Mass Attendance Is Up

The Diocese of Arlington recently released a series of it’s October Mass attendance headcounts and these show the decline of attendance during the pandemic and then the slow but steady increase back to pre-pandemic levels.

This news came just as we at CARA had estimated the year-end Mass attendance nationally in the United States. We have utilized a method using our national surveys and Google Trends search volumes for Mass attendance related terms to estimate weekly attendance. As shown below (click image to enlarge), prior to the pandemic in 2019, weekly Mass attendance averaged 24.4%. From the beginning of the pandemic lock-downs in March 2020 to the declared end of the pandemic in May 2023, Mass attendance averaged 15.0%. Since this time, through the first week of 2025, it has averaged 24.0%.

 

 

Christmas in 2024 was the first time Mass attendance for this holiday reached its 2019 level. Easter and Ash Wednesday Mass attendance had returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. We have hypothesized that the heightened awareness and warnings about COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases during January were keeping some from returning to Mass at that time of year. We will keep tracking Mass attendance through 2025 and let you know how Ash Wednesday and Easter measure up.