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ATTENDANCE AT

CATHOLIC FORMAL RELIGIOUS

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

BY CHILDREN AND YOUTH

IN 1974 AND 1975

by

Msgr. Wilfrid H. Paradis, J.C.D., Ph.D.

Associate Secretary

Office of Research Policy and Program Development

Department of Education

United States Catholic Conference

and

Andrew D. Thompson, Ph.D.

The School of Religious Studies

The Catholic University of America

Washington, D.C.

An Update of “Where are the 6.6 Million?”

1976

Publications Office

UNITED STATES EATHOLIE EONFERENEE

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.E. 20005



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/attendanceatcathOOpara



ATTENDANCE AT

CATHOLIC FORMAL RELIGIOUS

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

BY CHILDREN AND YOUTH

IN 1974 AND 1975
1

In 1975 the decrease in Catholic school attendance was less than

one percent for the third consecutive year. While Catholic elementary

and secondary schools enrolled 2,109,653 fewer students last year than

they did in 1965, the amount of the decrease is steadily getting smaller.

Moreover, the number of grade school-age Catholic children receiv-

ing no formal Catholic religious instruction actually declined for the

first time in 10 years. It should be noted, however, that this change in

pattern may be accounted for by the decrease, between 1974 and 1975,

of the number of Catholic youngsters in this age bracket.

And when the totals for elementary school-age children is combined

with that of high school youth, the result shows that the overall number

receiving some form of Catholic religious instruction decreased by

223,521 between 1974 and 1975. The 8,378,356 young people enrolled

in either Catholic schools or CCD programs in 1975 constituted 55.6%

of Catholics between the ages of six and eighteen.

These were among the principal findings of a study conducted by

Msgr. Wilfrid H. Paradis, Associate Secretary, Office of Research, Policy

and Program Development in the Department of Education, U.S. Catholic

Conference and Dr. Andrew A. Thompson of The School of Religious

Studies of The Catholic University of America. It follows an earlier study,

Where Are the 6.6 Million? which was made public last March. That

study found that the number of Catholic grade and high school age

children receiving no formal religious instruction grew from 3.1 million

in 1965 to 6.6 million in 1974, and that the 8.6 million youngsters who

were being reached by some type of formal religious instruction con-

stituted 56.6% of Catholics in their age bracket. The new study updates

the statistics by one year.

1 The statistics in this study were taken from Kenedy's The Official

Catholic Directory as were those in the booklet “Where are the 6.6 Million?"

published by the United States Catholic Conference. The statistics on
Catholic schools vary slightly with those gathered by the National Catholic

Educational Association. That organization has been collecting statistical

information on Catholic schools since the 1967-1968 school year.

1

DeacldlSed



In 1975 the total of Catholic children and youth (6 to 18 years old)

was 15,060,336, a decrease of 169,575 from 1974. This age group has

decreased by 328,764 since the peak of 1972.

The decrease has occurred only at the grade school level, whose

population has gone down steadily for the past five years. There were

9,742,070 in this age group in 1975, a decrease of 806,146 since 1971.

By contrast, the number of Catholics of high school age rose to an

all-time high of 5,318,266 in 1975, an increase of 95,938 over the

previous year.

The 1975 Catholic elementary school enrollment of 2,576,856

meant 22,371 fewer students at this level than in 1974. This represents

an increase of 0.48% — the first percentage increase in over 10 years.
During the two previous years the decline had been less than one percent

per year. In 1967 and 1968 the decrease was more than 3% each year.
Since 1965 Catholic elementary school enrollment has declined by

1,915,097 or 42.6%.

Despite the numerical decline of 22,371 the percentage of children

enrolled in elementary schools as compared to the total population of

eligible children, actually increased — a fact explained by the smaller
population (the decrease in Catholics in this age bracket from 1974 to

1975 amounted to 265,513). Thus, the 2,576,856 Catholics enrolled in

elementary schools in 1975 represented 26.45% of the population of

this age group whereas the 2,599,227 enrolled in 1974 constituted

25.97% of the group.

At the high school level attendance dropped 24,671 (0.79%) in

1975. The 895,845 high school students enrolled in 1975 represented

219,505 (19.7%) fewer students than in 1968 which saw a high of

1,115,351. Even at the high school level, however, 1975 marked the

third consecutive year in which the decrease was less than one percent.

Total Catholic elementary and high school enrollment decreased by

47,042 between 1974 and 1975, a drop of 0.05%. In 1975 the

Catholic elementary and secondary school systems had 2,109,653 fewer

students than in 1965.

For the fourth consecutive year attendance at out-of-school religious

education programs (CCD) declined at the elementary level. There were

3,892,457 children in parish catechetical programs at this level in

1975, a decrease of 96,493 from 1974. Once again, however, because

of the decline in the total number of grade school-age Catholic children,

the percentage in parish programs actually rose — by 0.1 percent. This
means that despite the numerical decline, 39.96% of eligible children

were enrolled at this level in 1975 compared to 39.86% in 1974.

2



Participation in high school level CCD-type programs was down

for the eighth consecutive year and — in this case — the decrease was
in terms of percentages as well as overall numbers. The 1,013,198

youngsters enrolled in these programs in 1975 were 79,986 fewer than

in 1974. These programs enrolled 19.05% of eligible Catholic youth in

1975. In 1974 they enrolled 20.93 percent.

The total number of grade school age Catholics receiving Catholic

formal religious instruction in 1975 was 6,469,313, a decrease of

118,864 from 1974 and the ninth consecutive year of numerical

decrease. Since 1966 the decrease here has been 1,564,602. None-

theless, the percentage of eligible children enrolled went from 65.83%

in 1974 to 66.41% in 1975.

It should be noted that in 1966 and 1975 the number of Catholic

children in this age group was close to the same: 9,893,076 and

9,742,070 respectively. But in 1966 Catholic formal religious instruc-

tion was reaching 81.21% of these children.

At the high school level the number receiving formal religious

instruction of some type — whether schools or CCD — continued the
numerical and percentage decline begun in 1967. The numerical de-

crease since that year has been 679,944; between 1974 and 1975 it

was 104,657. The 1,909,043 youth in this group receiving some form

of religious instruction represented 35.9% of their population.

In marked contrast to the grade school scene, the number of

Catholics of high school age increased by 1,133,400 since 1967.

In summary, the number of Catholic elementary and secondary

age children and youth receiving formal Catholic religious instruction in

1975 was 8,378,356, down 223,521 from the previous year. In per-

centage terms, the decrease was from 56.48% in 1974 to 55.63%

in 1975.

The number of elementary age Catholic children receiving no formal

Catholic religious instruction declined for the first time in 10 years.

There were 3,272,757 children in this group in 1975, down by 146,649

from 1974. This change in pattern may be accounted for by a decrease,

between 1974 and 1975, of 265,513 Catholic children in this age

bracket. Some 33.59% in this group are not receiving formal instruction.

At the high school level, the number receiving no formal Catholic

religious instruction rose by 200,595 in 1975, to 3,409,223 students.

This is 64.1 % of this population.

In sum, in 1975 there were 8,378,356 (55.63%) children and

youth of grade and high school age receiving formal Catholic religious

3



instruction. That was 223,521 fewer than in the previous year. In 1975

there were 6,681,980 (44.3%) not receiving instruction, up 53,946

over 1974. During that same period the total number of Catholic ele-

mentary and secondary age children and youth decreased by 169,575.

On a percentage basis the number of elementary age children not

receiving formal Catholic religious instruction decreased 0.58% and

on the high school level, it went up by 2.66%. Since 1965 the number

not receiving instruction has risen 17.38% at the elementary level and

27.63% for the high school grades. For both the increase has been over

one-fifth (21.52%).

4



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15,229,911

3,519,743

23.11

5,082,134

33.37

8,601,877

56.48

6,628,034

43.52

(1975)

15,060,336

3,472,701

23.06

4,905,655

32.57

8,378,356

55.63

6,681,980

44.37

-169,575

-47,042

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-176,479

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