Pioneering survey of Catholics who have stopped attending Mass

Bishop Alan Williams sm

Source: MBIT/ICN

The Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the Margaret Beaufort Institute (MBIT) is carrying out some pioneering research with Brentwood Diocese, into why many Catholics no longer go to Mass, or feel they no longer belong in the Church.

Across England and Wales today it is estimated that at least two-thirds of baptised Catholics no longer attend Mass. There were approximately four million non-Church going Catholics in England and Wales in 2017 according to CBCEW statistics. Since the pandemic many more Catholics have not returned to Church with fluctuating patterns of participation elsewhere.

Bishop Alan Williams, in partnership with the Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the MBIT says he wishes to listen and understand the stories and experiences of these women and men in Brentwood Diocese.

A research survey being issued this week is the beginning of an attempt tp create a space for people to share their stories and experience, and to be seriously listened to by the Bishop and the wider church.

The MBIT states: "It is a sincere reaching out to those whom the Church has struggled to reach during the synod process and expresses a desire by Bishop Alan in Brentwood diocese to listen more deeply, more widely and more humbly to Catholics whose experience and insight he wants to hear."

Are you a baptised Catholic who no longer goes to church, living in Brentwood Diocese, or have you lived there in the past? Bishop Alan would love to hear from you! Do you, or someone you know, no longer go to Mass or feel that you belong in the Church? Bishop Alan would love to hear your story and listen to your experience.

For more information and to respond to the survey see: https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Gn08WXvvKfwJts