck me full-fledged adults. Beyond its rich collection of statistical data, the book includes vivid case studies of individuals spanning a full decade, as well as insight into the twentieth-century events that helped to shape the Church and its members in America.

Research Reports

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Changing Face of Catholic Parishes Surveys
Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership & CARA

In 2009, the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership project, a Lilly Endowment Inc. funded collaboration of five Catholic national ministerial organizations, commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University to conduct a series of three surveys in parishes nationwide to study the changing face of face of U.S. Catholic parishes. The results are found in the following two reports: 
  1. The Change Face of U.S. Catholic Parishes (July 18, 2011) - Mary L. Gautier, Mark M. Gray, and Melissa A. Cidade
  2. Perspectives from Parish Leaders: U.S. Parish Life and Ministry (August 15, 2012) - Mark M Gray
  3. Steady Changes in U.S. Catholic Parish Life (Presentation) - Dr. Mark Gray (PDF of the presentation)

Hispanic Ministry in Catholic Parishes: Findings from the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry
Hosffman Ospino, Ph.D. (Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in collaboration with CARA, 2014)

This is the first time that a comprehensive national study focuses solely on Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry. Hispanics in these parishes are largely Spanish-speaking. However, most of these communities also serve a growing body of English-speaking Hispanics and are typically shared with groups of non-Hispanic Catholics. Hispanic Catholics are about 40 percent of the approximately 78 million Catholics in the country, 25 percent of all Catholic parishes intentionally serve Hispanics. Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry constitute a very important portion of the U.S. Catholic experience that needs to be better studied and understood. Considering current demographic trends and the steady growth and influence of Hispanic Catholicism, these communities also provide us with a glimpse of what U.S. Catholicism will likely be in vast regions of the country—at least during the first half of the twenty-first century. The study of these communities is an invitation for pastoral leaders, scholars, and organizations interested in supporting the U.S. Catholic experience to imagine a future together, investing and planning today with Hispanic Catholics.
  • Hispanic Catholic Fact Sheet
  • Project Website @ Boston College
  • CARA Website
  • Webinar with Dr. Hosffman Ospino, the study's author 

Nones on the Rise: One in Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation (2012)
Pew Research Center, The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling. In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. This large and growing group of Americans is less religious than the public at large on many conventional measures, including frequency of attendance at religious services and the degree of importance they attach to religion in their lives. However, many of the country’s 46 million unaffiliated adults are religious or spiritual in some way. Two-thirds of them say they believe in God (68%). More than half say they often feel a deep connection with nature and the earth (58%), while more than a third classify themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious” (37%), and one-in-five (21%) say they pray every day. In addition, most religiously unaffiliated Americans think that churches and other religious institutions benefit society by strengthening community bonds and aiding the poor. With few exceptions, though, the unaffiliated say they are not looking for a religion that would be right for them. Overwhelmingly, they think that religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in politics. 
  • To download the report from the Learning Exchange click here. 
  • To go to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life click here. 

Strong’ Catholic Identity at a Four-Decade Low in U.S.
Pew Forum on Religious & Public Life (2013)

The percentage of U.S. Catholics who consider themselves “strong” members of the Roman Catholic Church has never been lower than it was in 2012, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of new data from the General Social Survey (GSS). About a quarter (27%) of American Catholics called themselves “strong” Catholics last year, down more than 15 points since the mid-1980s and among the lowest levels seen in the 38 years since strength of religious identity was first measured in the GSS, a long-running national survey carried out by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
  • Study Website: Pew Forum on Religious & Public Life website. 

Research Articles & Podcasts

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Catholics: Some of our Members Are Wandering Away!
R. Thomas Richard (Homiletics & Pastoral Review, February 3, 2014)

Hispanic Catholics: History, Challenges, & Recommendations
Antonio Medina-Rivera (Catechetical Leader, Volume 25, #3, May 2014)

Losing Our Religion: The Growth Of The 'Nones'
Heidi Glenn, National Public Radio (January 13, 2013)
Morning Edition explored the "nones" - Americans who say they don't identify with any religion - in January 2013. Demographers have given them this name because when asked to identify their religion, that's their answer: "none." In October, the Pew Research Center released a study, 'Nones' on the Rise, that takes a closer look at the 46 million people who answered none to the religion question in 2012. According to Pew, one-fifth of American adults have no religious affiliation, a trend that has for years been on the rise. 
  • Go to NPR Series: Losing Our Religion

Podcast: More Young People Are Moving Away From Religion, But Why?
National Public Radio (January 15, 2013) 
One-fifth of Americans are religiously unaffiliated — higher than at any time in recent U.S. history — and those younger than 30 especially seem to be drifting from organized religion. A third of young Americans say they don't belong to any religion. NPR's David Greene wanted to understand why, so he gathered a roundtable of young people at a synagogue in Washington, D.C. The 6th & I Historic Synagogue seemed like the right venue: It's both a holy and secular place that has everything from religious services to rock concerts. Greene speaks with six people — three young women and three young men — all struggling with the role of faith and religion in their lives.
  • Go to NPR Series: Losing Our Religion

Vanishing Catholics
William Clark, OMI (Homiletics & Pastoral Review,  December 23, 2013)
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