Bishop Kieran Conry was speaking as the results of a survey carried out by the church showed a number of families don't go to mass because the service times were not suitable.
The report questioned baptised parents with children at Catholic primary schools and also found some members of the congregation weren't welcoming to families with children.
In some cases parents with young ones felt they couldn't go to mass in case their child made too much noise.
Bishop Kieran told Premier this should never be the case.
He said: "We've got to give priority I think to young families.
"Priority, not just accepting them grudgingly, reluctantly, but saying the most important people in the church are the next generation.
The bishop added it was vital that people who hadn't been to church in some time felt welcome.
"That's one of the fears that if you go in and you're not familiar with church practice, you'll look very conspicuous and look an idiot.
"Everyone sits down and you stand up, so we've got to make sure that people are reassured that that will not happen to them.
"You will blend into this as if you've never been away," he said.
One of the reasons the Church is still struggling to attract young people to mass is because of its stance on sexuality and contraception.
But Bishop Kieran said people who disagree with this were always welcome.
He said: "You can't say to them these things don't matter but we accept the reality that most Catholics will disagree with some parts of Catholic teaching.
"But I would say that the most important aspect of faith is not whether you agree with what the Church teaches in terms of discipline and moral values but are you willing to try and follow Jesus Christ and make Jesus Christ part of your lives.
"Part of that is the struggle with our human weakness and our frailty.
"We struggle with these things but the important thing is we carry on struggling because we want to be associated with Jesus Christ."
The bishop was speaking at a press conference to talk about a pilot scheme in Nottingham which used newspaper adverts and street signs to attract more people to church.
The trial in the Diocese of Nottingham is now being rolled out to Middlesbrough and East Anglia.
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