The number of people attending Mass on weekdays is on the rise in many parishes across the Diocese of Parramatta, a trend that is in marked contrast to the reported long-term decline in Sunday Mass attendance at Catholic churches across the country.
These midweek masses are becoming popular with busy workers, students and families who are looking for the chance to more regularly connect with their faith, and find solace, especially at a time of heightened anxiety due to overseas conflicts and increasing societal polarisation.
But the growing popularity of these midweek services is sometimes also a result of local factors, such as new housing developments that have seen more people moving into an area.
At some of these masses, worshippers are coming from other parishes – and sometimes other dioceses – where midweek services are not offered.
Most parishes contacted by Catholic Outlook say attendance at their midweek masses has returned to or surpassed the numbers that attended before COVID closed churches in 2020.

In many parishes across the Diocese, attendance at daily Mass is rising. Image: Alphonsus Fok/Diocese of Parramatta
This is in contrast to the gradual decline in attendance at Sunday Mass around the country, which has been captured in the National Count of Attendance, a five-yearly report by the National Centre of Pastoral Research, first published in 2001.
The latest report from 2021, released in May 2024, showed that attendance at Sunday Mass across Australia had almost halved in 20 years – from 763,700 attenders in 2001 to 417,349 in 2021.
‘Availability of the sacraments’
At St Thomas Aquinas Parish in Springwood, Parish Administrator Fr Chris del Rosario is regularly seeing up to 40 people at his midweek services, which parishioners say is a fourfold increase from several years ago.
He offers Mass every weekday, including Mondays, at 9.30am, with Adoration beforehand, and believes demand is growing especially among families to attend more regularly.
“I think a big thing is availability of the sacraments,” Fr Chris said.
At St Bernadette’s Parish, in Castle Hill, more than 100 people attend the two daily masses at 6.45am and 9.15am on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, while about 60 people attend the 6.15am service on Mondays and Tuesdays.

These services are popular with workers, students and families who are looking to more regularly connect with their faith. Image: Alphonsus Fok/ Diocese of Parramatta
Workers and students make up a large proportion of the congregation at the early Mass, which is deliberately kept short to enable workers to get to their job on time. While the later one is attended mainly by young parents and older people, according to Parish Priest and Vicar General Fr Fernando Montano.
He believes there are several reasons for the growth in attendance, which was very low just after COVID lockdowns were lifted but now is back to where it was before the pandemic hit.
He said one reason is the increase in new apartments in the parish, which has boosted the Catholic population considerably. Another is the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“In these times of problems, challenges or uncertainties, people just come back to church,” Fr Fernando said.
But there is also a third reason: to have more regular connection with God.
“People thirst for transcendence, or to connect with their faith,” he said.
At Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, at St Marys, attendance at midweek masses has also grown steadily since the end of COVID.
They regularly get between 60 and 80 worshippers at the 6.30am Mass on weekdays, and similar numbers at the daily 9am Mass.
And it’s not just local parishioners who are filling the pews. Workers come from far and wide to attend their 6.30 Mass before heading off to their job.

Fr Robert Riedling, Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, is regularly seeing more than 100 worshippes at the daily 12.30pm Mass. Image: Alphonsus Fok/ Diocese of Parramatta
It’s a similar story at St Patrick’s Cathedral, in Parramatta, where the Dean, Fr Robert Riedling, is seeing an increasing number of workers turning up to their 6.30am services before they leave for the day, or the 12.30pm Mass for those on their lunch break.
Older parishioners also make up a sizable portion of the congregation at each Mass.
Fr Robert estimates the early Mass attracts between 50 and 60 worshippers, and the lunch-time Mass between 90 and 110. Confession is also held for an hour before the 12.30pm Mass and there is a constant stream of people waiting to see the priest.
“You might have a break of a minute or two before the next person comes in but pretty much it’s constant,” Fr Robert said.
“I think you’ll find people who come to the daily Mass obviously practice their faith quite seriously and for them it’s an important part of their day,” he said.

Altar server Doreen Sen attends Mass at the cathedral five times a week. Image: Alphonsus Fok/ Diocese of Parramatta
One of those daily Mass-goers is Doreen Sen, who has been a parishioner at St Patrick’s since 2013.
She used to attend the 12.30pm midweek Mass four times a week, but in February 2024 started going five times a week when she became an altar server.
“I do afternoon shift [at work], so midday Mass is the best Mass for me,” she said.
She has noticed more people attending weekday services over the past few years, especially those on Fridays.

Doreen Sen believes people who attend daily Mass want a closer relationship with God, but also with their fellow worshippers. Image: Alphonsus Fok/ Diocese of Parramatta
“Everybody’s coming to midweek Mass now,” she said.
“The regular ones are here no matter what. This is our community, this is our church.”
To find a midweek Mass in the Diocese of Parramatta, please visit https://parracatholic.org/connect/find-a-mass/