Reports on Catholic losses to evangelicals called 'exaggerated'

Published: 2008-07-17

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- Large numbers of cradle Catholics in both the United States and Canada continue to identify with their Catholic roots even if they have become largely inactive in church life, Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby told a San Antonio audience. And what's more, large numbers of them express openness to getting more deeply involved if parishes provide ministries that are meaningful to their family members, he said. Bibby, professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, shared those findings in a keynote address in late June at the Oblate Renewal Center in San Antonio in conjunction with the Oblate School of Theology's 2008 summer institute on "Megatrends in Church and Society." Bibby, a Baptist, said that Catholics by their sheer numbers occupy a privileged position. In the United States the Catholic population numbers 67 million, according to the 2008 Official Catholic Directory. That growth has roughly mirrored the rise in total U.S. population, from 218.6 million in 1979 to 232.4 million in 1999 and 305 million in 2008. Canada's Catholics number about 13 million out of a total population of 33.4 million.

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