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| He's not the only one who doesn't know what's happening at Mass on Sunday. |
The whole report is fascinating reading, but what I am concerned with here is something that Maggie Gallagher discusses in her latest column at National Review Online: the fact that so many Catholics do not believe the fundamental teachings of the Church.
One of the good things about this survey is that it took the trouble to divide up Catholics into four groups: traditional, moderate, liberal and other (survey participants self-identified into these groups). As Maggie Gallagher notes, "the labels are clearly capturing something real, because by every measure in this study (and unsurprisingly), traditional Catholics are more supportive of Catholic teaching and practice than are liberal Catholics, with moderate Catholics falling in between and “other” Catholics generally less actively involved than liberal Catholics."
Ms. Gallagher then crunched some numbers from the survey to produce the following:
One of the good things about this survey is that it took the trouble to divide up Catholics into four groups: traditional, moderate, liberal and other (survey participants self-identified into these groups). As Maggie Gallagher notes, "the labels are clearly capturing something real, because by every measure in this study (and unsurprisingly), traditional Catholics are more supportive of Catholic teaching and practice than are liberal Catholics, with moderate Catholics falling in between and “other” Catholics generally less actively involved than liberal Catholics."
Ms. Gallagher then crunched some numbers from the survey to produce the following:
Breakdown of total parishioners at church on any given Sunday
Q: How many Catholics in the pews believe in the resurrection of the body?
A: 50.6 % of those at Mass on any given Sunday.
Q: How many Catholic men in the pews viewed pornography in the last week?
A: 25.3% of those men at Mass on any given Sunday.
Q: How many Catholics in the pews have engaged in premarital sex?
A: 71.7% of those (over 18 years old) at Mass on any given Sunday.
The Survey also presents some other disturbing findings about Catholic beliefs. Here are some of the charts that are available in their report. Unfortunately they do not report the actual percentages, and only present these line graphs without any numbers attached. Still, they give a good idea of what the breakdowns are:
| % | |
| Traditional Catholics | 39.5 |
| Moderate Catholics | 39.5 |
| Liberal Catholics | 14 |
| Other Catholics | 7 |
I've used these numbers together with the survey results to produce the following percentages of beliefs and practices at a hypothetical church on any given Sunday (I multiplied the actual percentage response per group by that group's representative percentage attendance at mass, noted above):
Q: How many Catholics in the pews believe in life after death?
A: 81.5 % of those at Mass on any given Sunday.
A: 81.5 % of those at Mass on any given Sunday.
| Actual percentage of the group, as reported in survey | % in church on Sunday | |
| Traditional Catholics | 85 | 33.8 |
| Moderate Catholics | 82 | 32.4 |
| Liberal Catholics | 75 | 10.5 |
| Other Catholics | 69 | 4.8 |
| TOTAL SUM | 81.5 |
A: 50.6 % of those at Mass on any given Sunday.
| Actual percentage of the group, as reported in survey | % in church on Sunday | |
| Traditional Catholics | 58 | 22.9 |
| Moderate Catholics | 51 | 20.1 |
| Liberal Catholics | 30 | 4.2 |
| Other Catholics | 49 | 3.4 |
| TOTAL SUM | 50.6 |
Q: How many Catholic men in the pews viewed pornography in the last week?
A: 25.3% of those men at Mass on any given Sunday.
| Actual percentage of the group, as reported in survey | % in church on Sunday | |
| Traditional Catholics | 21 | 8.3 |
| Moderate Catholics | 26 | 10.3 |
| Liberal Catholics | 35 | 4.9 |
| Other Catholics | 26 | 1.82 |
| TOTAL SUM | 25.32 |
Q: How many Catholics in the pews have engaged in premarital sex?
A: 71.7% of those (over 18 years old) at Mass on any given Sunday.
| Engaged in premarital sex | Actual percentage of the group, as reported in survey | % in church on Sunday |
| Traditional Catholics | 64 | 25.3 |
| Moderate Catholics | 79 | 30.81 |
| Liberal Catholics | 72 | 10.08 |
| Other Catholics | 79 | 5.53 |
| TOTAL SUM | 71.72 |
The Survey also presents some other disturbing findings about Catholic beliefs. Here are some of the charts that are available in their report. Unfortunately they do not report the actual percentages, and only present these line graphs without any numbers attached. Still, they give a good idea of what the breakdowns are:
Aside from those Catholics who hold actual opinions contrary to the Catholic faith, notice how many respondents are "not sure" (red). Something is terribly wrong when so many Catholics do not know what the right answer is.
Based on these figures, the Catholic Church has a lot of work to do in re-evangelizing its own flock. Is it any wonder that a lot of parishes are struggling with the kind of appalling hollow Catholicism that is so vividly described in this anonymous personal testimony at First Things?
Based on these figures, the Catholic Church has a lot of work to do in re-evangelizing its own flock. Is it any wonder that a lot of parishes are struggling with the kind of appalling hollow Catholicism that is so vividly described in this anonymous personal testimony at First Things?
Why are Catholics so weak in their faith and practice? Maggie Gallagher asks this question in her article, and I echo it here.
It is a question that the Church needs to answer very urgently.
Sad but not surprising. Such is the result of a generation gone by of very poor catechesis. When I see statistics like these, all I can think is that most Catholics just don't know what they're missing. Sometimes, I feel like I have more in common with the Mormons and Amish than fellow Catholics!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! For myself, I find I often have more in common with Evangelicals than with certain Catholics.
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