United States: Is there really a “Francis Effect”?

Before Pope Francis’ visit next September, the question of a “Francis Effect” in the United States has been raised by the American newspaper Washington Post, on March 25, 2015.

In a survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) of the Jesuit University of Georgetown, Washington, the number of Catholics to describe their connection with the Church as “strong” went from 27% in 2012 to 34% in 2013, the year of Pope Francis’ election (March 13, 2013). Mark Gray, researcher and survey director for CARA, called this a “significant” increase. In parallel, there has been a 6% decrease in those who describe their connection to the Church as “not very strong”. What is more, the percentage of persons brought up in the Catholic Faith who remain in the Church as adults had steadily decreased since the early 1970’s, going from a peak in the mid-80’s to a minimum of 65% in 2012, but has remained stable since.

However, neither CARA’s study nor the survey by the Pew Research Center in Washington, conducted in February 2014, shows a return to religious practice. “If there was a “Francis effect” the first year of his pontificate, it was more pronounced among Catholics who were already very committed to the practice of their faith,” declared Jessica Martinez, of Pew Research Center.

Participation in Sunday Mass remained at 40% from the last months before the papal transition until 2014, while the frequency of confession has continued to diminish. And CARA’s study shows that the number of Catholic marriages is at its lowest point since 1965: in 1970, 426,000 Catholic marriages were counted, compared to 154,000 in 2014. There is no definitive answer to this tendency, notes Mark Gray, but the Church in the United States “is simply no longer considered as important by many young Catholics.”

Already in March 2013, the Pew Research Center had noted that 84% of Catholics were very or rather in favor of Pope Francis. But despite the pope’s popularity and the wide-spread sentiment that there has been a change for the better, there has been no measurable increase in the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Catholics. And the survey found no proof that an important number of Catholics go to confession or volunteer more often.

(Sources: apic/cns/washingtonpost/pewcenter – DICI no.313 April 3, 2015)

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