Evan Holguin, writing for the AngelusNews website, addresses the lack of charitable giving among Catholics in the United States. Holguin is a fundraiser, so he knows of what he writes. What he writes is that, among Christian denominations, Catholics give far less than our Protestant brethren to support the ministries of the Church.

As a percentage of their income, Catholic families give about half of what Protestant families give. In terms of real dollars, the average Protestant gives $2,748 per person to the support of their congregation, while the average Catholic gives $1,581. And this isn’t, as Holguin reports some have claimed, because Catholics give more elsewhere. Nope. Catholics give less to other, non congregation or parish-related causes. Catholics just give less all around.

It’s not because we make less money, either. In fact, Catholics parishes have the largest median income of all Christian denominations in the United States. So, we make more money, but give less of it to the support of our parishes, or even to the support of other charitable causes. And it’s been like this for decades. This is not a new phenomenon.

It’s going to get worse. While the Catholic Church in the United States remains the largest single Christian denomination, we’re also the Church that is losing the most people. 43% of people in the U. S. who were raised Catholic no longer identify as Catholic. These ex-Catholics make up 12.8% of the U. S. population. Those who do identify as still Catholic make up 19% of the U. S. population. Given that, for every one person who enters the Catholic Church in the U. S., eight leave the Church, it’s not gonna be long before the number of ex-Catholics outnumber the number of still Catholics. Of those who represent the 19% of the population who identify as Catholic, only 17% attend Mass every weekend.

So, the financial future of the Catholic Church in the United States looks pretty grim.

Consider that, on February 27 of this year, the U. S. State Department cancelled it’s decades long contract with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops supporting the bishop’s refugee resettlement program, including the “Enduring Welcome” program whereby the Church works to secure settlement for Afghan refugees now in the United States. Now the Church will not be able to meet those needs as well as in the past, including the needs of refugees assigned to them by the U. S. government. Considering the giving habits of Catholics, it’s not likely that Catholics in the U. S. are going to make up the multi-million dollar deficit created by the bishops losing this contract. As a consequence, programs will be cut, people will be laid off, ministries will close, and services will be diminished. The State Department says the resettlement program “no longer effectuate[s] agency priorities.” This has happened before. When Barack Obama was president, the government demanded that the bishops include abortion services in their ministry to victims of human trafficking. The bishops, of course, refused. The Obama administration ended the government’s funding of the Church’s ministry to the victims of human trafficking. Back then, the Obama administration felt that it was more important to support the abortion agenda than to assist women and children who were victims of human trafficking. Now, the Trump administration feels it’s more important to satisfy their political base than to help resettle refugees. Not everything is all nor nothing. There has to be a middle way. Regardless, it’s not likely that Catholics in the U. S. are going to make up the multi-million deficit created by the bishops losing this contract.

But, I digress…

So, why do we Catholics give so much less than our Protestant brethren? It’s not because of the abuse scandal. This pattern pre-dates that and, anyway, while the press has not reported on it as aggressively as they have the abuse in the Catholic Church, our Protestant friends know well that sexual abuse, even of minors, is not limited to the Catholic Church. In fact, the Catholic Church has probably responded to it far more aggressively than any other insitution or industry. It’s not because Catholics make less money. In fact, we make more than most. It’s not because fewer Catholics attend service regularly. The numbers are just as dismal among Protestants (though not so when considering how many members they’re losing – we’re losing far more).

The only thing I can think of is that Catholics have lost trust in their leaders, their pastors and bishops. People generally stop supporting institutions when those institutions fail to live up to peoples’ expectations. They don’t like to give money to a cause if they think the money isn’t going to be spent well. Are Catholics convinced that their money isn’t being spent well? Combine this with the consistent fact that conservatives, by and large, donate more money than liberals. So, if a Catholic in the pew wants to hear the gospel of salvation by Christ, but Father keeps preaching the theology of salvation by nice, than that Catholic is going to be turned off and, perhaps, not feel obliged to give so much to support the parish. I don’t have the stats, and Holguin doesn’t delineate them this way, but I would be willing to bet that parishes that preach the gospel and focus on the sacraments do better financially than parishes that preach the theology of salvation by nice and aren’t particularly focused on the sacraments. Parishes who have long given up on, for instance, First Friday Adoration, or Stations of the Cross during Lent, or have moved the Blessed Sacrament to a side altar or Eucharistic chapel (that nobody visits, because who knows where it is?) are likely struggling more financially than parishes that practice the old traditions and have the Eucharistic tabernacle in the sanctuary. Do I know this? No. Do I strongly sense this? Yes.

And, by the way, that includes supporting ministries to the poor and others in need. It is a stereotype that has lived too long that conservative Catholics are more interested in their rosaries, and liberal Catholics are more interested in the poor. Turns out, Catholics who are more interested in their rosaries tend to be more interested in supporting ministries to the poor. There is a connection here, and too many parishes and pastors, and even bishops, are failing or refusing to see the connection. Catholics want to be Catholic. Let them be Catholic, encourage them to be Catholic, and I bet they’ll be far more generous in their giving. And maybe, as a bonus, more than a few will decide to stick around.

Just my two cents. Oh, yes, pun definitely intended!

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.