Roman Catholics total 64 million in U.S. ["counting Catholics is really more art than science"]

UPI ^ | June 25, 2007

[Alex Murphy]

WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- There are more than 64 million Roman Catholics in the United States, new figures presented to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops showed.

Data collected by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate showed the number of Roman Catholics increased from 63.9 million in 2005 to 64.4 million in 2006, USA Today reported Monday.

Demographer Mary Gautier of the center said counting Catholics is really more art than science because parish rolls may not be up to date. Many Catholics drift from parish to parish without formally changing their membership and often don't report deaths in their families, the newspaper said.

In 2001, the American Religious Identification Survey counted almost 51 million Catholics in the United States making them the largest denomination. Figures released by the Conference of Catholic Bishops are higher because they include Puerto Rico, Guam and American protectorates, USA Today reported.

[wideawake]

Many Catholics drift from parish to parish without formally changing their membership and often don't report deaths in their families, the newspaper said.

There are also those who never officially registered at a parish ever, including those (very many) who were baptized at a parish different from their parents' parish and were never officially entered on the rolls of either.

[Publius6961]

There are also those who never officially registered at a parish ever, including those (very many) who were baptized at a parish different from their parents' parish and were never officially entered on the rolls of either.

I have been a Catholic all my life and to my knowledge, never registered, even though my sons and daughter were all baptized and confirmed.
Perhaps doing any of those things triggers "registration" of a sort, but if there is any requirement for registration, I am unaware of it. Mind you, no ID was ever required when I attended masses...

[Salvation]

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Roman Catholics total 64 million in U.S. ["counting Catholics is really more art than science"]

[wideawake]

They are stepping it up.

My local parish will not allow someone to stand godfather to a baptizand without a letter from their home parish stating that they are registered with the local parish and attend Mass regularly.

Likewise, many parishes are turning down wedding requests because neither of the prospective spouses nor their parents are registered parishioners.

Also, more parishes are requiring prospective spouses to be confirmed - which generally entails registering at a parish in order to be admitted to confirmation classes.