Black Catholics face faith challenges, defections, but expert sees path to improvement

A new study of Black members of the Roman Catholic Church — a cohort estimated at 3 million people — reveals some concerning trends as well as hopeful signs, informed observers said.

The Pew Research Center found that Black people born into the Roman Catholic faith are less likely to remain as adults: 46% of those responding said they no longer identify as Catholics, a higher percentage than reported by White or Hispanic Catholics surveyed.

The church is apparently losing its younger Black members as well: 17% of respondents who identify as Black Catholics are between the ages of 18 and 29, versus 35% aged 30-49, and 47% age 50 or older.

Yet amid these concerning trends, leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington are finding hope. A “majority-minority” diocese, the church region is led by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the first Black American prelate elevated to the College of Cardinals.

Black Catholics, the study found, differ from their White and Hispanic counterparts in other areas, too. More in this group,16%, were raised in another faith and converted to Catholicism, a higher share than for White or Hispanic Catholics.

Black Catholics are more likely than White or Hispanic Catholics to say they pray at least once a day and to say that religion is very important in their lives. Nearly half of Black Catholics, 48%, say prayer provides guidance when making “major life decisions,” versus 37% of Hispanic Catholics and 32% of Whites.

Departing from the church’s longstanding opposition to the practice, Pew reported that 71% of Black Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, versus 60% of Hispanics and 56% of White Catholics.

The question of whether homosexuality should be accepted in society wins 78% support from Black Catholics, slightly more than the 76% of White Catholics who concur. Hispanic Catholics at 84%, however, surpass the other two groups in saying society should sanction homosexuality.

The survey also found that 25% of Black Catholics reporting they worship in majority-Black congregations, versus 68% of Black Protestants.

Amid the challenges in retaining membership, one academic, a Black Catholic herself, sees a way dioceses can improve their ministry to engage and retain these departing members.

Tia Noelle Pratt, an assistant professor of sociology at Villanova University who also directs the school’s mission engagement and strategic initiatives, said parish and diocesan leaders must “listen to people and give them what they’re craving, what they need for their spiritual nourishment.”

Ms. Pratt said the closures of predominately Black Catholic parishes and parochial schools, as well as “the ways that Black Catholics have experienced racism within the church” are key to the membership losses.

The sociologist, who was a consultant to Pew on the study, noted “a thunderous 77% of Black Catholics said working against racism is essential to what they considered to be a Christian. But also an overwhelming amount said that they don’t hear that in homilies at Mass.” 

According to the survey results, only 31% of Black Catholics said they’d heard a homily on political engagement during the prior 12 months; only 41% said a homily mentioned racial issues in the same period.

Ms. Pratt said a renewed focus on the needs of youth and young adults also surfaced in the study.

“If the current way of doing things isn’t reaching young people and you want to reach young people then [you’ve] got to find a way to reach young people,” she said.

A potential exception to the overall challenges Black Catholics reported in the survey might be the Washington archdiocese, which covers the District of Columbia as well as the Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s. The archdiocese is the spiritual home of more than 655,000 Catholics. It operates 139 parishes and 90 Catholic schools.

Wendi Williams, executive director of the archdiocese’s Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach, told The Washington Times that the region has a majority of minority group members in its congregations which makes it different from many other dioceses.

“We’re considering pastoral ministries, we’re really rooted in the needs of the faithful,” Ms. Williams said, referencing the current global “Synod on Synodality” convened by Pope Francis to “care for and about the needs and the interests of all of our multiculturally diverse communities.”

She said the archdiocese is surveying its pastors about multicultural ministries, from supportive, pastoral care for immigrants “all the way through to our existing, longstanding Catholic community that is multigenerational.” In May, the results will be discussed during a clergy meeting “to begin the process of pastoral planning,” she said.