For parishes, ministries & dioceses
Your people, giving & check-ins. One console. Free.
Catholic Connect is full parish management — a people database with households, online giving, one-tap check-ins, registrations, groups, and announcements — on the platform your parishioners already use to find Mass.
Free for parishes · No credit card · Your parish page already exists
- 16,548
- U.S. parish pages live
- 196
- dioceses & archdioceses covered
- iOS · Android · Web
- your parishioners are already here
- Free
- for parishes — no credit card
Why parishes switch
Paying per module, per member, every single year
The console is free — no modules, no member tiers, no annual invoice
Office software your parishioners never touch
They're already here — finding Mass, joining groups, giving
OCIA in a binder, giving in one tool, attendance in another
One console, from a visitor's first Mass to the Easter Vigil
Everything you need to run parish ministry
Not a giving-and-accounting back office — the parts you actually use every week, without the spreadsheet shuffle.
People & households
A real parish CRM: every member and family in one place, with households, staff and clergy roles, and a directory that stays current on its own.
Online giving
Accept one-time and recurring gifts with secure onboarding in minutes — no monthly subscription, deposits go straight to your parish account.
One-tap check-ins
Check people in as they arrive — Mass, religious ed, youth night — with a live count and history across every ministry in your parish.
Groups & volunteer rosters
Every ministry gets sessions with RSVPs and reminders, plus rosters parishioners fill themselves — lector, greeter, hospitality, yours.
Registrations & calendar
Events, sign-ups, and the parish calendar in the same console — see who's registered without chasing paper forms.
The OCIA journey tracker
Move each catechumen through Inquiry to Mystagogy with notifications at every step. The Catholic feature no general church software has.
01The parish console
The parish office, on one screen.
People and households, giving, check-ins, registrations, groups, and the calendar — the console holds the whole parish, so Monday morning doesn't start with five logins and a spreadsheet.
- A people database with households and staff, clergy, and member roles
- Online giving with secure onboarding — no subscription
- Check-ins and registrations across every ministry
Parish console
St. Michael the Archangel · this week
People
1,284
412 households
Giving this month
$8,540
up from $7,210
Sunday check-ins
312
across 6 ministries
Active groups
14
OCIA, youth, choir…
- The Nguyen household joined the parish2m
- $150 gift received — Building Fund18m
- OCIA session tonight · 21 of 24 confirmed1h
OCIA Journey
St. Michael the Archangel · 24 in formation
- Purification
Maria Gonzalez
- Catechumenate
James Okafor
- Sacraments
Ana Reyes
- Inquiry
Peter Kim
02OCIA & RCIA
Walk every catechumen to the Easter Vigil — without the binder.
The OCIA journey tracker is built for exactly one thing: your program. Move each person through the five stages with sessions, RSVPs, and attendance in the same place — no general church software has this.
- Inquiry → Catechumenate → Purification → Sacraments → Mystagogy
- Catechumens are notified at every stage
- Catechists and sponsors stay on the same page automatically
03Announcements & rosters
When you post it, everyone actually sees it.
Announcements reach your whole group in the app and by email. Volunteer rosters fill themselves — post the roles and your parishioners sign up.
- Broadcast to every member — app and email
- Per-session volunteer roles: lector, greeter, hospitality, yours
- Grow the group by search, share link, or email invite
Announcement
To: OCIA 2026 · 24 members
The Rite of Election is this Sunday at the cathedral — please arrive by 2:30 PM. Sponsors, remember to sit with your catechumen.
Sunday 10:30 AM Mass
Volunteer roster
- Lector2/2 filled
- Greeter1/3 filled
- Hospitality3/4 filled
Missing something? We build it with you.
Catholic Connect ships every week, and the roadmap is written with the leaders who use it. Tell us what your parishactually needs — if it serves the Church, we'll build it alongside you.
Tell us what you need →- Sacramental prep tracking beyond OCIA
- Religious education class management
- Volunteer background-check tracking
- Parish calendar & website embeds
- Import from your current system — we'll help
- Whatever your parish needs next — tell us below
Made for the people who make parish life run
Pastors & parish staff
Five systems, five invoices, and a people database that's three years stale?
One free console for people, giving, check-ins, and events — kept current by parishioners who actually use the app.
OCIA coordinators & DREs
Twenty-four catechumens in a spreadsheet, attendance on paper, and reminders by group text?
Move the whole program into one place in an afternoon — schedule, check-in, journey stages, and a way to reach everyone.
Ministry & group leaders
Scheduling lectors and greeters over reply-all email chains?
Post the roles, share the link, and let your people sign themselves up. You just watch the roster fill.
Catholic Connect Ads
When you're ready for more reach, promote it.
Your parish mission, festival, or OCIA start date — in front of every Catholic nearby. A photo, a headline, and a budget — we take it from there.
- Pick a goal — visitors, calls, event RSVPs, or awareness — and we optimize for it
- Runs across Catholic Connect in your area — feed, search, and nearby
- Every ad is reviewed by our team — you only pay once it's approved
- You set the budget up front — it's the cap, never a surprise
- Live views, clicks, and delivery right in your console's Promote tab
Promote · Campaign
St. Michael the Archangel
Free for parishes
People, giving, check-ins, groups, and OCIA — free to run, with no subscription, no per-member pricing, no credit card.
Your parish page already exists
16,548 U.S. parishes have a live page on Catholic Connect, with Mass times and community built around them. Claim yours.
No setup project
Create a group in about a minute and invite your people. There's nothing to install and no data-entry weekend.
Real people answer
Questions go to our team, not a ticket queue. Ask for help in the form below or write to [email protected].
Catholic Connect is built for the Church — Catholic-specific by design, not a generic tool with a parish skin. OCIA stages, Mass times, and parish pages are first-class here, and our team reads every request that comes through this page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Catholic Connect really free church management software?
Yes — the parish console is free: a people database with households, online giving, one-tap check-ins, event registrations, groups and volunteer rosters, announcements, and the OCIA journey tracker. There is no subscription, no per-member pricing, and no credit card. It is a free alternative to paid parish tools like Planning Center, ParishSOFT, or Ministry Scheduler Pro for day-to-day parish management.
How is this different from Planning Center or ParishSOFT?
Those are powerful paid tools, and their per-module or per-member pricing grows with your parish. Catholic Connect is free, Catholic-specific, and member-facing: your people are on the app finding Mass and joining groups, so the database stays alive instead of going stale — plus a built-in OCIA journey tracker that general church software doesn't offer. Where a chancery-grade need like sacramental registers comes up, we build alongside partner parishes.
Can our parish take online giving through Catholic Connect?
Yes — parish giving is built into the console with secure onboarding from your dashboard. One-time and recurring gifts deposit directly to your parish bank account. There's no monthly subscription — just a 2% platform fee plus standard card processing, far below typical giving platforms.
How do we claim our parish page?
Your parish page is already live — 16,548 U.S. parishes are on Catholic Connect. Claim it from the page itself in the app, or send us a message through the form below and we'll verify you and hand over the keys, usually within a day. Once it's yours, you edit everything from console Settings: Mass times, photo, description, and contact details.
Can I use it to run my OCIA / RCIA program?
Yes — this is what it's built for. Create an OCIA group, schedule your weekly sessions, take attendance, and move each person through the stages from Inquiry to the Easter Vigil, all in one place. Learn more on our OCIA page.
What kinds of groups can I manage?
Any Catholic group: OCIA/RCIA, young adults, prayer groups, Bible studies, ministries, and more. Public groups are free; you create one in a minute and invite your people.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. Catholic Connect works in the browser and as a free iOS and Android app, so coordinators and members can manage and join on the go.
Talk to our team
Tell us about your parish and what you're running — OCIA, ministries, a young-adult group — and we'll walk you through it personally.
- A 15-minute walkthrough of groups, sessions, and the OCIA tracker
- Help claiming your parish page and setting up your first group
- Honest answers — if we're not the right fit, we'll say so
Prefer email? [email protected]
Bring your parish's ministries into one place
Start free today, or let us walk you through it first.