But here in the greater Tucson area the parishes are bursting and expanding, except that is, in the predominantly Mexican areas. Even daily mass is well attended in the five churches that I go to in my area.
I think that because we have gotten a lot of retirees from the Midwest, they have brought their devotedness with them, which is a beautiful thing.
I am so sorry that the Catholic church has lost its vibrancy in those communities. I liked listening to the stories where on each corner there was a Catholic church, and many times they were the center of a European enclave in that neighborhood, where traditions were kept alive through the generations.
The white Catholic population in NJ is migrating southward from the northeast section of the state, but I think the hierarchy is much more analytical before building new churches in central NJ now. The Hispanics that are displacing whites in the northeast are often Catholic, but not he contributing kind - so when a building needs major repairs it is susceptible to closure because the new occupants won’t raise the money. Storefront “protestant” churches also siphon off a good number of those Hispanics as well.
Our cities have those formerly ethnic parishes (literally blocks apart), and while they served a purpose at one time they have become a real albatross; people who haven’t attended in years (due to moving out of the area) show up to protest when the parish is merged or closed, or even if a priest can’t be found who speaks the original language of the parish (even if such non-English Masses are no longer necessary).