UNITED STATES
MSN

Cathy Lynn Grossman, Religion News Service

A photographer shooting the landscape of American Catholicism today needs a wide-angle lens.

The image would have to stretch to include a Hispanic family at a booming Phoenix church, a disaffected millennial in Seattle who just barely calls herself Catholic, a Mass-every-Sunday senior in Boston and a convert, such as Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

Of course, Pope Francis can’t see this entire panorama on a six-day visit, but they can see him. And maybe there will be a “Francis effect” that prompts new levels of pride and engagement in the church.

Studies show that attendance at Mass has been flat for decades. Catholic identity continues to decline among non-Hispanic whites. Meanwhile, immigrant families — Hispanic, Asian and African — keep the overall Roman Catholic population high.

How high, though, depends on how you count.

The Official Catholic Directory counts…