Good things come in threes and 2025 is the third year in a row that the number of Catholics in the pews has grown in Brisbane Archdiocese. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Archdiocesan Ministries parish leadership director Teresa McGrath, who leads the annual Mass count, said they counted an overall Mass attendance of 53,000 people.
The numbers included all the Masses that were considered a Sunday Mass, including Saturday vigils, and it was averaged across four weekends in May.
Mrs McGrath said the growth in Mass attendance over the three years had been phenomenal.
She said every year since the 1990s, Mass attendance has fallen about two per cent year-on-year before it plummeted to zero during the pandemic lockdowns.
The trends have pointed up since 2022-23.
The Mass count is done at a parish level with some parishes experiencing significant gains, higher than the trend, over the time period.
Mrs McGrath said it was useful for parishes to have the statistics because it ensured analysis could be backed up by evidence, not anecdotes.
She was unwilling to attribute the growth to any cause in particular, but she said there were reports of growth from dioceses across the world.
She said this was reflected in a general increase in enquiries to RCIA in Brisbane archdiocese, too.
The Mass count had lessons in it, Mrs McGrath said.
For one, she said, simply having more Masses in a parish did not drive more attendance.
She said their analysis showed positive outcomes in some parishes, reducing the number of Masses to create a larger community presence at the remaining Masses.
She said it was important for people in the pews to feel like they were part of something larger than themselves and attendance was part of that.
She encouraged parishes to look at the numbers, consider what might be possible and not be afraid of trying something new.
When parishes lean into change, she said, it can bring new energy, new life to help them grow.
FULL STORY
Brisbane’s Catholic boom – more people are attending Mass, parishes credit community and internet (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
