MILWAUKEE—For many pastors, getting parishioners to attend weekly Mass can be a challenging part of their ministry. For parishioners who send their children to Catholic schools, being classified as a parish member has the potential to save a family thousands of dollars on tuition. But, the tuition break for parishioners has become a cause for concern for some pastors when those families don’t attend Mass regularly.
Fr. John Yockey, pastor at St. Jerome, Oconomowoc, sent a letter to school parents in June 2006 informing them of his plans to encourage (or insist upon) regular Mass attendance. He will begin taking attendance this September through a sign-in sheet, the envelopes in the collection basket, and through his own “pastoral observation.” Families receiving the parishioner tuition break must attend Mass 70 percent of the time each semester.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a number of years,” he told your Catholic Herald. “I discussed it with the Archdiocesan Priest Council and Archbishop Dolan and Bishop Sklba are members of that.
“I first notified our school parents in a letter I sent them in June 2006, so I have given them more than a year’s notice,” he continued. “I repeated my point at the first home and school meeting in September 2006, and in my end-of-the-year letter to them, I made this point once again that come school year 2007-08, I would be implementing an expectation model for school tuition.”
Fr. Yockey said that only about five families pay the full school tuition of $4,500. Parishioners get a subsidized tuition of $1,400 per child.
While many, including Fr. Yockey, thought that parishioners would be angry about his policy, he said Mass attendance has increased recently. He’s estimating a 15 percent increase, while others at the parish are estimating up to a 30 percent increase in attendance.
“The only reaction I have received face to face or through correspondence of any kind has been positive,” he said. “That includes many who are not school families. Non-school families have expressed encouragement to pursue the idea and have said things like, ‘It’s about time.’ Not one of those families that I’m addressing has approached me and said, ‘Father, what you’re doing is unfair.’ I haven’t gotten hate mail and I thought for sure I’d get that. It’s really quite amazing.”
Fr. Yockey said he has a theory why non-practicing Catholics choose to send their children to St. Jerome School.
“There are two reasons tied for first place,” he explained. “One, to avoid the public schools’ system for whatever reason, and to get a private education. We offer a ‘cheaper’ private education than a bona fide private school. Many of the inactive Catholic parents do like the structure, the discipline that a Catholic school offers. Some of them think they pay us big bucks so we can give the Catholic education and that dispenses them from doing the same thing. From Catholic teaching, the school is here to assist parents in giving their kids a Catholic education; we assist them, we’re not substitutes for them.”
With a school of more than 500 students, Fr. Thomas DeVries, pastor at Lumen Christi in Mequon, said fewer than seven families that are not parishioners pay the full $7,247 tuition. Parish families pay $2,859.
“I do know there are many parents who aren’t actively coming to Mass on a regular basis and that is a concern,” he said. “I think every pastor has a concern that parents, whether they be in Catholic formation programs or in the school, are really practicing their faith by at least attending Mass.”
Fr. DeVries questioned the way this situation can be rectified and said it’s something that individual parishes need to examine.
“It’s always hard to force people to come to Mass or to be active,” he said. “I think it’s a question that needs to be answered at the parish level individually. Sometimes we need to educate our children even beyond what their parents can offer them and we want to give them the best Catholic formation we can.”
Fr. Mike Moran, pastor of St. Mary in West Bend, said he understands Fr. Yockey’s actions.
“I understand the frustration,” he said. “Every parish I’ve been at, it’s been a problem. We put so much of our resources into the school. You would hope they participate in worship. My impression is that people are more concerned with it being a private school than a Catholic school.”
While he said he understands Fr. Yockey’s thinking, Fr. Moran said he would not go to the same level.
“I wouldn’t go to that extreme of taking attendance,” said Fr. Moran, whose school’s full tuition is $4,800, while parishioners pay $2,000. “I try to encourage when there’s contact with school parents to try to inspire some participation when they’re here and to make them feel welcome.
“I wouldn’t go to that extreme because I think it would make them feel more alienated,” he said. “I try to encourage and engage. I’d try more motivational things than the financial approach.”
Fr. John Schreiter has been pastor of St. Katharine Drexel, Beaver Dam, for more than a year.
“It certainly is a problem that parents who choose to send their kids to a Catholic school are not participating in Mass on Sunday,” he said.
“I believe that our Catholic school system, which is extremely important, should be available to all Catholic parents who want to send their kids there,” explained Fr. Schreiter, whose school’s full tuition is $2,120, with parish families paying $1,695. “But I think we’ve gotten away from the vision of what Catholic education is all about. Clearly for us, we teach the children that they should be going to Mass every Sunday. And when their parents don’t follow through on that, then the parents are not being, as the church asks, the primary educators of their children. And we wind up working at cross purposes with the parents.”
Fr. Schreiter estimated that half of the school’s parents are not in church pews on Sunday morning.
“One could easily draw the conclusion that the kids are here for a better, private, more disciplined education but not because it is a Catholic school,” he said.
He conceded that this is hard to admit since he is a strong advocate of Catholic schools.
“I’m a great believer in Catholic schools,” he said. “I really like them. I always choose to go to assignments where there is a Catholic school even though it’s more difficult to be a pastor there because of the financial commitment.”
Fr. Schreiter said he supports Fr. Yockey’s plan at St. Jerome.
“Though I think it’s extreme, I support him and I agree with him,” said Fr. Schreiter.
He said he has a new idea for the archdiocese’s schools.
“What I would envision is a Catholic school open to all Catholic children of the parish without any tuition at all,” he explained. “But that the parents, as well as the entire parish, would be practicing tithing. So to me, one of the problems is if we as Catholics would practice good stewardship and tithing, we wouldn’t have to go to the extreme that Fr. Yockey has gone.”
Fr. Schreiter said that this idea would eliminate what he classifies as some parish schools having become “schools for the elite or those better off economically.”
“What do we do to get people to the table of the Lord is what it’s about eventually,” he said. “There’s a huge drop off of our young people and I really think it is a parental problem.”
Fr. Patrick Heppe is pastoral team moderator at Holy Family Parish in Fond du Lac, which merged and now is the home of the city’s only Catholic grade school, where full tuition is $2,743, with parishioners getting a $1,000 break and paying $1,743.
“At one point, we roughly estimated that 35-40 percent of school parents are regular attendees, which is pretty poor,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons that, when we decided to build a new church and school, we started out with the church because we want the church to be the primary focus in people’s lives.”
Fr. Heppe said he agrees with Fr. Yockey’s attendance plan, but is unsure if he could implement a similar program at Holy Family.
“I think what Fr. John is doing is to be commended; it’s great,” he said. “I think the administrative responsibilities would be astronomical. We’re a big school; we’ve got 500 kids.
“On the other hand, we’re talking about church as a relationship with God and with Jesus,” Fr. Heppe continued. “Can you pay someone to love Jesus? So I commend it, it’s a great start, but it’s just phase one.”
Fr. Heppe said that there are “very few” families who do not receive the discounted rate for being parishioners.
“They join the church because I would hope most of them feel there is a value to Catholic education,” he said. “Hopefully, we as a church and they as a family are teaching them the same thing. What’s reinforced in the school is continued in family life and continued in parish life. It’s all one continuum of our relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Fr. Heppe said the fact that many school families do not attend weekly Mass is disappointing.
“It’s kind of sad that we have to give a discount for going to church,” he said. “Hopefully their time in church will touch their hearts.”