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WASHINGTON (December 21, 2000) -- Usage of 1-800 Mass Times, the toll-free service that provides locations and times of Masses nationwide is on the increase, according to statistics gathered by 1-800 Mass Times Trust, a ministry to aid traveling Catholics.
Information also is available on the Web at www.Masstimes.org.
Most of the calls originate from ten states. The greatest number of calls, almost 10 percent of the total, or 12,755 calls, came from Pennsylvania, which ranks fifth in the number of Catholics nationwide.
The other nine states in frequency of calling were No. 2 California (10,704 calls), No. 3 New York (8,181 calls), No. 4 Florida (7,214 calls), No. 5 Ohio (6,814 calls), No. 6 Texas (5,705 calls), No. 7 Illinois (5,045 calls), No. 8 Michigan (4,998 calls), No. 9 Louisiana (4,833 calls), and No. 10 Maryland (4,715 calls).
According to The CARA Report for Summer 1999, the fifteen states with more than one million Catholics are California (8,907,905), New York (7,347,611), Texas (4,859,022), Illinois (3,724,499), Pennsylvania (3,555,974), New Jersey (3,340,331), Massachusetts (2,975,137), Michigan (2,227,369), Ohio (2,190,118), Florida (2,067,351), Wisconsin (1,652,547), Connecticut (1,342,970), Louisiana (1,327,739), Minnesota (1,242,535), and Maryland (1,090,577).
Use of 1-800 Mass Times has increased substantially since its partnership with the Catholic Communication Campaign in July 1999. There were 66,000 telephone inquires in 1998, 100,000 in 1999, and 130,000 or more are expected for 2000. Hits on the Mass Times Website totaled about 120,000 in 1999 and are expected to top 150,000 this year.
The Website was upgraded during the past year and now includes the times and locations of religious services in English and other languages, as well as a special section on Mass locations at tourist sites which highlights services at or near popular terminals for air, bus, or train travel.
Promotion of 1-800-Mass Times is one of several efforts of the Catholic Communication Campaign. Other projects include sponsorship of a toll-free movie review line, 1-800-311-4CCC, the TV talk show "Personally Speaking," which appears weekly on the Odyssey Network, and periodic network TV specials.