How Many Traditional Latin Masses/Attendees Are There?

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Ham1

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I see much written of the traditional Latin Mass here, but I encounter very very few people who attend such Masses despite operating in conservative Catholic circles.

Does anyone know approximately how many people attend traditional Latin Masses in the US and worldwide?

I’m curious because it seems that it is a relatively small number of people which might be why Rome seems to have no interest in any type of “universal indult.”

Thanks!
 
I did back home. Now, I have to travel 40 miles to go to one. I might go to my first one here this week or next week.
 
For me it’s a vicious circle…since I can’t get to one I don’t attend- and am then unwillingly lumped in with the “uninterested” Novus Ordo group. I have only been able to attend the TLM two amazing times, and based only on that, if I could have only the TLM for the rest of my days that would be fine by me.

In the mean time, the FSSP grows worldwide. You can’t keep a good mass down- and the TLM is about reverence- a reverence that the soul desires instinctively.

How many attend the TLM? More and more as time goes on- and for good reason. Never mind the numbers though, go give it a try!!!
 
Thanks, I am curious as to the numbers, though. Is 20,000 or 200,000? It seems to be in my experience to be a remarkably small number of Catholics worldwide. And I think for this reason, doesn’t receive much consideration from the Vatican. After all, they have bigger things to worry about and in the grand scheme of things this probably affects very few Catholics.
 
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Ham1:
Thanks, I am curious as to the numbers, though. Is 20,000 or 200,000? It seems to be in my experience to be a remarkably small number of Catholics worldwide. And I think for this reason, doesn’t receive much consideration from the Vatican. After all, they have bigger things to worry about and in the grand scheme of things this probably affects very few Catholics.
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I would guess that you are correct. I have seen estimates of 2%-10% of people at Mass on a given Sunday are attending the TLM in the U.S.

To give you some perspective though, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma covers approx. 70,000 square miles (about the size of all the states that comprise New England). In the Diocese of OKC we have one TLM chapel with three Sunday masses. The Diocese of Tulsa has one TLM church in Tulsa with two Sunday masses and a Monastery in rural Hulbert, OK with two TLM Sunday masses.

Since I have started going to the TLM in March, I have had many people tell me that they are going to go to Mass at our chapel, but to my knowledge none has shown up yet. When I ask them why, inertia is the reason given by most. It is hard to break our old habits.

If the TLM becomes more widely available, I would expect the numbers to go up some. Distance and times will make it more convenient for people to attend.
 
Well, if I didn’t have to fly in order to attend a TLM I might go more often. It gets a little expensive.😦
 
I think since Benedict XVI celebrated the TLM as a cardinal and has written extensively on the liturgy, it’s safe to say that the Mass, both old rite and new, are receiving considerable interest from him now and will in the future.

And the number of people who attend the TLM is irrelevant since that is hardly a fair gauge of interest. As noted above, inertia is a problem for most people. Now, if a TLM was available in every diocese of the US, within a 15-20 minute drive of the majority of Catholics, then we would see what the real interest is. Nah, I guess it’s much better to forbid the TLM entirely or hide it in a remote corner of the diocese at odd times. Because then, you can point to it and say, “See! Nobody wants it!” :rolleyes:
 
I would attend the TLM if it was available close by. The nearest one to us is approx a 3 hr. drive one way.
 
On another thread there was a posting which listed most of the parishes in the US which have Tridentine rite Mass. Most of the states seem to have at least one; a few have several parishes which have one. I believe it also listed Mass times, or at least the number of Masses in a week which were in that rite.

From the listings, and assuming an average church will not seat more than 600, and assuming that they average 500 at a Mass, it might be safe to assume that somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 to 50,000 people might attend one in any given week. Those numbers, however, are based on certain assumptions that the Mass is well attended in almost all churches, and that the average church can hold that many.

Some, from comments in this forum, are held in chapels or small churches, so the actual numbers may be closer to the 10,000 to 20,000 range.

A number of comments could lead one to believe that the actual numbers are closer to the lowest estimate; comments such as how far it is to go to a Mass, dwindling participation because of poor locations, etc.
 
It is all about the availability of the Tridentine Latin Mass. You can’t go to one if there isn’t one to attend.
  • Kathie :bowdown:
 
I attend the indult here. Most of the people who attend have a pretty good commute, with the majority traveling at least 50+ miles to get there on Sunday and Holy Days.
We are not allowed to advertise the indult to keep our numbers small. Despite this we have grown 30% in the last 2 years. On average we have about 95% attendence on any given Sunday of regular parishoners (most have large families in the CCD program) with it swelling over 100+ more people for High Masses. We also have had 9 vocations in the last 10 years 8 going to Latin Mass orders like the FSSP.
If we were allowed to advertise our Mass and get a full time FSSP pastor or another Latin Mass order we would expand quickly. I have brought about 5 other people there in the last year. But it is very hard to keep people in a Church were the Pastor assigned by the Bishop screams at us from the pulpit shows up sometimes 40 minutes late hoping we will leave and tells us to stop acting like a thrivng, active, vital parish. Just my opinion. Oh and now they want to move us to a Chruch with no parking, disband our 5 choirs and the Church is unusable for a Latin Mass. Small wonder why the numbers don’t grow :rolleyes: .
Kathy
 
There is no TLM in my state. The previous bishop was petitioned and the request was turned down. The new bishop is about to be petitioned. Here’s hoping for a positive response. I dearly love the TLM at Old St. Mary’s in Washington but it is a looong trip.
 
I have never attended a TLM and, due to some unpleasant encounters with some TML adherants, I have no desire or plan to attend one anytime in the foreseeable future.

PF
 
I don’t know if I would go regularly (not at all if I had to travel 50 miles as some do), but I believe it should be available to people who want it. Why not? We’ve got Spanish masses, contemporary masses, charismatic masses, Polish masses, Korean masses, healing masses, teen masses, Italian masses… If every parish had one TLM Sunday mass, the #s would certainly change…
 
It is all about the availability of the Tridentine Latin Mass. You can’t go to one if there isn’t one to attend.
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That’s certainly a true statement, but the facts are that the vast majority of Americans are within a day’s travel of an indult Latin mass site.

So “unavailability” really isn’t the case here.
 
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Kielbasi:
That’s certainly a true statement, but the facts are that the vast majority of Americans are within a day’s travel of an indult Latin mass site.

So “unavailability” really isn’t the case here.
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“Unavailability” is certainly the case here. Some Catholics can’t (don’t have the resources, etc…) drive 50, 60, 100, 150 miles or more to get to an [stike]indult[/strike] insult TLM.

I, by the grace of God, am fortunate enough to be able to drive the 120 mile round trip to the TLM every Sunday, but there are a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to do that. Sometimes the situation is far worse. I have heard of the nearest TLM being 200 or more miles away from people who want the TLM and have requested it from their Bishop.

The time of the Mass is also frequently a barrier. They will offer it only once at 6:30 AM, but only every 1st, or 5th Sunday (this is merely an example. I am not saying it’s always like this everywhere).
 
I attend the traditional Latin Mass every Sunday (Thanks be to God). I neeed only travel 11 miles one way. I cannot speak for all dioceses but in ours the Bishop denied any parishes request for TLM even though the Pope had requested that such permission be granted. Thankfully,(though not for him) he was removed from office in the midst of a scandal. The new Bishop is said to be comfortable with TLM, at least to some extent. To me it seems evident that too many Bishops either discourage or refuse to allow ANY Latin Masses. To some extent this is understandable because the Novus Ordo came into being some 40 years ago and may be the only Mass they know. Since I grew up serving at the Latin Mass and have never accepted the Novus Ordo, I admit to being very biased.
 
Dropper said:
“Unavailability” is certainly the case here. Some Catholics can’t (don’t have the resources, etc…) drive 50, 60, 100, 150 miles or more to get to an [stike]
indult[/strike] insult TLM.
50 miles or even 200 miles is sufficiently close for occasionally attendance at the Latin mass, although you’re right that its a bit much for every Sunday
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attendance.

But I don’t think that providing Latin masses every Sunday was the intent of the indult in the first place, but instead just a recognition of the Lat(name removed by moderator)hiles rightful aspirations.

I’m not sure how healthy it is to do that much traveling when there is an equally valid and lawful mass available at a lot shorter distance away with the other members of your community in attendance.

Here in Pittsburgh , on the other side of town from me, there is a weekly Latin mass. I would like to hear it some day, unfortunately its only on Sunday morning and I would miss in my own parish if I heard it. I’d like to see the bishop here switch the indult masses to midweek (at least occasionally) to give more of the people an opportunity.
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Kielbasi:
Dropper said:
“Unavailability” is certainly the case here. Some Catholics can’t (don’t have the resources, etc…) drive 50, 60, 100, 150 miles or more to get to an [stike]
indult[/strike] insult TLM.
50 miles or even 200 miles is sufficiently close for occasionally attendance at the Latin mass, although you’re right that its a bit much for every Sunday
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attendance.

But I don’t think that providing Latin masses every Sunday was the intent of the indult in the first place, but instead just a recognition of the Lat(name removed by moderator)hiles rightful aspirations.

I’m not sure how healthy it is to do that much traveling when there is an equally valid and lawful mass available at a lot shorter distance away with the other members of your community in attendance.

Here in Pittsburgh , on the other side of town from me, there is a weekly Latin mass. I would like to hear it some day, unfortunately its only on Sunday morning and I would miss in my own parish if I heard it. I’d like to see the bishop here switch the indult masses to midweek (at least occasionally) to give more of the people an opportunity.

The TLM comunity there is established, and despite your misgivings, it is extraterritorial, and it is not going anywhere. Like a parish that has a mass in Polish or a parish that has a mass for African immigrants, it is extra territorial in nature to fill the needs of verious communities, and yes, those who prefer the old mass are a community.
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WanderAimlessly:
I have never attended a TLM and, due to some unpleasant encounters with some TML adherants, I have no desire or plan to attend one anytime in the foreseeable future.

PF
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I think the issue here is the Rite of the Mass itself, not the adherants. Besides, you seem to be judging all TLM Mass devotees on the basis of some people you encountered. Seems hardly fair.
 
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