Approximately 90% of religious adherents who currently watch services online or on TV said they are at least “somewhat” satisfied with the experience but a majority of them plan to return to in-person worship once the coronavirus pandemic passes, according to a new poll.
Data for the poll, conducted July 13 to July 19, 2020, by the Pew Research Center was drawn from the responses of a nationally representative panel of 10,211 randomly selected U.S. adults.
Some one-third of respondents reported that they watched religious services online or on television in the past month, and just over half of that number said they began engaging with these remote services for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.
Among this group of Americans, nine out of 10 said they were “very” satisfied or “somewhat” satisfied with the experience. More than half of the group, 54%, indicated that they were “very” satisfied while 37% said they were “somewhat” satisfied.
Nevertheless, most online worshipers said as soon as the pandemic is over they plan to return to in-person religious services or reduce their engagement online. This is overwhelmingly the plan particularly for respondents who previously attended congregational services at least once or twice per month. Some 92% of this group said they expect to attend physical services at least as often as they did pre-pandemic….
The above comes from an Aug. 19 story in the Christian Post.
Watch videos about Masses on the Plaza at St. Mary’s Cathedral August 15 with Archbishop Cordileone.
Watch interviews with Catholics coming to the Cathedral.
No, they won’t. They’ve experienced that sleeping in is quite nice, and they aren’t missing out on anything. The Church is going to have a hard time getting 90% of those under 40 back to Mass and parish involvement. They were mostly gone before already.
Anon, you probably right, on the bright side the Church purified of those who don’t believe… Smaller,, yes but Holier.
agree………..smaller but more devout..
I strongly disagree with you. The laity has had a period of reflection during this forced confinement. Many are waking and realizing that life has no meaning without the presence of God. I am one of them. One of the many who has not attended Church in years, but who realizes that nothing gives me peace but picking up the rosary and praying. It feels incredibly comforting. I feel a renewed sense of passion for my faith and Jesus Christ. In fact, if the Church informed us that mass could only be possible at 3:00 a.m., then I would happily oblige just to achieve that beautiful peaceful feeling praying gives me. I want to be in communion with Jesus Christ. Many, many of my friends think the same and we are forming groups of prayers just to feel that beautiful connection. It is also beautiful to see how Archbishop Cordileone represented us so well in fighting to get Churches to be opened. He inspired me. So whatever efforts were vested by those who wanted to isolate people from the Catholic faith, it appears to have backfired because people are desiring the presence of Jesus in their lives. Nevertheless, it truly does not matter what any of us opine because, “In the end [Her] Immaculate Heart Will Triumph.” It has been said and it will be done.
Quelucita , God bless you , I pray there are more faithful out there like you, keep saying the Rosary for the church.
Quelucita, with all due respect attendance at mass has cratered for decades, this fraudulent virus will gave the lukewarm the only excuse they needed for not attending mass.
When the bishops end the dispensation, we have to return.
Anonymous, sadly I think not, the end of the dispensation may well be ignored as people have lost the faith or do not recognize the bishops authority , if they don’t believe in the real presence then what does a bishops order mean .If this goes through the end of the year , it will devastate not destroy the church , we have missed Easter and Holy Week celebrations to miss the holiday celebrations would further demoralize the faithful. Some bishops are more involved in encouraging the faithful , but this will fall on the parish priests and the still faithful laity for the most part , with an uncertain or weak economy this could also effect the return to mass.
A lot of people have underlying conditions or live with someone who does. I won’t be going back because of that. It was really hard to go to Mass before Covid; every week I would come home and say “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” But the next week, I just took it one step at a time and I got there. I read a lot of Catholic books and it is painful when they talk about assisting at Mass. It is our primary witness to Christ in this world. Let’s pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and the return of the lapsed.
Anonymous, Amen !, take comfort in your parish family , seek positive influences from books, blogs, etc , ask us your fellow posters for prayers , you will be in mine, you are not alone in this God bless.
Thank you for your prayers. I will pray for all of you.
Such a wonderful post. Thank you.
No, not until the priests and bishops start preaching about the Four Last Things and that it is a mortal sin to intentionally miss Sunday Mass without GOOD reason.
I agree, our Priests need to start informing the laity that missing mass is a sin. Not many know this because the infiltrators in our Church made it possible to embark in a misinformation or no information campaign to isolate us from our Church. I disagree that most will not be returning to Church. On the contrary, this period of isolation has served as a process of reflection and proximity to God, albeit from the confines of our homes. We now realize that our lives are meaningless without Him. I will say that more than ever the laity are determined to obey by the law of God and observe, or at least attempt to observe the Ten Commandments. Archbishop Cordileone has demonstrated true Catholic faith and leadership and has given many of us laity a reason to continue to fight for our freedom of religion. Regardless, I should remind everyone here that no matter what the communists/socialist, infiltrators, leftist, etc., say or do, our Holy Mother will triumph in the end. It has been said and it will be done.
When I talk with people that are happy to watch Mass online or on the TV. They say things like, “well we don’t get Communion, but we like it.” The younger people were not going and the older people like the ease and convenience. I don’t see them going back in any large numbers.
That, right there… what difference does receiving Communion make if people don’t miss it?
That right there Kevin T., points to the fact that there’s something amiss in the spiritual life, or the soul, or the conscience of a Catholic: if such a person has not been receiving the Body of Our Lord as he/she used to and “does not miss it.”
As the case of the Detroit priest *Fr. Matthew Hood) who wasn’t validly baptized as an infant, and therefore wasn’t validly ordained, and therefore couldn’t consecrate the Eucharist, shows: he and others believed they were receiving the Eucharist when all they were receiving was unconsecrated bread. They couldn’t tell the difference in their lives between receiving the Eucharistic Christ and receiving plain bread. If Catholics can’t tell the difference between receiving Christ and not receiving Christ, then what difference does the Eucharist really make?
“Oh you of little faith”, as Our Lord might say. Fr. Hood’s story, Kevin T., should be a confirmation, if not a warning, especially for you that God is truly alive and in action. You see, Kevin T., as St. Thomas Aquinas taught, that though God ordinarily and most assuredly imparts His grace through the Sacraments, He is nonetheless not bound by them. God knows what is in the heart of the people who went to Mass with Fr. Hood; He knows what is in Fr. Hood’s heart. If He wanted to give them His graces nonetheless, it will happen, in spite of human imperfections, in spite of the imperfection of the Deacon who baptized Hood. Moreover, Fr. Hood is now validly ordained, and so the Church can now say that whatever graces God wanted to give him and the people he ministered to prior to his second ordination, is now upon all them. It’s even very possible that God had bestowed upon them His graces prior to Fr. Hoo’d second ordination, because God is not bound by time and space as we are. You said it yourself: “they couldn’t tell the difference.”
“Oh you of little faith”, as Our Lord might say. Fr. Hood’s story, Kevin T., should be a confirmation, if not a warning, especially for you that God is truly alive and in action. You see, Kevin T., as St. Thomas Aquinas taught, that though God ordinarily and most assuredly imparts His grace through the Sacraments, He is nonetheless not bound by them. God knows what is in the heart of the people who went to Mass with Fr. Hood; He knows what is in Fr. Hood’s heart. If He wanted to give them His graces nonetheless, it will happen, in spite of human imperfections, in spite of the imperfection of the Deacon who baptized Hood. Moreover, Fr. Hood is now validly ordained, and so the Church can now say that whatever graces God wanted to give him and the people he ministered to prior to his second ordination, is now upon all them. Therefore, it’s very possible that God had bestowed upon them His graces prior to Fr. Hood’s second ordination, because God is not bound by time and space as we are, nor by the performance of the Sacraments. You said it yourself: “they couldn’t tell the difference.”
May I just say that there is an awful lot of cynicism that makes people not want to go back to Church. Let’s be above that cynacism, shall we?
Sure, I have a lot of problems with what Archbishop Cordileone has said and done over the years, especially with respect to Covid and not at the first obeying secular authorities.
However, Archbishop Cordiloene, it seems to me, is doing exactly the right thing. He is offering the Eucharist to the hungry. In ways that offer it publicly, devoutly, and as witness to everyone who drives by, to its healing power. If we did this everywhere, on every block, our Churches will be filled up when we reconvene safely inside.