NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
The number of registered Catholics in New Hampshire dropped nearly 27,000 in the last two years despite an increase in the state's population, federal census and church statistics show.
The diocese attributes the decrease in large part to closures and mergers that resulted in 14 fewer parishes and 17 fewer missions since 2003.
The Manchester diocese reported 310,206 registered Catholics as of Dec. 31, 2004, a drop of 26,797 from the 336,803 recorded June 30, 2002.
The Rev. Robert E. Gorski, who heads the diocese's Long-Range Planning Commission, said the figures represent the "first decline I've seen" and occurred during a time the diocese was twinning, merging and unifying parishes.
Often parishioners either don't register with the new parish they've been assigned to or don't attend services there, Gorski said.
While a University of New Hampshire sociologist who studies religion said parish registers aren't accurate indicators of church participation, she also noted the decline in numbers coincided with the clergy sexual-abuse crisis, an event that particularly impacted the Manchester diocese.
"The Diocese of Manchester really has caused a lot of bitterness and just pure disappointment with church officials," said Michele Dillon, UNH professor of sociology who studies religion and has written extensively on the Catholic church.