Lord

The heart of the Christian community is our Triune Lord: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Geography, history, and numbers are not the heart, but probably I will type mostly on these topics. As the internet already provides many encouraging spiritual guides and discouraging contentious forums, I intend to offer neither.
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To find a parish, enter a keyword in the search box at the top left, or look through the labels and links down the right-hand column. The posts themselves follow the Blogger format of newest items on top.
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Showing posts with label Parishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parishes. Show all posts

Saturday, May 16, 2020

CatholicPhilly and copyrights of music and texts

CatholicPhilly.com is the official news website of the archdiocese of Philadelphia, replacing the weekly Catholic Standard newspaper that folded in 2012. A few days ago, this important article appeared, Parishes Livestreaming Masses Need Licenses.
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Almost all choir directors, pastors, and assistants are probably alert to this issue lurking behind the worship in our churches. Not only do the hymn writers have to get their royalties, but also the basic texts of our worship, the Bible readings, liturgical texts (as the Canon of the Mass), the Sacramentary, and other prayers are owned by an entity, generally the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Open any pew Mass booklet, look for the fine print about copyrights, and you will discover the titles of the owners.
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I must let the above article speak for itself. 

Friday, August 12, 2016

Nassau CCD numbers from 2016 directory

Parish religious education programs for youngsters not attending Catholic schools are often called "Religious Ed" or "CCD" classes.  The establishment of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in each Catholic parish dates back more than four centuries, and these programs have strong numbers in many parishes of Nassau County.
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The recent publication of the 2016 Official Catholic Directory has allowed me to look at the reported enrollments in religious education programs in the approximately 66 parishes of Nassau County. The numbers are slipping, just as enrollment in public or non-public schools, but nothing at all like the steep drop in marriages.
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Parish life ought not be judged by numbers, as small numbers or low revenue may may be found in parishes with a loving worship community. With that caution, I present sample enrollment numbers in CCD classes in the parishes of Nassau County.
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The ten largest are:
St. Rose of Lima: 2,557. (Two years later, 2,439.)
St. Agnes Cathedral: 1,896. (Two years later, 1751.)
St. Martin of Tours, Bethpage: 1,519. (Two years later, 1151.)
St. Frances de Chantal: 1,501. (Two years later, the same number, therefore suspect.)
St. William the Abbot: 1,486. (Two years later, 1,362.)
Maria Regina, Seaford: 1,466. (Two year later, the same number, therefore suspect.)
St. Barnabas, Bellmore: 1,450. (Two years later, the same number, therefore suspect.)
St. Kilian: 1,400.
St. Joseph, Garden City: 1,400. (Two years later, the same number, therefore suspect.)
St. Catherine of Sienna: 1,388.
St. Lawrence, Sayville, in 2018 1,188.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Massapequa Park, in 2018, 458.
St. Raphael, East Meadow, in 2018, 1,382.
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Six of the above ten have a parish schools, which adds maybe 300 to 650 students receiving religious education. Some round numbers above are suspect because they were the same figure last year.
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The median number of religious ed students is at Our Holy Redeemer, Freeport: 493.
Eight parishes reported an enrollment under 200. Several reported no students or failed to submit data.
The total number of CCD students in Nassau County is more than 42,268.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

DRVC numbers from 2016 directory

The 2016 Official Catholic Directory, published recently, includes statistics probably collected in 2015 or earlier. Below are some sample statistics for the diocese of Rockville Centre. For my earlier reports on this topic, click HERE.
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Sisters in the diocese: 980.
Brothers in the diocese: 67.
Permanent deacons in the diocese: 292.
Diocesan priests, active: 208. (Was 226 in 2010.)
Diocesan priests, retired, ill, or absent: 103.
Religious priests in diocese: 54.
Extern priests in diocese: 89. (Was 128 in 2010.)
Total priests in diocese: 365.
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Students in elementary religious education programs: 99,644.
Students in high school religious education programs: 2,709.
Elementary schools, diocesan, parish, and private: 47.
Elementary school students, diocesan, parish and private: 16,047.
High Schools, diocesan and parish: 5
Students in these: 4,013.
High Schools, private: 5.
Students in these: 7,405.
Lay teachers in diocese: 1,741. (Was 1,851 in 2010.)
Sisters teachers in diocese: 20 (Was 57 in 2010.)
Brothers teachers in diocese: 30.
Priests teachers in diocese: 9.
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Infant baptisms: 14,287.
Minor baptisms: 738.
Adult baptisms: 932.
Received into full communion: 512.
First Communion: 15,312.
Confirmations: 15,195.
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Catholic marriages: 2,710.
Interfaith marriages: 537.
Total marriages: 3,247. (Was 3,956 in 2010.)
Total Catholic population (two counties): 1,455,644.
Total population (two counties): 2,908,917.
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Comparing the above marriage numbers for the Diocese of Rockville Centre with numbers for the Diocese of Brooklyn:
Catholic marriages: 1,849.
Interfaith marriages: 357.
Total marriages: 2,206.
Total Catholic population in the diocese of Brooklyn: 1,506,000.
Both dioceses have two counties.  The diocese of Brooklyn has 50,000 more Catholics and 1,000 fewer weddings. Does DRVC have more people of marriageable age?