The proportion of Catholics attending Mass fell from 11.8% to 8.2%, representing a drop of around a third (from 623,400 to 417,350) over the five-year period.

"The Australian Catholic Mass Attendance Report 2021" acknowledges the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions as a major factor in the decline.

The report also acknowledges that demographic changes within the Catholic population play a role.

However, the picture is not entirely bleak.

The report details a rise in online Mass participation, a trend likely fuelled by pandemic restrictions.

This suggests the Church is adapting to changing preferences and to finding new ways to connect with worshippers.

Increase in youth attending Mass

The report also showed an unexpected increase in the number of young people attending Mass.

The proportion of attendees aged 18-29 declined between 2006 and 2016 but showed an upward trend in 2021. This cohort increased numerically by 4,000 attendees between 2016 and 2021.

"While older age groups cautiously returned to normal patterns of engagement, this may have had a contrasting impact on those in the younger age groups who were eager to reintegrate into society following a period of restrictions and lockdowns" said Dr Trudy Dantis, a director at National Centre for Pastoral Research.

"Participating in Mass at the parish may have provided a chance for social engagement while other such options may have still been unavailable.

"Since 2021, some parishes have experienced a growth in Mass attendance as COVID-19 presented opportunities for them to adapt and cultivate more involvement."

Interestingly, while most dioceses reported declines, some Eastern Catholic eparchies showed growth.

The Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St Thomas saw a 76% increase in attendance and the Syro-Malabar Eparchy reported a 90% rise.

These increases reflect the influence of recent migrants who actively participate in their faith communities.

Online attendance growing

The survey also highlighted Australia's multicultural Catholic community, with Mass being celebrated in 42 different languages. This diversity points to a vibrant, albeit changing, religious landscape.

Online Mass attendance has emerged as a significant trend in Australian Catholicism.

The growth is likely due, in part, to the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the convenience and accessibility of online services may also be attracting those who face challenges attending Mass in person.

Of the 35 dioceses, eparchies and ordinariates for which data was received, 26 offered online Masses at least once during the period of the count.

The next Australian national count of Mass attendance will be in 2026.

Sources

The Pillar

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

The Catholic Weekly

CathNews New Zealand

With the formation of this council, the diocese seeks to tap into the diverse talents and experiences of its deacons and their wives, who play a crucial role in their vocation.

Over the past 17 years, the Parramatta Diocese has been dedicated to forming deacons, resulting in a current roster of 18 active deacons serving in various ministries, with an additional six deacons in the formation process.

Deacon Tony Hoban, a highly respected figure within the diocese, has been appointed as the Vicar for Deacons, taking on a leadership role in guiding the council.

In an interview with Catholic Outlook, Deacon Tony shared that, "It was originally Bishop Vincent's idea to establish a council," he said.

"He's very supportive of our community and what we bring to the diocese and wanted to utilise the gifts and talents of our community."

Support for the wives of deacons

Significantly, the council's formation also considers the views of parishioners.

With deacons serving in nearly half of the parishes across the diocese, including Deacon Tony and Deacon Rod as pastoral directors, the council can effectively incorporate the perspectives and needs of the local community.

Moreover, Deacon Tony stressed the importance of supporting deacons' wives.

"Every deacon and his wife have vastly differing backgrounds and experiences, which we can bring into our ministry. It's crucial that we have the wives' support on the council as the first vocation of a deacon is that of marriage and the family."

The inaugural meeting of the Diaconate Council is scheduled to take place in mid-June. Acting as an advisory body to the bishop, the council members will assess all aspects of diaconal ministry and evaluate the support provided after ordination.

Furthermore, the council will establish a platform for deacons and their families to engage in meaningful dialogue, fostering a sense of community and collaboration.

The news of the council's establishment has been met with enthusiasm by the diaconate community in Parramatta. They eagerly anticipate the opportunity to be heard, supported and receive additional training to enhance their fulfilment of the diaconal vocation.

Sources

Catholic Outlook

CathNews New Zealand

Established in 2012 for the corporate reception of Anglicans into the Catholic Church, the ordinariate has 17 congregations in Australia, Japan, and Guam where the Catholic liturgy is celebrated in a manner that draws on the Anglican tradition.

Msgr Reid, a former bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, was received into the Catholic Church in 2012 and ordained to the priesthood the following year.

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Two years after a royal commission exposed the scale of child abuse in the church, Catholic leaders are reshaping the way clergy are appointed.

This includes new screening and monitoring protocols for candidates and a revamped "national program of priestly formation" being developed.

It is also widely rumoured that church leaders are discussing dismantling the seminary system altogether.

They are considering a broader model of priest apprenticeships with more interaction with the community, it is said.

Current priestly formation generally requires living in an exclusive, male-dominated residential college.

At the college the seminarians work on a seven-year training programme with four dimensions: spiritual, pastoral, human and academic.

Church leaders accept that past practices such as poor vetting, inadequate lessons in celibacy and ministry and a clerical culture that shunned women contributed to the church's abuse problem.

Evidence to the royal commission and subsequent legal cases showed a number of seminaries had become places where repressed young men would experiment sexually with one another with little consequence.

Some would later turn their attention to children in their parish.

Many priests began offending soon after they graduated.

The Australian Catholic Church now requires Catholic institutions, including seminaries, to meet new child protection standards.

They will be identified in public reports by the Catholic Professional Standards agency if they do not comply.

But Australian Catholics Bishops Conference chair Mark Coleridge says a "radical revision of how we recruit and prepare candidates for ordination" is needed for the church to learn from its past.

"Much has changed in our seminaries but one has to wonder whether seminaries are the place or way to train men for the priesthood now," Coleridge says.

This is not a new idea of Coleridge's. He has previously been reported as saying he is open to a priest "apprenticeship model".

In this trainee priests could receive broader training at universities and parishes while still being appropriately "formed" spiritually, intellectually and pastorally.

Further reform is now underway.

Screening protocols have been agreed by the Bishops' Conference and a review into the selection and training of clergy is currently underway.

This will form the basis of a new National Program of Priestly Formation, which the Conference will consider in November.

Source

• The Age
• Image: Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy