That would be a fun study to construct!
Specifically, what would one mean by “practicing” Catholic? Would this just be regular Mass attendance? Would there be other inclusionary criteria, such as adherence to specific Catholic beliefs or practices? If so, which ones?
How would one gather data? Diocesan records? A questionnaire? Self report? How valid would the data gathering tool be? Would it only be available to those who attend Mass? Would it be mailed to anyone who ever received a sacrament that is on a parish sacramental record, such as a baptismal or marriage register? Would, for example, homeless people be interviewed, presuming they’d talk with a study investigator? How would one circulate such a study tool? Direct mail? What would be one’s sample size? A representative sample? A whole diocese? A whole state?
As you can see, it could get pretty complex pretty quickly. Actually, I could see where a sociology graduate student could get a master’s thesis out of answering this question!
I’m thinking that New York City and Los Angeles, California probably have the greatest number of self-identified Catholics per capita, because of the high number of immigrants and second-generation Americans from traditionally Catholic nations in those two cities. I know that churches in New York City are pretty full on Sundays and Holy Days, and the archdiocese is huge. Of course, that’s just my speculation backed by casual observation. And I’m not about to do such a study as I described, because I already have my masters’ degree in a different discipline!
