INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Catholic schools pride themselves on being the bridge that brings together

Catholic education and the people. Through Catholic institutions such as this, youths

learn the value of spirituality and shape their moral integrity. Aside from that, Catholic

schools also teach their students the value of attending mass, which raises the question

of whether or not attending a Catholic school would have an impact on the mass

attendance of the students.

As further advancements are achieved within the society, many fields and

communities have been impacted, including the Catholic community. It brought about

both good and bad changes in the community, one of which is the increasing decline of

mass attendance among the youths; as a direct proof of this, a study conducted by the

Pew Research Center (2018) concludes that in the average country around the world,

adults under 40 are 6 percentage points less likely than older people to say they go to

worship services weekly (36% vs. 42%). This change poses a great challenge for the

Catholic community.

With the increasing decline of mass attendance among the youths, investigating

the impacts catholic school has over the mass attendance of their learners proved to be

crucial, especially for the Catholic community. As stated in the study conducted by the

Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (2014), there is a strong correlation

between Catholic education and Mass attendance among Millennial, with Catholic-

educated young adults seven times more likely to attend Sunday Mass than peers who

went to public schools. Thus, in order to improve the mass attendance and religious

faith of the youths, it’s better to expose them to any form of catholic education early on,

for people tend to stick unto what they are used to.