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CHICAGO STUDIES
that the suburbs should include all races. This is the group which forms the core of the parish and provides the lay leadership. Among the modal members, i.e., those who come to church at least once a week, only 36% are on the agreement side of the suburban integration issue. In other words, at least in this one issue of integration of the suburbs, attendance at Mass or involvement in the parish has had little influence on the formation of the people's social attitudes. What conclusions, then, can be drawn from these findings"? At least this much can be said: 1. There is a sizeable drop in parish involvement over the past few years. For some this means attending another church or worship service but for the vast majority it means no Church involvement at all.
2. A large percentage of both traditional and progressive Catholics find it difficult "fitting-in" with the new Church. It does not fulfill their needs, varied and diverse aS they may be. 3. Catholics are making their own decisions on moral and social issues which once were reserved to the authority of the Church. They feel free to consider their own situation as unique and they act accordingly. 4. The influence of Catholic hierarchy, especially as exercised by the parish clergy, is being challenged by the power and the indifference of the laity, i.e., the directives of the Church are being directly confronted or simply ignored by many of her people. .• 5. The majority of Catholics feel the Church should stay out of socio-political matters and concentrate on more traditional spiritual matters. These then are the results of the study of ten suburban parishes. A project has been designed to allow other parish staffs to do a similar study of the feelings and attitudes of their parishioners; it is called the Parish Evaluation Project (P.E.P.). Those who wish to learn more of this technique for listening to their people are asked to write to P.E.P., c/o National Federation of Priests' Councils, 1307 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois, 60605.