About Us & Mass Times FAQ
∙ HISTORY ∙ PARISH INFORMATION ∙ MY ACCOUNT ∙
∙ MASS TIMES MINISTRY∙ MULTI-LINGUAL FUNCTIONS ∙
∙ STATISTICS ∙ CATHOLICISM ∙ CHURCH LOOK-UP ∙
∙ UPDATES ∙
Please email us with any questions, ideas or suggestions on how this web site may better serve your needs.
What is the Ministry of the Mass Times Trust?
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What is the Ministry of the Mass Times Trust?
- An evangelical witness to the world of the Church’s universality, the richness of the Catholic faith and our oneness in belief.
- A service to help Catholics with handicaps, migrants, pilgrims, refugees, travelers and workers on the road find a Mass or other worship services.
- A service to Catholics by aiding the Faithful in meeting their Sunday and Holy Day Obligations by providing a listing of Mass times and Church locations.
- A service to the Church by expanding her communications via the Internet.
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History
What was the original concept of Mass Times?
Mass Times was developed in 1994, to help traveling Catholics in the USA find a nearby church with a schedule of religious services. The information was collected from dioceses and parishes throughout the USA and made available by telephone at first, and then via the Internet in 1998.
In 2002, Mass Times-USA decided to go International and use its limited resources to expand the number of churches in the database to include those with Internet access in other countries. To help make this possible, our previous toll-free telephone inquiry service was changed to operate on a toll-call basis, and instead of collecting church information by mail, fax, and phone, we now limit data gathering on church locations to diocesan and parish web sites. Since 2005, Mass Times provides a link to connect the visitor with the parish/diocesan web site or Mass Times provides the church location and contact information. We offer a user-friendly Internet web page program for parish/diocesan/volunteer updates of church worship, contact, and location data. Click on Update Parish Information to update your information.
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Parish Information
Why should a parish keep their information current using Update Parish Information?
Current information helps to ensure that traveling Catholics can find a Mass and it brings more visitors to your church. After three years without an update Mass Times web site no longer shows the church’s times on the list of churches.
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Why doesn’t my computer seem able to “Edit” the church/worship information when using the Update Parish Information (UPI)?
Some computer software will not work for a variety of reasons. If you have problems, please ask a volunteer to do the updates on their computer, or Email us with your changes, including the church, city and country name.
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How is information kept current in the Mass Times’ database?
We rely on each diocese and church to keep their information current using the UPI program (Update Parish Information). Our system provides an easy-to-use option for updating church information. Emails reminders are automatically sent to parishes when their data is over 6 months old. After three years of not being updated, Mass times are deleted and only the location and contact information will be provided. It is always advisable to contact the church and verify the information. Many travelers/visitors will select the churches with the times shown rather than calling the parish or go looking through one or more parish web sites.
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Won’t this dependence on updates via the Internet limit the quantity of worship time information available on Mass Times?
Yes, it will limit the quantity. However, the information will be more accurate. By giving the visitor the parish web address, they will have the most up-to-date information. Many of the churches have volunteers or workers who use the “UPI”, the Update Parish Information program.
The cost of the Mass Times staff to review parish and diocesan web sites twice a year in the USA is $53,500; even more expensive when reviewing all of the parishes for the whole world. Mass Times would love to provide that level of service, if visitors would donate the funding. Mass Times source income for reviewing and updating is only from the visitors. We have no outside funding from the Church. Please donate to Mass Times by clicking on Donations.
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How does Mass Times help the traveler find a nearby church?
The telephone option (410-676-6000) allows the caller to find the church location by entering a five-digit postal zip code or the first six digits of the telephone number (area code plus three numbers). The name and location of the church, its telephone number and worship times, are then provided.
The Internet option, at www.Masstimes.org, allows the user to click on churches by country, by place/city, postal/zip code, or area/exchange code. The web site provides worship time information and identifies churches offering adoration, confession/reconciliation, particular devotions, religious services in languages other than English, and masses at tourist sites and the like. For each church, it lists name, location, contact information, and web site/email address if applicable. The user may click on the church web site to get the most current information or call the church.
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How does a diocese or parish get the ID/Password for a church?
To update the church information: Please look up your church on
http://masstimes.org/dotNet/churchlookups.aspx
and then, click on the church's name.
You will see below the map the words: "Update this Church Information"
Click on those words. You will arrive at a screen that has already loaded the ID and you then need to enter your "complete email address".
That will take you to the screen that allows you to edit all the church information.
Also there is an update option to change the church location on the map.
If you can not update it, please ask a volunteer to do it. There is only one of me and I need your help keeping the 104,000 church information current.
Or email Mass Times at ID, and the ID/password will be sent to you. Please include the country, city, church name and email address.
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How can my parish establish its own web site?
Parishes that want to establish their own web site, but who are having difficulty doing so because of limitations on funding or expertise, may get assistance through our new Adopt-A-Parish Program.
Adopt-A-Parish connects a parish with a sister parish that is already online, and who has agreed to assist parishes develop their own web sites. The sister parish will help by providing sources for hardware, software, and free Internet services. The sister parish also helps the adopted parish by assisting parishioners in finding Internet jobs, like data entry.
Parishes wishing to either request such help or act as a sister parish in aiding another parish get online, should contact Adopt-A-Parish.
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How can a diocese get a list of their parishes in hard or electronic copy?
Go to the lookup boxes and click on “Diocese”, and then click on your diocese and select print or electronic.
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My Account
When using My Account, how do the personal preference settings help me?
The preferences help the visitor to get to any of the web pages that this web site offers, or, the user can set his/her favorite Country, Diocese or Church without clicking even once.
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Masstimes Ministry
How can I assist the Mass Times ministry to traveling Catholics?
Most important, of course, you can remember us in your prayers.
We have been blessed in many ways from the service Mass Times provides and encourage others to join in and share God’s blessings by volunteering some of their talent and time.
Since its beginning in 1994, the management of Mass Times Trust has not received compensation, except the refund on our taxes of the monies donated by us to cover technical support and updating costs.
Our total income from all sources in 2006 was under sixty thousand dollars.
The cost of updating the Mass times per year is $53,500.00. Please be generous and donate at Donations.
The technical support cost to date, to go to worldwide service of Mass Times, is over $100,000 per year.
The cost to load one new parish's information is $4.00. The cost to review and update one parish's data and worship information is $1.00. All cost has overhead included.
We currently have 104,000+ churches in 201 countries/territories loaded into the Mass Times database. The staff worked for two years to load the 22,000 churches with Mass Times in the USA and three years loading the 82,000 churches with only contact information outside the USA. Now that there is access to the countries outside, we are including worship times as we add new churches.
Those who would like to volunteer their time and talent can assist as a coordinator of Mass Times information or help in web site maintenance, computer programming, or data entry. Please click on Volunteer.
Monetary contributions are Tax-exempt in the USA. Please Contributions can be made to Mass Times via credit card by clicking on the Donations button, or by mailing a check to Mass Times Trust at 38 Suffolk Ave., West Yarmouth, MA 02637.
Please do your online shopping with hundreds of major merchants by clicking on the Shopping button. This connects you to Online.com. A small percentage of the purchase price is provided to Mass Times.
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What can I do to effectively promote Mass Times at my parish?
Talk to your pastor, secretary, or administrator about place information in the parish bulletin. Feel free to use the Masstimes logo for this purpose.
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What can I do to effectively promote Mass Times in my diocese?
Talk to the editor of your diocesan newspaper or director of your diocesan communications department about promoting this important ministry. In his Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, “On Keeping the Holy Day”, Pope John Paul II reminds Pastors about their pastoral responsibility: “Pastors should remind the faithful that when they are away from home on Sundays they are to take care to attend Mass wherever they may be, enriching the local community with their personal witness (DD 49)”.
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Multi-lingual Function
What does it mean when there is a [language] in brackets behind a church name?
The language indicated is the language for all worship services.
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What does it mean when there is a [language] in brackets behind the Mass times and other worship times?
These are the languages of the Mass or other worship times for that specific time listed.
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How many languages are there on the Mass Times web site?
There is currently a list of languages used under the “Additional lookup options” when you click on “Language of Mass” on the web site. Please visit the home page.
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How are the languages selected?
The languages listed are those requested most often. Click here for the list of Languages. Some language names are a variation of another language or a different dialect.
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How can a new language be added to the list of languages?
Mass Times is happy to add new language names but reserves the right to choose the language name on the list and limit the languages to those used most frequently by churches. To request a language, please indicate the country/diocese and church name that the language is to be used for and email us at Languages.
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How are bilingual Masses indicated?
They are indicated by having both languages listed, for example, [English] [Spanish].
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Statistics
How does a diocese know how many visitors are looking for churches in their diocese?
The web site shows a rolling yearly total for dioceses that indicates how often visitors check churches in that diocese. This is calculated by how many visitors look for churches in the diocese either by clicking on a church in that diocese or by clicking on the diocese.
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How do the parishes know how many visitors are looking for their churches and churches in their city?
Whenever the church information is shown, the rolling yearly total of inquires by church and city is displayed. This will tell parishes how often visitors looked at their church data, as well as how many visitors looked at all the churches in their area or city for a place to worship.
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How many inquiries do the Mass Times web site and telephony system receive?
Each year, Mass Times has more than 4.1 million inquiries on its web site, www.Masstimes.org. Almost 25,000 people call the telephone number 410-676-6000 to inquire.
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How many countries, dioceses, and churches will be included in Mass Times?
Please click on Country Lookup and see if your country of choice is there. We have 201 countries/territories listed. There 104,000+ churches. Mass Times does not have an exact count of the 3,300 dioceses that have churches listed. We will add more of the world’s 200,000+ parishes to the database each year.
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What is a rolling yearly total?
The rolling yearly total is the total for the preceding 11 months and the current month. The number of visitors doubles at certain times of the year, so the rolling yearly total gives you a clearer understanding of the effectiveness of our ministry.
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Catholicism
Why should Catholics go to Mass?
The Mass is the memorial of the sacrifice of the Cross. Every Eucharistic celebration awakens the conscience of those who participate in it. The Mass is the Mystery of our Faith and a Mystery of Mercy. Catholics are placed before a miracle which evinces Adoration. The Eucharist is the foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ.
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Are Catholic who may be traveling or on vacation obligated to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation?
Yes. The faithful are obliged to attend Mass unless there is a grave impediment. By attending Mass while on vacation or traveling, not only do you fulfill your obligation as a Catholic, but you enrich the local community with your witness (not to mention coming to the source and summit of your very Spiritual Life.)
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Church Look-up
How can you look up worship times by day?
Click on the desired day and a list of times with churches will be listed.
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How do the maps work?
There two types of maps, maps with a single church location, and maps with all the churches with current times indicated on the map.
There are maps that you can access at each church record. We have changed to using Google maps in the USA. We provide a way for the parishes to fine-tune the exact location of their church by clicking on the desired location. This causes the latitude/longitude of the church to be updated in the Mass Times database. We offer an option to turn off the map also.
There are maps of the churches with current times indicated on one map. Click on “Map” on the top of the list of churches. If you click on the indicators on the map you will see the details for hat church and a detail map for that church.
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What methods of church lookup does Mass Times program into their web site?
Note: If a visitor chooses “Text Only”, he/she will get a web site designed for slower PCs. Wireless devices are detected and sent to a wireless version of Mass Times.
A large number of lookup options are provided based on the country selected. The default country is the USA.
The quickest and most used way is to just enter a place/city name and click on “Search” if you are interested in a city in the United States. This will take you to the information for that city.
The second most used lookup option is the postal/zip code. Just click on Postal/zip code and enter the code and click on “Search”.
If you prefer the list of city names within a state, then click on the Province/State and enter the state. This will present you with links to cities within that state.
There are four boxes used for a country specific lookup options, the US has 20+ options. Every other country has diocese and place/city (limited to place/city names that have churches located in them). A number of countries have postal/zip code, area code/exchange and province/state. Mass Times has acquired the latitude/longitude for place/city names for most cities in the world. We hope to have lookups for 2,300,000 cities later in 2007.
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Updates
What features and functions has Mass Times incorporated as a result of visitors’ input?
Maps, Countries around the world, Text Only, Wireless, multi church locations on one map and lookup by day and time are features and functions we have added. Your input is very important to Mass Times. Almost every aspect of this web site is the result of visitors’ input. Some of the repeat visitors were very vocal when we hid the zip code lookup and phone number lookup that they were able to easily see on the first generation site. Consequently, they were put on the web site again.
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Please submit your ideas to General-Questions.
08-23-2007