By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Sunday Mass attendance in Hawaii suffered a big hit from COVID-19 and, though recovering, has a long way to go to return to its pre-pandemic numbers, according to the 2022 October count, the annual tally of heads in church conducted by the diocesan chancellor’s office.
Last October saw 31,874 men, women and children in the pews of Hawaii’s 65 parish churches, two dozen “missions” and two ethnic communities.
That is a stunning 14,266 fewer than the 2019 pre-pandemic total of 46,140.
But the trend is upward. The lowest point was 2020 when the pandemic hit hardest and churches across the board lost 50-60% in attendance.
The total in 2020 was 18,995. In 2021, it jumped 45% to 27,454. The 2022 total of 31,874 is 16% higher than 2021.
In response to the escalating pandemic three years ago, the Diocese of Honolulu first canceled public Masses, then reopened them under strict safety protocols, which eventually were relaxed over the months.
On March 17, 2020, prompted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation and the advice of local health and government officials that gatherings of 50 or more be canceled, Bishop Silva stopped all public liturgies for two weeks, and dispensed Hawaii Catholics of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.
He extended the dispensation until April 30, 2020. Public Mass celebrations with the bishop such as Confirmations, parish anniversaries, pastor installations and other planned liturgies were all put on hold.
Hawaii’s Catholic churches reopened for Mass May 30-31, 2020, while the bishop extended the exemption from Sunday Mass obligation through June 30 of that year.
While Catholics could still attend Mass, fear of the virus kept many away. The shrinkage of worship space caused by social distancing led some parishes to require Mass reservations or tickets.
During this time, many parishes were livestreaming their Masses over the Internet.
The bishop extended his dispensation several times through the end of 2020.
In February 2021, Sunday and daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, prayer groups, Stations of the Cross and other spiritual exercises were allowed at full capacity if 6-foot distancing was maintained.
The diocese continued to mandate the use of a face mask or face shield by everyone in church. Social distancing and no-touch greetings and Sign of Peace remained the norm. And Holy Communion was shared only under the species of Bread.
Bishop Silva ended his dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass on Easter, April 4, 2021.
With the relaxation of government social distancing rules on Dec. 1, 2021, churches were allowed to fill again.
The bishop brought back reception of the precious blood, Communion under the form of wine, on April 6, Holy Thursday, of this year.
The churches with the largest 2022 counts are St. Joseph, Waipahu, at 1,944, up from 848 in 2020; St. Jude, Kapolei at 1,360, up from 635 in 2020; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ewa Beach, at 987, up from 568; and St. Augustine, Waikiki, at 1,087, up from 351.
For a pre-pandemic comparison, in 2019, St. Joseph counted 3,252, St. Jude counted 1,542, Our Lady of Perpetual Help counted 1,531, and St. Augustine counted 1,461.
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Hawaii’s mother church, tallied 879 Mass-goers in 2022, 544 more than its 2020 low of 335.
The pandemic notwithstanding, Mass attendance in Hawaii has been slipping for decades.
In the 1990s, the count averaged around 60,000. That number lost about 5,000 during the first decade of the 2000s.
Seven years ago, in 2016, the number was 49,884. In 2017, it had dropped to 48,210; in 2018, to 46,890.
Each year’s total cannot be considered an exact figure. The counts are done manually and tabulation errors happen. Some parishes fail to report their count. For most years, the overall total has to be adjusted to make up for the missing figures.
To obtain the October count, ushers or other volunteers count the number of people attending the Saturday vigil Mass and Sunday Masses on each weekend in October. Adults and children 12 and under are counted separately and then added together for a total.
The weekend totals are added together and then divided by the number of weekends. The resulting average is the “October count” submitted to the diocese for its records.
October is chosen because it is considered a neutral month, least affected by vacations and high-attendance feasts like Christmas and Easter. However, October has its own variables, like football season. It is also a slower month for tourist-oriented parishes.
Commentary | Bishop Larry Silva
Secularization to blame more than the pandemic
The statistics verify what we could all observe, that the practice of our faith (and other faiths, I might add) has diminished significantly in the past couple of decades. Yes, the pandemic certainly did not help, but the general growing secularization of our culture is the largest factor. I have spoken many times of what I consider to be the major “religion” in the Western World: Ego-theism. This means that each person believes that he or she is the one who makes all the ultimate decisions about when life begins or ends, what gender one will be, and what truth is. If I am god, why would I go to Mass to worship some other God? With the change of one word in the First Commandment, the world has changed. The Commandment is: “I am the Lord your God; you shall not have other gods before me.” Many have changed it to read: “I am the Lord my god; you shall not have other gods before me.” We begin to feel that worshipping another God is competition. We are too sophisticated to bow down before a golden calf, but now we bow down before a golden mirror!
Jesus, of course, teaches us: “Repent, and believe the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) That Gospel is that God loves us so much that he became one of us, offered his life for us, died for us, and rose from the dead to share eternal life with us. We have everything we need — and more — if we stop trying to be gods and turn to worship of the true and living God revealed to us in Jesus.
So, how do we fill up our pews again? I think everyone who does go to Mass needs to be a missionary to others, approaching family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors and specifically inviting them. But when we do so, we should emphasize that the Mass is not just a series of rituals, but it is a living encounter with the risen Jesus, who is truly present to us in the Eucharist. He wants to physically embrace us in the most intimate and holy communion with him — which causes us to be in communion with others as well. The emphasis of our invitation must be JESUS, while the ritual is an essential vehicle for physically encountering Jesus.
We who attend Mass should also be aware that those who have been away for a while may need to be eased back. They may be embarrassed to come back. They may not really understand the meaning of the rituals, especially if they have been away for a long time. We may need to be “fishers of men,” patiently casting the line, knowing that sometimes it will get a bite and sometimes not; so we cast again! In any case, we need to accompany them on their journey to recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
These depressing statistics of steady decline can serve as a wake-up call to all of us so that we can commit ourselves to deliberately and lovingly reaching out to others who do not yet join us at this heavenly table where we are nourished by the very Bread of Life.
