In the Synod the clear priority from the people of God in our diocese was Unity and Healing. Our unity as Catholics is grounded in our appreciation of who we are as Church—One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Phase One set the table in reminding ourselves what it means to be Church and what our identity as Catholics requires of us in the world. Our desire was to create a common understanding from which to grow a vision for the Diocese of Jackson. In other words, to foster a sense of unity underscored by the four marks of the Church. You will use the discussion generated in the discussions from Phase One as a starting point for your conversations in Phase Two.

In Phase Two will REIMAGINE the responsibilities of each parish and mission to foster a sense of unity, underscored by the four marks of the Church, and grounded in factual data. 
In Phase Two parishes and missions are asked to look at their current realities, with demographic data and input from the Synod. 

Each local parish or mission will identify areas for potential growth, e.g., increased population, new industries, or economic development, etc. 

They will also identify areas of diminishing capacity, e.g., economic decline, aging populations, decreased Church membership, etc.  

The demographic data is from CARA, the Center for the Applied Research for the Apostolate, located at Georgetown University. It has provided quality social science research to Catholic dioceses and religious organizations since 1964.  

Each parish or mission will receive a report, generated by CARA.  It will include the most up-to-date statistics including projections of the Catholic population for the Diocese. CARA incorporated the available information provided by the Jackson Diocese. It includes relevant and recent demographics and characteristics of parishes and counties. It also includes the number of registered parishioners, Mass attendance, Sacramental counts, the number of schools and students, etc. 

Demographics presented in the report include total current population and population projections, racial and ethnic characteristics of the population, total school-age population, as well as trend data on the Catholic population of the Diocese.  

CARA describes how these demographics have changed over time with reference to previous Census estimates. More importantly, CARA provides projections of the total population and Catholic population by county overall and by race and ethnicity through 2050. 

Maps are incorporated throughout the CARA demographic report and enable a visual analysis of the diversity within the Diocese with respect to several population characteristics.  
 
Parish locations are geo-coded onto maps that show characteristics, by county, of the total population (Catholics and non-Catholics) in the Diocese, which are then tied to pastoral realities such as the size of the Catholic population of a county relative to the seating capacity of parishes in that county.  

An easy-to-use report will be filled out at each location. The local reports will be returned to the diocese as well as be presented in Phase Three at the Deanery level.  

The data from CARA will be coming soon!
 

A variety of data is used, including the American Religious Identification Surveys, the ASARB U.S. Religion Census, U.S. Census data, and other sources, including CARA’s internal databases to analyze demographic changes.  

Utilizing Public Use Micro Data (PUMS) from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), CARA has provided the most localized descriptions possible for these demographics (typically ZIP Codes) as well as data provided by the State of Mississippi. 

CARA utilized a variety of data sources including most localized descriptions possible for demographics, typically via ZIP Codes.