Why Men DON'T CARE About The Catholic Church

The statistics for the Catholic Church in America are not good.

According to Pew Research for every person that joins the Catholic church in America, 6.5 people leave. There are about 71,000,000 Catholics in America… and the Church is made up of about 55% women and 45% men, yet only 33% of men who call themselves Catholic attend mass on a daily basis. This means that only 15% of the Catholic population are men who are actively engaged in the faith….

We know statistically that a child is more likely to believe in God and remain in the faith that their father practices… Research shows that when a woman converts to Christianity, 17% of the time the whole family converts. When a man converts, 93% of the time the whole family converts… and yet most men don’t believe that Catholicism is unique and essential for a happy life…

Compare this to a religion like Islam where you have close to 65% active participation among men, and what do you get? Islam is on pace to be the would’s religion by 2050 at current growth rates... Christian numbers remain flat, Islam increases significantly…

This is unacceptable… How do we can change this? How can we win men back to the church? That is what I talk about in this video...

[veredictum]

I can only half agree. The problem is not just the feminization of the church, the not-very-masculine guys who become priests because there was a period when prayerful men were ousted from seminary because those "leaders" wanted social justice workers. And the more you try to make church "woke", pro-lgbt, sing cringey Woodstock songs, the more men don't want to be associated.
But you took a dig at the Latin Mass. My friend, it is in *traditional* Catholicism whereby doctrines are preached, the ancient Saints were tough men who went to fight in WW2, WW1, Crusades, Communism, Naziism. That was a robust Catholicism. And it is found in the Latin Mass, as a few other comments have noted below.

[philipschaffer]

The constant Scandals hurts the church

[patriciamathews]

My traditional Catholic Church with the TLM is approximately 60% men. It is exceptional. We have a good representation of all age groups, but could benefit from more single women ages 18 to 30. There is deep reverence for the Mass & sacraments. Our priest incorporates traditional sermons intertwined with guidance for today. By incorporating the 2000 year history of the Church teachings, Church Fathers, and Saints the fullness of the Faith can be experienced & lived out.

Tolkien was a convert because of his mother and remained a devout passionate Catholic his entire life, more I learn about him the more awesome I learn that he is/was!

[SaintlySaavy]

Prepping a presentation for our ACTS Mission next month. Thank you for this video Zach!

Sorry for breaking the "like" button. ha

[Codestud]

Men are checking out of life in general.

[samuelWx]

Converted in my forties in part because of the delineation of the Devine masculine/feminine. Am now raising out six and seven year old son and daughter in The Church by Gods grace. Deus Vult!

[williamscott]

100% spot on. Thank you for this video. I think God may be calling me to start a ministry in my local parish to encourage and challenge men to step up and become whole hearted followers of Christ.

[tomreichardt]

6.5 baptised Catholics (but were never believing or practicing) leave the Church for every 1 convert (who becomes even more in love with Christ - in spite of all the stupid obsticles)... I'll take that trade - Because it is not the number of people that make the Church strong and attractive to those who want to love God.
John 15:2 "He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

[christopherdoll]

You’re great dude. Keep it up. Appreciate all of your work and don’t listen to the naysayers :)

[FrJohnBrownSJ]

Thanks for this video. Lots of truth to it.

[JohanSimonsson]

Be proud of the historic church, for example most of the Knights was good people.

[GarthDomokos]

As a revert, I've been attending weekly mass for over 30 years. I never really looked at "being the best God want's you to be", "happy life" or "heroic life" because it never was taught or was never on my radar.

[edukaeshn]

The Gregorian Mass with Gregorian chant is the answer.

[duckdialectics]

I will share the story of a friend of mine:

He was baptized by non Catholic parents (father doesn't care, mother was explicitly practiced another religion), he didn't finish the Cathechism as a kid, because he did not believe in core Church doctrine, he was shaping up to be a hardcore Atheist. As an adult, he studied the major world religions on his on, ans theology in depth, and decided he wanted to be a Catholic.

Ok, now things get interesting. He was told that he had to do the Cathechism from scratch or he wouldn't be allowed to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, despite him knowing the doctrine back and forth. This adult does a class a week of the Cathechism while effectively working three jobs, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. When he finishes, he goes to the nearest parish with the Cathechism Certificate, is told that it doesn't count, because he participated in the Cathechism digitally, but the priest is willing to cut him some slack, and will call it a day if my friend attended 4 encounters to have the Cathechism re explained. 4 weeks and 6 hours worth of someone reading a pamphlet later, all set, he can do the Confirmation... After he goes through the Sacrament of Matrimony first, because my friend is married in civil law (had married years prior), and a civil marriage is counted as non-existent by the Church (a couple married by law only is counted as not married, and, therefore, as living a publicly scandalous lifestyle, a mortal sin analogue to adultery, so, an impediment to partaking in the Eucharist). My buddy then is told he needs, among other documents, a Baptism certificate to be married, but he can't get one, because his parents, who, like I said, are not Catholic, baptized him in a far way city and didn't preserve the document for 30 years. Now, the Baptism cannot be repeated, so he gets tangled in this forever bureaucracy, and just gives up.

As long, I feel, as the Catholic Church is this legalistic, paper trail oriented and formalistic, adults will feel unengaged, and kids who go through the Cathechism as kids usually don't do so because they want to or believe in the Faith, they do so because their parents made them do it, and they view it as just another bureaucracy, and most of these kids end up in the vast majority of "areligious Catholics" no surprise

[mariecait]

We need another Fulton Sheen but I’m not sure if he could ever be replicated in ability to evangelize others.

[HAL-sumz]

Ya' gotta' confess. That takes humility. Men are often not like that. The lures of the evil one are far too strong.

[marcello]

Incense, altar rail, Gregorian Chant, and Ad Orientem. Ban the homily jokes, clapping, the pop music, etc.

This is solely my opinion. I believe most starts from the liturgy. Albeit, valid, sometimes feels like we could do better to worship rather than for our attention.

EDIT: Just as preventive measure. For the NO haters, read the Dominican Rite and compare it.

[theotokos]

I feel you, man. I really do, but with how feminized the church has become, and modernism seeping in, at this point I feel like I only go to Mass due to obligation and the holy eucharist. I go to an Eastern Orthodox Church, and theres dozens of young men, in fact the parish I go to only few elderly, it is mostly filled with younger folk my own age(23). I go there to get my real faith inspired, and I go to my novus ordo for obligation.
I dont wish to convert, and I am not fully convinced of orthodoxy, but I feel more connection to God here, I have made good christian male friends here, and all the other little issues I have I can get over. catholicism is still my home, but everyday I get closer and closer to conversion over there.

I am sure someone is gonna tell me not to run away from the church, but at the end of the day you only get one life, and I am not gonna suffer my entire young adult life going to a church that could be mistaken as a bingo convention with how many old people there are.

[kenmay]

Unfortunately are wrong about the Latin Mass. First of all it is not just the use of Latin, it is a significantly different mass. At my church we have many single young men joining and this includes many converting the Faith. The TLM offers men a masculine mass that demands much from them. This is what is missing from the Novus Ordo which arguably is in effeminate form of the Traditional Mass. The TLM and the Traditional piety provided is a magnet for men.