Survey: The Impact of COVID-19 on Catholic Church Attendance
Analyzing COVID-19 and Mass Attendance
A Vinea Research Report
Will people come back to Mass?
Perhaps the pews look a little emptier. Maybe you’ve noticed familiar faces have not returned. You may have felt people’s absence in the collection basket. Are your parishioners coming back to Mass? If not, what is keeping them away? What is the impact of COVID-19 on Catholic Church attendance? What are the broader spiritual effects of COVID-19?
Before COVID-19, many parishes focused on being more welcoming and making the Mass more accessible and relatable. Many parishes now are concentrating on safety precautions, or others have simply gone back to business as usual. But according to recent survey results from Vinea Research, for some Catholics, neither of these approaches will bring them all back.
According to the Impact of COVID-19 on U.S. Catholics Report, 32% of respondents who indicated they would not be attending Mass in-person selected only convenience reasons for not returning to in-person Mass. These include enjoying watching Catholic Mass online at home, easier than driving to church, no need to dress up, easier (vocalizing, standing, kneeling), and more.
In contrast, 40% of these respondents only chose health and safety reasons, such as concern for personal health, a sick or vulnerable person at home, or not taking enough precautions. In addition, 26% selected both convenience and health and safety reasons. This means 58% of respondents selected convenience reasons for not returning to in-person Mass.
What is the COVID-19 survey?
Vinea Research conducted a survey of 1,532 self-identified Catholics across the U.S. in order to explore the everyday and spiritual impact of COVID-19 on U.S. Catholics. The goal of the survey was to help pastors better serve their parishioners.
The survey sought to answer these questions:
What impact has COVID-19 had on Catholics’ lives, not just from a faith perspective, but from an everyday perspective?
How has COVID-19 affected Catholics’ faith lives?
How many have grown in their faith lives?
How did parishes adapt? What basic changes did they implement? What were Mass streaming practices?
What has been the effect of streaming on in-person Mass attitudes?
How has charitable giving changed and what are future expectations?
The survey was conducted in the second half of February 2022, and the results were released in April 2022. The report is a summary and analysis of the findings. You can get free access to the full report.
Get free access to the Report
The Impact of COVID-19 on U.S. Catholics
Who participated in the COVID-19 Survey?
Participants of the Impact of COVID-19 on Catholics were required to attend Mass at least once per year before or during COVID-19. Of the 1,532 participants, 955 were at least weekly Mass goers, and 422 were monthly Mass goers. Much of the analysis focuses on the weekly plus Mass goers.
The purpose of focusing on more frequent Mass goers was to measure the impact of COVID-19, and future intentions, among those who were most often in the pews. However, we have sufficient sample sizes for all three groups based on Mass attendance: frequent Mass goers (weekly or daily), occasional Mass goers (monthly or a few times per year), and infrequent Mass goers (once or twice per year).
Key findings of the COVID-19 survey
The results of the survey showed both a positive and negative impact of COVID-19. A significant negative outcome is a phenomenon that many have witnessed: In-person Mass attendance has decreased and is not expected to be back to pre-pandemic levels by this summer. Why? People selected both safety and health reasons, as well as many convenience reasons, such as ease of access.
Half of Catholics surveyed, however, said their faith in God is better than before COVID-19. They also indicated that their family relationships and prayer life is either the same or better.
As with the general population, 39% of Catholics say their lives overall are worse than they were prior to COVID-19. This includes personal finances, mental well-being, and diet.
Of pre-COVID-19 weekly Mass-goers, only 61% are projected to be physically present at Mass again on a weekly basis by the summer of 2022. As of February, 40% reported that their parishes were still streaming Masses online, and 61% of parishioners stated that their parishes still required masks.
Of pre-COVID-19 weekly Mass-goers, only 61% are projected to be physically present at Mass again on a weekly basis by the summer of 2022.
The report includes many more data points that provide insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the Church. Topics include the impact of financial contributions, what parishioners think of the way their have parishes handled COVID-19, and more.
Streaming Mass practices during COVID-19
Nearly three-quarters of Catholics observed streamed or televised Mass at some point during COVID-19. This was higher among those who went to Mass more often before COVID-19, but the majority of all Mass-frequency segments did view Mass at least once. And while most observed Masses from their home parishes, many also viewed Mass from other locations.
Additionally, 40% reported that their parish was streaming Masses online as of February 2022, a sizable drop from the 68% indicating their parish streamed Masses at some point during COVID-19.
Parish safety practices during COVID-19
Across those surveyed, the most common safety measures parishes had implemented included hand sanitizers, a careful process for receiving Communion, social distancing protocols, and ushers/staff opening doors and directing people. A number of other measures were reported by at least half of respondents. These results indicate that parishes have implemented diverse measures to keep their parishioners safe.
When asked how safe parishioners felt going to in-person Mass, 15% said they felt slightly safe, 22% said they felt somewhat safe, and only 38% said they felt very safe.
Parishes could either consider instituting some of these measures or to find ways to communicate the various measures that are in place for those who remain concerned about safety. In messaging, repetition is key.
Pre-COVID Mass attendance
As noted, the survey sample size was designed to consist predominantly of those who attend Mass more frequently. Among study respondents, nearly two-thirds attend Mass weekly or more often. The other third of respondents were roughly split between those who attended Mass monthly and those who attended Mass less frequently.
The sample sizes are sufficient for analysis of all three groups, but the Mass section of the report largely focuses on the 62% who attended Mass at least weekly.
Future In-Person Mass Attendance
While the large majority of weekly Mass goers do intend to continue attending Mass weekly, the survey found that 9% of previous weekly Mass goers only plan to attend or virtually observe Mass 2-3 times per month, and 2% will not observe or attend any Mass.
While 2% is a small figure, these respondents show how far some have fallen from the Mass during this time – they previously went to Mass every week and now are not going at all. An additional 9% may be heading in the same direction, though at a slower pace, since they expect their weekly Mass involvement to be less than it was previously.
These numbers are similar to what the Pillar found when they released survey results in November 2021. They saw a 14% decline in weekly Mass attendance. Notably, however, the Pillar survey numbers include both physical and streaming Mass attendance.
Vinea also explored physical Mass attendance versus virtual/streamed observation, and the numbers become far more troubling. Only six in 10 previous weekly Mass goers expect to be back to “full time” in-person Mass attendance this summer. Additionally, one in 10 prior weekly Mass goers do not expect to be physically present at any Masses. The remainder will do a mix of attending and observing Masses.
Why are so many Catholics not returning to in-person Mass?
When asked why they do not intend to be physically present at Mass, the most often selected reason had to do with concern over their personal health. However, a concerning number selected “convenience” reasons for not physically attending Mass, such as simply enjoying Mass at home, not having to drive, and not having to dress up (see Figure 19). Some of the reasons also had to do with less demand on participating either through posture or the congregational responses.
Overall, 40% of respondents chose only health and safety related reasons for not attending Mass physically, compared to 32% who chose only convenience reasons, and 26% who selected both categories of responses.
This means 58% of respondents who do not plan to physically attend Mass in the near future selected convenience reasons (whether solely or combined with health reasons).
How do we bring Catholics back to in-person Mass?
The findings on Mass attendance are the most troubling in this report. What’s more, the trends seen here are the same regardless of Mass attendance frequency. We believe that too many Catholics fundamentally do not understand or appreciate the Mass. They do not necessarily know what is happening and who they are receiving.
This is supported by a 2019 Pew Research study, which suggests we are facing a crisis in belief in the Eucharist.
Of those surveyed by Pew, only 31% of U.S. Catholics overall said they believed in the True Presence, that the bread and wine actually become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. Among those who attend Mass at least once a week, only 63% believe the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist. For those who attend Mass monthly or yearly, 75% think the bread and wine are just symbols. That number increases to 87% for those who rarely attend Mass. Even considering that there may be flaws in how the question was asked, and that these figures are a little elevated, this is still a troubling finding.
Do Catholics understand what is happening at Mass? Do they understand the sacrificial nature of the Mass? As noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit” (1366). It is entirely possible that, for many Catholics, Mass is merely a communal gathering or an empty ritual.
This makes recovery from COVID-19 more difficult. Why make the effort, and why put yourself or others at risk for a symbol and a “ceremony” that you don’t quite understand?
The Pew findings have moved the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to launch a three-year National Eucharist Revival. The mission of the Eucharist Revival is to renew the Church by enkindling in God’s people a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. It was officially launched on June 19, 2022, Corpus Christi Sunday. It provides resources for schools, catechists, parishes, parents, youth ministers, parish leaders, and it will include the following:
a year of diocesan renewal to equip diocesan staff, bishops, and priests,
a year of parish renewal to foster Eucharist devotion at the parish level,
a National Eucharist Congress, and
a year of mission to share the gift of the Eucharist Lord.
Will efforts like this work? Will they resonate? We know that many Catholics are not coming back to Mass, and we know there is a startling lack of belief in the True Presence. But how much time have we spent listening to people? How did people lose their belief in the Eucharist? Is lack of belief the only reason they aren’t coming to Mass? Will online courses and conferences bring them back? What about the Mass itself? Is the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Faith on full display? Do they realize they’re at Calvary?
What’s Next?
We believe further study is needed to explore the underlying understanding of and motivations (obligation versus desire versus habit) of Mass attendance among Catholics to better understand how best to turn this trend around and have Catholics see the Mass for what it is and not “settle” for streaming Masses from home or even abandon the Mass entirely.
We have an incredible gift in the Mass, and in the Eucharist, and we have powerful tools available to us to help better share that gift inside and outside of the Church.
Look for further analysis from Vinea Research as we conduct deep dives into the data from the COVID-19 survey. We will break down results further by demographics such as sex, age, and ethnicity.
If you want to help launch a deeper study into Mass attendance, contact Vinea.
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Vinea Research was founded with the goal of applying proven, business-based market research methods to helping Catholic groups get the information they need to further the New Evangelization.
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