Does anyone know:
How does the Catholic Church count how many Catholics there are in various statistics?
The Church maintains various sacrament records (e.g., baptism, confirmation, marriage, etc.). However, polls are also conducted the same way other statistical polls are conducted. See here:
cara.georgetown.edu/bulletin/
Over the past 5 years, about a third of all Catholics say they attend Mass every week (about 4 in 10 in any given week).
Can a person consider himself Catholic even though they haven’t gone to a Mass in 30, 40, 50, years?
As a fallen-away-Catholic who has returned to the Church, I can tell you that they can indeed consider themselves Catholic, but they certainly live with a profound lack of integrity. It’s comparable to being a citizen of the U.S. There are good citizens who are active in their community and as such, help to make the community as a whole better by their involvement. You also have lousy citizens who choose to neglect their duty to the community, often choosing to disregard the law. Those who claim to be Catholic but obstinately reject or neglect Divine and ecclesiasial law are still “citizens” but like lousy U.S. citizens, they are not active in the community and choose instead to use their God-given gifts in a manner contrary to the will of God.
Lousy Catholic “citizens” remain baptized because one of the effects of baptism is an “indelible mark” on one’s soul. However, those who claim to be Catholic, yet knowingly and deliberately reject or neglect their serious obligations to God as well as their brethren, cut themselves off from the grace of Christ (i.e., fallen from grace), and are living a contradictory life.
They would have the same integrity if they claimed to be Amish. It’s just as aburd, since they having little or nothing to do with believing and living in communion with the Amish community.
Nonetheless, God is always calling his “prodigal sons” back to Him.
Are lapsed Catholics counted in statistics as real church going Catholics?
Unlikely. For those claiming to be Catholic, the polls will also ask them if they regularly attend mass and often various other questions (see link above). Moreover, parishes often count (or estimate) how many people are actually at each mass.
My parish has about 2300 registered families (around 6700 people). About 50 to 100 people attend Mass every weekday, and about 1500 to 2500 people attend Mass on Sunday (over five Masses). There’s always room for more.
