Recovery and Resurgence: Mass attendance on the rise locally, nationally after COVID challenges
April 12, 2025 at 12:00 p.m.
In-person Sunday Mass attendance in the United States had been on a downward trajectory for more than two decades, a challenge that deepened exponentially during the COVID-19 years. But now, five years after the pandemic first arrived bringing with it a need to establish safety restrictions and protocols, parishes in the Diocese of Trenton and across the nation are reporting an encouraging trend: in-person Mass attendance is up.
Not only is it up – but in many individual parishes, it has nearly recovered from or surpassed pre-pandemic attendance levels, as observed in the Diocese’s annual Mass counts.
By the Numbers
Nationwide, Sunday Mass attendance in Catholic churches has recovered to pre-pandemic observance. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University noted in a Feb. 5 post on its Nineteen Sixty-four research blog that Sunday Mass attendance in person has risen to 24% since the declared end of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2023. That rate has held through the first week of 2025.
From the start of the pandemic lockdowns in March 2020 to May 2023, attendance had averaged 15%. Prior to the pandemic, the average attendance was 24.4% of professed Catholics, according to CARA.
Diocesan Chancellor Terry Ginther, who reported on the Diocese of Trenton stats after annual Mass counts, observed two years in a row of significantly increased attendance. In-person counts were up nearly 7600 people in 2023, and up another 7200 in 2024. This is an increase in attendance of 14,892 persons in just two years.
In Jesus, the Good Shepherd Parish, Beverly, Deacon Gary Schmitt and Father Jorge A. Bedoya, pastor, distribute Holy Communion. John Batkowski photo“The 2024 October Count takes us up to a recovery of approximately 82 percent of pre-pandemic attendance levels,” Ginther recently indicated in a report to the diocesan curia.
Several stand-out parishes reported numbers much higher in 2024 than in 2023, she added. Those included St. Mary, Middletown; St. Leo the Great, Lincroft; St. John Neumann, Mount Laurel; St. Rose of Lima, Freehold, and Our Lady of Fatima, Keyport.
Still evaluating what factors might contribute to this significant increase, Ginther said that a five-year view of the data “is a more reliable statistic. There are 14 parishes in the Diocese that have surpassed their 2019 pre-pandemic attendance.”
Largest five-year gains among these parishes are Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton – up 52%; Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Beverly – up 40%; St. Ann, Browns Mills – up 36%, and St. Mary, Colts Neck – up 22%.
“The rest are between 2% and 19% over pre-pandemic levels,” Ginther said. “Of the 14 parishes that have exceeded their pre-pandemic average attendance, nine are parishes with segments of the congregation participating in Masses in Spanish.”
Lena Riccitello, parishioner of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, noted how on a recent Saturday “the church was full to capacity; we are filling up like crazy at the 4 p.m. Mass, and more and more children and teens are coming.”
Fellow parishioner Humberto Chica concurred, saying, “If you come on Sundays, the 12:30 p.m. Mass is standing room only.”
“There’s an excitement here on Sunday; people want to be here,” said Father Jeffrey Kegley, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Middletown.
One of his parishioners, Sandra Thuel, heartily agrees. “The joy of the Lord is contagious,” she said. “As joy is so scarce in the world, being in the presence of people with joy in the Lord touches hearts and gives them a little taste of heaven … [it] may be our greatest strength and witness to others about who we are and who we serve.”
Myriad Reasons
So, what is going on? What is bringing people back?
“In each case the factors are different,” Ginther acknowledged. “St. Mary, Middletown, is the site of the Encounter School of Ministry, and this training has impacted everything about the way they ‘do church,’” which Father Kegley attributes partly to the physical presence of Encounter School of Ministry graduates after Mass, interacting with and praying with congregants.
“I believe that the extraordinary and relentless efforts to make St. Mary’s a lively, genuine and welcoming faith community are paying off,” said Thuel, who ministers in her Middletown parish’s multiple choirs and as part of the Encounter ministry team.
“St. John Neumann was linked for some years … but now has its own designated pastor and the renovation of the church begun under the previous administration has been completed,” Ginther continued. “The congregation is clearly benefiting from the pastoral attention and an enhanced worship space.”
Meanwhile, Our Lady of the Angels Parish has been under a 20-year transition as the Chambersburg section of Trenton has changed demographically, incorporating more people from Central and South America. “The parish welcomes over 2,000 people to Mass on Sunday between the two worship sites [St. Joachim and Immaculate Conception Churches] and is busy during the week with all kinds of meetings and activities,” Ginther explained.
Chica stressed that “it’s very important to have a parish and leadership that is welcoming and encouraging to begin ministry, to be invited into ministry. [Father Carlos Aguirre, pastor,] helped to change our hearts and attitudes, and it makes me want to participate more.”
A parish merger created Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish, Beverly, in 2008, and since then many facilities issues have come to resolution.
“There are English-speaking, Portuguese, and Spanish components to the congregation,” Ginther noted. “The Portuguese and Spanish groups used to be small and were often served by visiting clergy. One factor contributing to growth is that the current pastor speaks Spanish and English and has also learned Portuguese in order to lead the community. All three language groups are active in the community and are reflected on the parish staff.”
Larger Picture
In all the parishes experiencing rising numbers, one observation is clear: a combination of concerted efforts has helped bring about a much-needed resurgence among parishioners’ return to in-person Mass.
“I would expect that in places where the demographics are growing, the pastor is doing a great job, the parish is active and welcoming – there we would find the attendance up,” Ginther projected. “Also, I would expect that the community is more attentive to inviting people to consider becoming Catholic … the witness of their communal life speaks volumes and is attractive to non-Catholics.”
On a national level, there appears to be renewed enthusiasm among the younger generation. Harvard University’s 2023 Cooperative Election Study shows a significant increase in just one year in the percentage of millennials and Gen Zers identifying as Catholic – from 6% to 20% for millennials and from 15% to 21% for Gen Zers from 2022 to 2023.
New Catholics joining during the Easter Vigil, as reported by the National Catholic Register in April 2024, have been on the rise in many dioceses throughout the U.S. The Diocese of Trenton saw a 53% increase in converts – from 227 in 2023 to 347 in 2024.
The trend across all demographics, it seems, is moving in a positive direction. From personal invitation and hospitality, to feeling a sense of belonging, Catholics and those interested in learning more about Catholicism have been encouraged to participate in weekly liturgy in church buildings and are finding community by stepping back into the pews.
“I believe that after living through the pandemic, people understood the importance of having God in their lives,” said Father Aguirre. “This has been a challenge because it has led us to a new evangelization, where the Church opens its doors and welcomes everyone with their faith and their traditions to walk together towards holiness.”
Gina Christian, multimedia reporter for OSV News, contributed to this story.
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In-person Sunday Mass attendance in the United States had been on a downward trajectory for more than two decades, a challenge that deepened exponentially during the COVID-19 years. But now, five years after the pandemic first arrived bringing with it a need to establish safety restrictions and protocols, parishes in the Diocese of Trenton and across the nation are reporting an encouraging trend: in-person Mass attendance is up.
Not only is it up – but in many individual parishes, it has nearly recovered from or surpassed pre-pandemic attendance levels, as observed in the Diocese’s annual Mass counts.
By the Numbers
Nationwide, Sunday Mass attendance in Catholic churches has recovered to pre-pandemic observance. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University noted in a Feb. 5 post on its Nineteen Sixty-four research blog that Sunday Mass attendance in person has risen to 24% since the declared end of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2023. That rate has held through the first week of 2025.
From the start of the pandemic lockdowns in March 2020 to May 2023, attendance had averaged 15%. Prior to the pandemic, the average attendance was 24.4% of professed Catholics, according to CARA.
Diocesan Chancellor Terry Ginther, who reported on the Diocese of Trenton stats after annual Mass counts, observed two years in a row of significantly increased attendance. In-person counts were up nearly 7600 people in 2023, and up another 7200 in 2024. This is an increase in attendance of 14,892 persons in just two years.
In Jesus, the Good Shepherd Parish, Beverly, Deacon Gary Schmitt and Father Jorge A. Bedoya, pastor, distribute Holy Communion. John Batkowski photo“The 2024 October Count takes us up to a recovery of approximately 82 percent of pre-pandemic attendance levels,” Ginther recently indicated in a report to the diocesan curia.
Several stand-out parishes reported numbers much higher in 2024 than in 2023, she added. Those included St. Mary, Middletown; St. Leo the Great, Lincroft; St. John Neumann, Mount Laurel; St. Rose of Lima, Freehold, and Our Lady of Fatima, Keyport.
Still evaluating what factors might contribute to this significant increase, Ginther said that a five-year view of the data “is a more reliable statistic. There are 14 parishes in the Diocese that have surpassed their 2019 pre-pandemic attendance.”
Largest five-year gains among these parishes are Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton – up 52%; Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Beverly – up 40%; St. Ann, Browns Mills – up 36%, and St. Mary, Colts Neck – up 22%.
“The rest are between 2% and 19% over pre-pandemic levels,” Ginther said. “Of the 14 parishes that have exceeded their pre-pandemic average attendance, nine are parishes with segments of the congregation participating in Masses in Spanish.”
Lena Riccitello, parishioner of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton, noted how on a recent Saturday “the church was full to capacity; we are filling up like crazy at the 4 p.m. Mass, and more and more children and teens are coming.”
Fellow parishioner Humberto Chica concurred, saying, “If you come on Sundays, the 12:30 p.m. Mass is standing room only.”
“There’s an excitement here on Sunday; people want to be here,” said Father Jeffrey Kegley, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Middletown.
One of his parishioners, Sandra Thuel, heartily agrees. “The joy of the Lord is contagious,” she said. “As joy is so scarce in the world, being in the presence of people with joy in the Lord touches hearts and gives them a little taste of heaven … [it] may be our greatest strength and witness to others about who we are and who we serve.”
Myriad Reasons
So, what is going on? What is bringing people back?
“In each case the factors are different,” Ginther acknowledged. “St. Mary, Middletown, is the site of the Encounter School of Ministry, and this training has impacted everything about the way they ‘do church,’” which Father Kegley attributes partly to the physical presence of Encounter School of Ministry graduates after Mass, interacting with and praying with congregants.
“I believe that the extraordinary and relentless efforts to make St. Mary’s a lively, genuine and welcoming faith community are paying off,” said Thuel, who ministers in her Middletown parish’s multiple choirs and as part of the Encounter ministry team.
“St. John Neumann was linked for some years … but now has its own designated pastor and the renovation of the church begun under the previous administration has been completed,” Ginther continued. “The congregation is clearly benefiting from the pastoral attention and an enhanced worship space.”
Meanwhile, Our Lady of the Angels Parish has been under a 20-year transition as the Chambersburg section of Trenton has changed demographically, incorporating more people from Central and South America. “The parish welcomes over 2,000 people to Mass on Sunday between the two worship sites [St. Joachim and Immaculate Conception Churches] and is busy during the week with all kinds of meetings and activities,” Ginther explained.
Chica stressed that “it’s very important to have a parish and leadership that is welcoming and encouraging to begin ministry, to be invited into ministry. [Father Carlos Aguirre, pastor,] helped to change our hearts and attitudes, and it makes me want to participate more.”
A parish merger created Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish, Beverly, in 2008, and since then many facilities issues have come to resolution.
“There are English-speaking, Portuguese, and Spanish components to the congregation,” Ginther noted. “The Portuguese and Spanish groups used to be small and were often served by visiting clergy. One factor contributing to growth is that the current pastor speaks Spanish and English and has also learned Portuguese in order to lead the community. All three language groups are active in the community and are reflected on the parish staff.”
Larger Picture
In all the parishes experiencing rising numbers, one observation is clear: a combination of concerted efforts has helped bring about a much-needed resurgence among parishioners’ return to in-person Mass.
“I would expect that in places where the demographics are growing, the pastor is doing a great job, the parish is active and welcoming – there we would find the attendance up,” Ginther projected. “Also, I would expect that the community is more attentive to inviting people to consider becoming Catholic … the witness of their communal life speaks volumes and is attractive to non-Catholics.”
On a national level, there appears to be renewed enthusiasm among the younger generation. Harvard University’s 2023 Cooperative Election Study shows a significant increase in just one year in the percentage of millennials and Gen Zers identifying as Catholic – from 6% to 20% for millennials and from 15% to 21% for Gen Zers from 2022 to 2023.
New Catholics joining during the Easter Vigil, as reported by the National Catholic Register in April 2024, have been on the rise in many dioceses throughout the U.S. The Diocese of Trenton saw a 53% increase in converts – from 227 in 2023 to 347 in 2024.
The trend across all demographics, it seems, is moving in a positive direction. From personal invitation and hospitality, to feeling a sense of belonging, Catholics and those interested in learning more about Catholicism have been encouraged to participate in weekly liturgy in church buildings and are finding community by stepping back into the pews.
“I believe that after living through the pandemic, people understood the importance of having God in their lives,” said Father Aguirre. “This has been a challenge because it has led us to a new evangelization, where the Church opens its doors and welcomes everyone with their faith and their traditions to walk together towards holiness.”
Gina Christian, multimedia reporter for OSV News, contributed to this story.
The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.