Mass counts show slight increase in attendance in 2023

Mass attendance in the Archdiocese of St. Louis increased slightly in 2023, according to a report from the archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Planning.

Overall, 24.5% of Catholics registered in parishes attended Mass during three weekends in October, up from 24.2% in 2022.

While 2023 data shows that 444,118 Catholics reside in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, 374,118 are registered in parishes, according to the Office of Pastoral Planning.

For the past 13 years, the archdiocese has conducted Mass attendance counts in October at parishes and worship sites. All but eight of the parishes and worship sites offering regular weekend Masses participated in this year’s counts.

The All Things New pastoral planning initiative reduced the number of parishes in the archdiocese from 178 to 135 (though decrees of suppression for a handful of parishes have been suspended, pending Vatican review). This fall, 10 merged or subsumed parishes no longer offered weekend Mass, and 57 parishes or churches offered fewer weekend Masses than last year.

• In parishes that experienced no structural change, Mass attendance increased to 23.1% in 2023 from 22.2% in 2022. These were mostly larger parishes, which historically have lower Mass attendance rates than smaller parishes.
• Parishes with no change other than sharing a pastor with another parish saw attendance rise to 27.1% over last year’s 26.6%.
• In parishes that subsumed another parish or parishes, Mass attendance rose to 27.7% from 24.2% in 2022.
• Masses are still regularly celebrated in many of the church locations of parishes that were merged or subsumed. Attendance fell at those churches to 18.1% this year from 26.4% in 2022.
• Parishes or churches with the same number of weekend Masses in 2023 and 2022 saw attendance rise to 25.3% over 23.8% in 2022.
• Parishes or churches with fewer weekend Mass times than last year saw decreased attendance, down to 20.9% this year from 23.1% last year. Historically, when a parish offers fewer weekend Masses, Mass attendance declines, according to the Office of Pastoral Planning.

Overall Mass attendance is still below the pre-COVID level of 29.8% in 2019. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mass counts included in-person attendance and online livestream views. More Catholics in the archdiocese worshipped live and online that year than worshipped in person in 2019.

In 2021, Mass counts also included in-person attendance and livestream views. However, the number of online worshippers declined significantly, as many parishes stopped offering livestreamed Masses, or parishioners began to opt out because of online fatigue. In-person Mass attendance increased significantly in 2021, making up more than half the loss experienced in 2020.

In 2022, the Office of Pastoral Planning discontinued counting livestream views as part of the Mass attendance counts. That year, Mass attendance rose by more than 2%.