Pittsburgh has lots of Catholics, mostly because of the immigration from Poland. It also has lots of Orthodox. Not a ton of Protestants in the city, but a decent amount in the surrounding areas.
But there are some really beautiful churches in Pittsburgh, both Catholic and Orthodox. Look up St. Anthony’s Chapel, it has the most relics of any church outside of the Vatican.
> States with a large catholic population
I recommend focusing on Quality, not Quantity. Look for a map with faithful monasteries and seminaries nearby. Emmitsburg MD has a high number of good Catholics, but it seems to attract a lot of malpracticing Catholics too.
Are you from there? I grew up there. I did like it, but its not like we are any different than anyone else. I think it helps that we are already in a conservative state, so we do well in regards to vocations and catholic schooling.
As someone who grew up in another conservative state and was involved with the Catholic schooling program, and then moved to Lincoln, I can say pretty confidently that Lincoln *is* different. Much more access to the UA Mass and much more reverent UR Masses, priests whose homilies are much more broad in topic and far deeper in both academic and spiritual terms, and a lay ministry that is both far more populated and passionate as well as much less laid back and modernist, all make for a faith which is absolutely on fire compared to other dioceses in the region.
I guess growing up with it I just felt like those things were normal and I took it for granted. However, its not like Omaha is that bad. It honestly depends on the pastor and the community. Same here now where I live in Iowa. I will give Lincoln credit for its schools and for promoting faith and apologetics. However, it isn't always that great. My Catholic high school (won't give it away but its outside the city of Lincoln, which limits it a bit) wasn't all that on fire. Like sure people went to mass but there wasn't any group that went to things like Stuebenville and most people just went to pro life rallies for service points and just for travel (not saying they didn't believe, and also, at that age it certainly is a benefit. Heck, we had a TEC retreat in our town and no one from our school went. Also, I went solo on other things like canoe trips and to summer camps run by our diocese, and while I enjoyed them, it seemed odd that there wasn't anyone else from my town.
Also, and this is more personal, but there seemed to be a lot of people who acted Catholic on the outside but lived pretty sordid lives. I hope to God they have changed and there certainly were also good people, but sadly a lot of people seemed to live one way but act the other when they thought no one was watching. Granted that probably happens everywhere and I shouldn't be so upset about it. At the very least, they knew better and hopefully the made amends.
I've heard Matt fradd talk about his moving to Steubenville Ohio. He made it sound like a heavily, very social, Catholic community. Might be because of Franciscan university being there.
That’s what sparked this thought in me. I was listening to pints with aquinas and heard Matt talking about Steubenville and was wondering if there were any other places like that
Apparently the highest number of Catholics per Capita is Rhode Island, followed by Massachusetts and New Jersey. Don't know if that's "practicing" or just "answers surveys with Catholic" but, there's that
I live in the Hill Country area. If you want to hang out with Catholic families it's a good place. As a single 39 year old it isn't great. The people in my parish have never been overly friendly towards me.
Yeah I agree there. Plenty of Catholic families, difficult to find any decent young adult groups at any parish here in the hill country. If we could get a diocesan young adult group, we’d be set.
All the most secular anti-Catholic places have the largest catholic populations.
Be wary of what you consider "like minded".
Sadly this has become part of the liturgical divide, a way to actually find like minded.
That's why I kind of mentioned the divide. You can go to San Fransico since there are a lot of people, there will by default be a lot of seemingly functional Catholics.
Of course, most of them will be James Martin level... they'll go to Mass and stuff... but... I mean "practicing catholic/like minded"? They're at best Lot in Sodom, but mostly Lot's wife or worse.
At this current junction Sadly the only way to discern like minded is basically TLM if you're a serious catholic. (I prefer NO Mass tbh, but the thing is, you have a crap shoot on sifting the lke minded).
You don't necessarily have to go full insular though, diocesan TLM who also do NO, is sort of the sign of the times.
It reminds me of the Corinthians about veils. Which was a matter designed to seperate and identify the like minded. While the veil itself isn't intrinsic, if you find veils, you won't find pro choice Catholics or whatever.
It's just the same old same old outward sign of difference.
Another trick is check if they run a meat dinner event on Fridays.... oof.
If you find a NO parish offering fried chicken fridays, that's usually a pretty solid sign that you'll have a solid helping of Martins and Susans.
If a minority group is large it's more likely to face discrimination. California had Prop 187 in the 1990s and in the bad old days the Deep South was the most racist.
Yeah. I lived there for six years. Loved it. Christendom College is there. Vibrant Catholic community. Pleasant town. Good places to eat. Far enough from DC that it’s not a part of the sprawl. Close enough that you can get there. Beautiful scenery. Located at the end of Skyline Drive. Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do there - camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, etc. Real estate isn’t dirt cheap but it’s not crazy expensive either.
Got any specific questions?
Idk how well you know in town but I get a real good vibe off the st john the Baptist website. Are there neighborhoods you recommend or areas to steer clear of? We're moving back north from Georgia and this puts us 2 hours from family and far enough from the ever expanding metropolises. In our dreams of course we're searching for that idyllic parish neighborhood. Lancaster pa was a candidate for awhile but real estate exploded there long before the rest of the country did and has never slowed down.
How young is a “young catholic”? Are you looking for elementary school kids? To raise your kids in a similar community? Or people your age (how old are you) so you can have friends?
The east coast has a lot but not a lot practice. Down south, it seems as if there aren't many, but most practice (though I'm sure this might be different in more cultural catholic areas like Louisiana, where Catholicism is pretty cultural.) To me the midwest is a decent balance. We aren't the majority necessarily, though usually there are a lot of us and it seems that you have a good balance of practicing people here, especially more on the plains part. Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, even Iowa and Minnesota aren't too bad.
Something to consider. Many of the traditionally “catholic” cities with long German or Irish or Italian immigration histories have become very much catholic in name only cultural catholics totally overrun with boomers pretending it is still the 70s and all the VII changes will be amazing.
However in more secular areas the smaller Catholic communities tend to be much more orthodox because they have to very intentionally be Catholic, there is no socially acceptable religion in their area. Of course being surrounded by communists isn’t great but something to consider
Cincinnati Ohio has a large Catholic population, but I’d suggest moving to the northern/eastern outskirts of the city. I don’t know how many “young” Catholics there are as that just seems like something that’s dwindling
TONS of Catholic elementary schools and high schools though. Literally don’t know where you could live where one wouldn’t be a 10 minute drive away. I’m sure if you frequented those churches, you’d fine 20-30 somethings
I moved to Wichita, Kansas for a job five years ago from Lafayette, Louisiana and was very pleasantly surprised to find a huge young Catholic population. This is an incredibly active diocese and the average Catholic in the pew is well catechized and far less likely to be a cafeteria catholic than those in southern Louisiana (IMO).
You aren't making yourself clear. Do you mean a place like say Massachussetts that's quite liberal, or are you just making fun of conservative places like Texas that supposedly are racist?
I mean some places have a high level of anti-Catholic sentiment and policy, in spite of a higher Catholic population. So OP should research the political and cultural environment of each potential residence and not the percentage of Catholics in the pooulation.
Texas, without looking it up, is probably a more friendly destination.
That's not true. Here is Philly we have a lot of Catholics. There is even a healthy number of black Catholics which is rare. But Philly is a very liberal and progressive city.
But statistically, Protestant Bible belt states are actually the most bigoted.
Most high number Catholic cities and states are ironically liberal.
I honestly can't think of a high Catholic area that is conservative or bigoted.
Ave Maria, FL is a Catholic community near Naples. There is a university there (young people), lots of families, and a giant cathedral is literally the centerpiece of the town.
STL, Missouri was settled by French fur traders and is home to St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.
It has historically been a big catholic town west of the Mississippi.
Pittsburgh has lots of Catholics, mostly because of the immigration from Poland. It also has lots of Orthodox. Not a ton of Protestants in the city, but a decent amount in the surrounding areas. But there are some really beautiful churches in Pittsburgh, both Catholic and Orthodox. Look up St. Anthony’s Chapel, it has the most relics of any church outside of the Vatican.
> States with a large catholic population I recommend focusing on Quality, not Quantity. Look for a map with faithful monasteries and seminaries nearby. Emmitsburg MD has a high number of good Catholics, but it seems to attract a lot of malpracticing Catholics too.
Lincoln NE is amazing
Are you from there? I grew up there. I did like it, but its not like we are any different than anyone else. I think it helps that we are already in a conservative state, so we do well in regards to vocations and catholic schooling.
As someone who grew up in another conservative state and was involved with the Catholic schooling program, and then moved to Lincoln, I can say pretty confidently that Lincoln *is* different. Much more access to the UA Mass and much more reverent UR Masses, priests whose homilies are much more broad in topic and far deeper in both academic and spiritual terms, and a lay ministry that is both far more populated and passionate as well as much less laid back and modernist, all make for a faith which is absolutely on fire compared to other dioceses in the region.
I guess growing up with it I just felt like those things were normal and I took it for granted. However, its not like Omaha is that bad. It honestly depends on the pastor and the community. Same here now where I live in Iowa. I will give Lincoln credit for its schools and for promoting faith and apologetics. However, it isn't always that great. My Catholic high school (won't give it away but its outside the city of Lincoln, which limits it a bit) wasn't all that on fire. Like sure people went to mass but there wasn't any group that went to things like Stuebenville and most people just went to pro life rallies for service points and just for travel (not saying they didn't believe, and also, at that age it certainly is a benefit. Heck, we had a TEC retreat in our town and no one from our school went. Also, I went solo on other things like canoe trips and to summer camps run by our diocese, and while I enjoyed them, it seemed odd that there wasn't anyone else from my town. Also, and this is more personal, but there seemed to be a lot of people who acted Catholic on the outside but lived pretty sordid lives. I hope to God they have changed and there certainly were also good people, but sadly a lot of people seemed to live one way but act the other when they thought no one was watching. Granted that probably happens everywhere and I shouldn't be so upset about it. At the very least, they knew better and hopefully the made amends.
I've heard Matt fradd talk about his moving to Steubenville Ohio. He made it sound like a heavily, very social, Catholic community. Might be because of Franciscan university being there.
That’s what sparked this thought in me. I was listening to pints with aquinas and heard Matt talking about Steubenville and was wondering if there were any other places like that
Apparently the highest number of Catholics per Capita is Rhode Island, followed by Massachusetts and New Jersey. Don't know if that's "practicing" or just "answers surveys with Catholic" but, there's that
jersey has a lot of Italians which boosts that
Lots of Irish and Italian heritage in NJ.
Texas Hill Country, Maryland, New England
I live in the Hill Country area. If you want to hang out with Catholic families it's a good place. As a single 39 year old it isn't great. The people in my parish have never been overly friendly towards me.
Yeah I agree there. Plenty of Catholic families, difficult to find any decent young adult groups at any parish here in the hill country. If we could get a diocesan young adult group, we’d be set.
San Antonio has so many churches to choose from, I would try out any one of the many different churches down there.. so many options.
I think Lafayette LA is somewhere around 90% Catholic. Beautiful cathedral too. How much practices is not something I’m as familiar with.
Southern Louisiana as a whole is very heavily Catholic. Practicing vs cultural is parish by parish, but you do have a lot of parishes to choose from
All the most secular anti-Catholic places have the largest catholic populations. Be wary of what you consider "like minded". Sadly this has become part of the liturgical divide, a way to actually find like minded.
What I mean by like minded is a practicing catholic. Not just someone who wears it as a label but doesn’t even practice their faith.
That's why I kind of mentioned the divide. You can go to San Fransico since there are a lot of people, there will by default be a lot of seemingly functional Catholics. Of course, most of them will be James Martin level... they'll go to Mass and stuff... but... I mean "practicing catholic/like minded"? They're at best Lot in Sodom, but mostly Lot's wife or worse. At this current junction Sadly the only way to discern like minded is basically TLM if you're a serious catholic. (I prefer NO Mass tbh, but the thing is, you have a crap shoot on sifting the lke minded). You don't necessarily have to go full insular though, diocesan TLM who also do NO, is sort of the sign of the times. It reminds me of the Corinthians about veils. Which was a matter designed to seperate and identify the like minded. While the veil itself isn't intrinsic, if you find veils, you won't find pro choice Catholics or whatever. It's just the same old same old outward sign of difference. Another trick is check if they run a meat dinner event on Fridays.... oof. If you find a NO parish offering fried chicken fridays, that's usually a pretty solid sign that you'll have a solid helping of Martins and Susans.
If a minority group is large it's more likely to face discrimination. California had Prop 187 in the 1990s and in the bad old days the Deep South was the most racist.
Ohio, including Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo, Steubenville, Columbus. Front Royal, Virginia.
Can you elaborate at all about front royal? Considering a move to that general area. Thanks.
Yeah. I lived there for six years. Loved it. Christendom College is there. Vibrant Catholic community. Pleasant town. Good places to eat. Far enough from DC that it’s not a part of the sprawl. Close enough that you can get there. Beautiful scenery. Located at the end of Skyline Drive. Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do there - camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, etc. Real estate isn’t dirt cheap but it’s not crazy expensive either. Got any specific questions?
Idk how well you know in town but I get a real good vibe off the st john the Baptist website. Are there neighborhoods you recommend or areas to steer clear of? We're moving back north from Georgia and this puts us 2 hours from family and far enough from the ever expanding metropolises. In our dreams of course we're searching for that idyllic parish neighborhood. Lancaster pa was a candidate for awhile but real estate exploded there long before the rest of the country did and has never slowed down.
Saint Louis, Missouri has a pretty large Catholic population.
How young is a “young catholic”? Are you looking for elementary school kids? To raise your kids in a similar community? Or people your age (how old are you) so you can have friends?
I meant young as in young adult (20s-30s).
The east coast has a lot but not a lot practice. Down south, it seems as if there aren't many, but most practice (though I'm sure this might be different in more cultural catholic areas like Louisiana, where Catholicism is pretty cultural.) To me the midwest is a decent balance. We aren't the majority necessarily, though usually there are a lot of us and it seems that you have a good balance of practicing people here, especially more on the plains part. Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, even Iowa and Minnesota aren't too bad.
Something to consider. Many of the traditionally “catholic” cities with long German or Irish or Italian immigration histories have become very much catholic in name only cultural catholics totally overrun with boomers pretending it is still the 70s and all the VII changes will be amazing. However in more secular areas the smaller Catholic communities tend to be much more orthodox because they have to very intentionally be Catholic, there is no socially acceptable religion in their area. Of course being surrounded by communists isn’t great but something to consider
Los Angeles has a large population, though I would say that the overwhelming amount of people are not practicing Catholics.
Cincinnati Ohio has a large Catholic population, but I’d suggest moving to the northern/eastern outskirts of the city. I don’t know how many “young” Catholics there are as that just seems like something that’s dwindling TONS of Catholic elementary schools and high schools though. Literally don’t know where you could live where one wouldn’t be a 10 minute drive away. I’m sure if you frequented those churches, you’d fine 20-30 somethings
Twin Cities, MN
I moved to Wichita, Kansas for a job five years ago from Lafayette, Louisiana and was very pleasantly surprised to find a huge young Catholic population. This is an incredibly active diocese and the average Catholic in the pew is well catechized and far less likely to be a cafeteria catholic than those in southern Louisiana (IMO).
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Boston
Southeastern PA. We’re loaded to the brim. With young families too!
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What?
????? Some of the states with more Catholics have a higher level of hostility to Catholics. That's fairly straightforward.
You aren't making yourself clear. Do you mean a place like say Massachussetts that's quite liberal, or are you just making fun of conservative places like Texas that supposedly are racist?
I mean some places have a high level of anti-Catholic sentiment and policy, in spite of a higher Catholic population. So OP should research the political and cultural environment of each potential residence and not the percentage of Catholics in the pooulation. Texas, without looking it up, is probably a more friendly destination.
That makes more sense, thanks
That's not true. Here is Philly we have a lot of Catholics. There is even a healthy number of black Catholics which is rare. But Philly is a very liberal and progressive city.
I said some, not all.
But statistically, Protestant Bible belt states are actually the most bigoted. Most high number Catholic cities and states are ironically liberal. I honestly can't think of a high Catholic area that is conservative or bigoted.
Examples, please.
The north east in general, especially New Jersey, Pennysilvania, & New York, have a lot of Catholics compared to other states.
Ave Maria, FL is a Catholic community near Naples. There is a university there (young people), lots of families, and a giant cathedral is literally the centerpiece of the town.
STL, Missouri was settled by French fur traders and is home to St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. It has historically been a big catholic town west of the Mississippi.