Between 2000 and 2018, membership in Michigan’s Catholic parishes dropped from 2.2 million to 1.8 million, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).Even more striking are the declines in Catholic sacraments and education. Infant baptisms, down 49%. Weddings blessed by the Catholic Church, down 54%. First Communions, down 46%. Enrollment in Catholic grade schools, down 49%. Enrollment in K-12 religious education classes, down 48%. [1]