Migration of Catholics to the Southeast forming “Mary Belt”?
The trickle of Catholics moving to the U.S. Southeast has become a steady stream in recent years, resulting in an expansion of Catholic building and infrastructure in this region, reports Gigi Duncan in the National Catholic Register (July 9). “In fast-growing communities, churches are implementing additional Masses, opening overflow areas and, in some cases, livestreaming liturgies for parishioners who cannot fit inside the sanctuary. In the Archdiocese of Atlanta alone, diocesan officials report that 30 percent of parishes have at least one weekend Mass at or above capacity,” Duncan writes. She adds that parish buildings built for a smaller Catholic presence are being asked to serve communities that have expanded far beyond their original expectations. To respond more quickly to the influx of Catholics into churches, the Archdiocese of Atlanta has developed internal financing structures that allow parishes to begin construction sooner rather than waiting years to accumulate the necessary funds. The article looks at Catholic growth across such states as South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama and finds growing Mass attendance rates. In the Archdiocese of Mobile more than 600 people entered the church this past Easter, a 36 percent increase over the previous year.
This vitality stands in “stark contrast to much of the Northeast and Midwest, where many dioceses have spent the last several years dealing with parish mergers, school closures and diocesan restructuring in response to declining Catholic populations.” In the Southeast, Catholic communities are growing alongside broader population shifts driven by migration, new housing developments and economic opportunities. In places like Atlanta, this Catholic growth is also increasingly diverse. “Alongside long-established parishes, Atlanta is home to a large and growing Vietnamese Catholic community, with two parishes and a community continuing to develop.” That growth is seen on the leadership level; one of the archdiocese’s three auxiliary bishops is Vietnamese.
The expanding Catholic population also involves a strong focus on vocations. The Atlanta archdiocese recently accepted 20 new seminarians, bringing the total number of men in formation to more than 70 in an archdiocese of 325 priests. In the Nashville diocese, the bishop attributed the growth also to the competitive spirit of local Catholics. “The Catholics in Tennessee have a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “They work hard in defending the Church and promoting the faith, and that draws people in.” Duncan concludes that the Catholic future in the South “will depend on how the church responds—not only in buildings and vocations, but in its ability to integrate, form and sustain a rapidly changing Catholic population across the Southeast.”