Catholic dioceses in southern United States report record growth

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esieffe said:
Yep. We had to move the rite of election by the AB from the civic center to the World Congress Center, didn’t we Clare?😃
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yup. A long, and often tortured ceremony for the many across across the Archdiocese. Years ago they did it in the four quadrants of the city and it was easier for people to attend.
And see. 😉
 
FirstFiveEighth said:
I am from the South, and I think this growth is mainly do to “yankee” families moving south due to either retirement, chasing cheaper cost of living, or manufacturing jobs moving south. Then of course a growing hispanic population. I don’t believe it has much to do with conversion at all, or even catholics supposedly having more kids (I don’t think many today hold to humanae vitae to be honest).
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I agree. I was born and raised here and converted. But most of the Catholics I encounter are from somewhere else. It’s one of the things I wasn’t looking forward to when I converted. I had enjoyed going to church mostly with people from here. It’s not that I’m not kind or welcoming to strangers. It’s just that I like the culture of the South and strongly dislike the Yankee attitude. I do think the South is the best grounds for converts simply because it is a place that does actually care about religion.
 
Muzhik said:
To me, the questions are:

  1. *]Is the growth coming from people moving from the North to the South or from the Southwest to the Southeast, OR
    *]Is it resulting from a higher birth rate among Southern Catholics, OR
    *]Is it due to a higher rate of conversions than in other parts of the country?

    SEND IN THE STATISTICIANS!!! :knight2:
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  1. I do wish that each diocese would report the number of new confirmations as a result of the RCIA/RCIC process each year, so that conversion data could be compiled and collated by region, country, etc. It would be wonderful to be able to track how successfully the Church is proselytizing from year to year.
 
Brassring said:
I do wish that each diocese would report the number of new confirmations as a result of the RCIA/RCIC process each year, so that conversion data could be compiled and collated by region, country, etc. It would be wonderful to be able to track how successfully the Church is proselytizing from year to year.
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It is.
 
I’m trying to remember the organization that collects it. We are required to buy the book every year with the stats int he parish.
 
exnihilo said:
I agree. I was born and raised here and converted. But most of the Catholics I encounter are from somewhere else. It’s one of the things I wasn’t looking forward to when I converted. I had enjoyed going to church mostly with people from here. It’s not that I’m not kind or welcoming to strangers. It’s just that I like the culture of the South and strongly dislike the Yankee attitude. I do think the South is the best grounds for converts simply because it is a place that does actually care about religion.
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I recall that famed southern writer, Flannery O’Connor opined several decades ago that ultimately the greatest source of conversions would be in the South.

And I agree with you that part of the reason is that religion is taken seriously in the South. I’m not in the Deep South. I’m in the southern Missouri Ozarks which is a subset of southern culture, rather similar to that of the Smokies and southern Appalachians (which is where virtually all of our original settlers came from).

We get a lot of conversions, mostly from the more Fundamentalist groups. Another thing O’Connor said was that southern Fundamentalists would be surprised to learn that they share more with Catholicism than they do with mainline Protestantism. And I think that’s true too.

So, while I do think a lot of growth in the Church in the South is due to influx of Yankees in some places, and influx of Hispanics in others, I think the conversion rate is also picking up.
 
Brassring said:
I do wish that each diocese would report the number of new confirmations as a result of the RCIA/RCIC process each year, so that conversion data could be compiled and collated by region, country, etc. It would be wonderful to be able to track how successfully the Church is proselytizing from year to year.
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I thought there exist a Vatican document against proselytizing.
 
Ridgerunner said:
I recall that famed southern writer, Flannery O’Connor opined several decades ago that ultimately the greatest source of conversions would be in the South.

And I agree with you that part of the reason is that religion is taken seriously in the South. I’m not in the Deep South. I’m in the southern Missouri Ozarks which is a subset of southern culture, rather similar to that of the Smokies and southern Appalachians (which is where virtually all of our original settlers came from).

We get a lot of conversions, mostly from the more Fundamentalist groups. Another thing O’Connor said was that southern Fundamentalists would be surprised to learn that they share more with Catholicism than they do with mainline Protestantism. And I think that’s true too.

So, while I do think a lot of growth in the Church in the South is due to influx of Yankees in some places, and influx of Hispanics in others, I think the conversion rate is also picking up.
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I think the South is more Catholic in spirit. The North is infected with Puritanism and now Universalism. The West Coast in infected with libertinism.

As the mainline denominations collapse and people find mega churches less satisfying there is a great opportunity for conversion. I think Orthodoxy could benefit as many Protestants just can’t accept the Pope and also, I think, find it easier to become Orthodox since they had focused their anti Ancient Church thoughts solely on Catholicism.
 
Born and raised in South Carolina. The growth in our diocese, which covers all 46 counties and is under the Archdiocese of Atlanta, is primarily transplants. The Metropolitan parishes in Charleston, Greenville, Columbia and the York county area have seen a large influx of northerners and Midwestern transplants swelling parish rolls. Coastal areas are still seeing New England and mid west influx of retirees. While some conversion is happening, most of what we see is driven by transplants and hispanic immigration.
 
So Catholic dioceses in the American South are growing. Sadly, numerous parishes in the Frost Belt have been shuttered. Check out this piece. 😦
 
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