How Traditional Are the “Traditionalist” Catholics?
Reflections on a Research

by PierLuigi Zoccatelli
A paper presented at the CESNUR 2011 International Conference in Danshui, Taiwan. © PierLuigi Zoccatelli, 2011. Please do not quote or reproduce without the consent of the author.

1. Notes on a Survey of Internet Users of Traditionalist Catholic Sensibility

During the week of September 30th–October 7, 2010, a study entitled A Survey on the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was conducted by us through the website “Sociological Hypotheses.” The survey questionnaire was administered by means of the SurveyMonkey software for conducting online interviews. This software is particularly useful when examining self-selected samples not representative of the population but belonging to the specific environments which are under examination. In our case, the goal of the survey was to interact with a specific environment, which we will define as “Internet users of traditionalist Catholic sensibility,” in order to gather data to be used in analyzing the relationship between religious belonging and practice in a specific segment of the Catholic environment: those who follow the liturgical practice of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, popularly known as the Latin Mass or, more accurately (since the new Mass may be celebrated in Latin too) the Traditional Mass prior to the reformation of Pope Paul VI. After the latter reformation, celebrating the Traditional Mass was discouraged, if not forbidden, by the Vatican, with few exceptions. This was one of the reasons, although by no means the only one, of the birth of the traditionalist movement headed by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was eventually excommunicated in 1988. Although the followers of Mgrs. Lefebvre were not the only group maintaining the Traditional Mass, for several years this rite was mostly associated with them. In 1984 Pope John Paul II allowed the celebration of the Traditional Mass with the permission of the local Bishops. In 2007 Benedict XVI further liberalized the possibility of celebrating what was now called the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Today, the majority of those celebrating and attending the Traditional Mass throughout the world are in full communion with Rome and are not associated with the movement founded by Mgrs. Lefebvre, although the latter of course also maintains the Traditional Mass as its only rite.

Through an email announcement sent to people representative of that environment on September 30, 2010, information about the Survey on the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was circulated to a number of blogs, websites, forums, and social networks frequented by Internet users of traditionalist Catholic sensibility, who, according to our estimate, represent a number varying between 3,000 and 5,000 residents in Italy. At the study’s cut-off date on October 7, 2010, a total of 1,168 users had visited the survey page; 472 questionnaires had been submitted; 439 of which had been completed in full (93.0%).

Given the sizable number of participants in the survey, we should repeat here that the method utilized, which was implemented by means of new techniques made possible by recent technological developments as yet unsupported by scientific literature, may open new horizons of research but makes no claims of analyzing a representative sampling. That would be possible only if the respondents constituted the whole universe examined or at least an ample portion of it. It is to be borne in mind that from an epistemological point of view, the theoretical problems of the technique used are related to the “category of induction,” as a cognitive pretext to refer to a larger number of people than the number actually interviewed. Thus it is to be underlined that the only results evaluated through this survey refer to the sampling of respondents belonging to this particular social group: Internet users of traditionalist Catholic sensibility.

2. Social-Demographic Information

The most noteworthy findings emerging from the social-demographic data gathered from the respondents participating in the survey indicate a specific typology of subject interested in the issues under investigation: predominantly male (87.1%), university educated (72.1%), and a stratification by age group tending towards a youthful age group (40.0% were under the age of 35 and 66.0% were under the age of 45). At first glance, it seems we may identify the human type of our sample as “young/ male/ university graduate.”

Gender	Response Percent	Response Count
Males	87.1%	404
Females	12.9%	60
Total	100%	464

 

Age Stratification	Response Percent	Response Count
15-24 years old	13.2%	62
25-34 years old	26.8%	126
35-44 years old	26.0%	122
45-54 years old	19.6%	92
55-64 years old	10.9%	51
65-74 years old	3.4%	16
75 years old and more	0.2%	1
Total	100%	470

 

Education	Response Percent	Response Count
Elementary School	0.0%	0
Middle School	3.0%	14
Secondary School	24.9%	117
University	72.1%	339
Total	100%	470

 

3. Religious Belonging

Indicative of the homogeneity of the universe examined by this survey, nearly the total number of cases (99.4%) identified themselves as Catholics. Thus proceeding with our identification of the human type of our sample, we may further define it as prevalently “young/male/university graduate/ Catholic.”

At the present time, what religion or faith do you feel you belong to?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Catholic	99.4%	468
Protestant Evangelical	0.0%	0
Orthodox	0.0%	0
Jewish	0.0%	0
Islamic	0.0%	0
Buddhist	0.0%	0
Hindu	0.0%	0
Jehovah’s Witnesses	0.0%	0
Other religion	0.2%	1
No religion	0.4%	2
Total	100%	471

 

4. Religious Practice

In addition to the profile regarding religious belonging, a homogeneous orientation was also confirmed among respondents with regards to religious practice, which we investigated through three questions dealing with participation in the mass, the taking of communion, and the sacrament of reconciliation. In all three cases examined, the responses revealed a universe of behavior consistent with Catholic religious belonging.

Excluding weddings and funerals, how frequently do you attend Mass, or if you are not Catholic, other religious services?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Never	0.9%	4
Once or twice a year	2.0%	9
Several times a year	2.4%	11
Once a month	0.9%	4
Two or three times a month	4.2%	19
Weekly	51.2%	234
Several times a week	38.5%	176
Total	100%	457

89.7% of respondents attended mass regularly, from once a week to several times a week; the latter group corresponding to a noteworthy 38.5%. Including those who attend mass at least two to three times a month, we reach 93.9%. The number of respondents taking communion is no less significant: 81.8 % take communion once a month; 61.6% from every week to several times a week. Equally significant is the number going to confession: 61.6% once a month or more frequently.

How frequently do you take communion?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Never	3.1%	14
Every few years	4.6%	21
Only at Christmas, Easter, or other religious holidays or occasions	2.4%	11
Several times a year	8.1%	37
About once a month	4.8%	22
Two to three times a month	15.4%	70
Every week	30.9%	141
Several times a week	30.7%	140
Total	100%	456

 

How often do you go to confession?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Never	4.6%	21
Every few years	7.9%	36
Once or twice a year	3.9%	18
Several times a year	21.9%	100
Monthly, or almost monthly	37.3%	170
More frequently	24.3%	111
Total	100%	456

 

Responses to questions regarding religious practice – attendance of mass, communion, and confession – did not significantly vary when sorted according to the respondents’ level of education or gender. The only exception was found in “weekly attendance” of the mass – for which 52.4% of males affirmed weekly attendance in contrast with 42.9% of females. This is another indicator in some ways of the greater affinity of male respondents for the questionnaire administered.

When sorted by age groups, responses revealed a countertrend: young people from the ages of 15-24 represent the largest group claiming to participate in the mass once a week to several times a week (94.9%), to be compared with the 83.1% of the 45-54 year old age group, topped only slightly by the 55-64 year old age group (96.1%). Also with regards to the taking of communion, the trend of assiduous religious practice among the youngest sample group was confirmed. 66.1% of the 15-24 year age group claimed to take communion once or more times a week, in contrast to 51.7% of the 45-54 year old age group. Here too, a slightly higher trend for the 55-64 year old age group was confirmed with a total of 70.0%.

Bearing in mind that the respondents of this survey come from a micro universe defined in the initial hypothesis of this study as practicing Catholics for whom there is no gap between identity and identification, proceeding with the identification of the human type of our sample, we may now define it as “young/ male/ university graduate/ Catholic/ assiduous practitioner.” We cannot fail to point out the significant difference in findings when comparing this survey to other ones attempting to describe the religiosity of the Italian people assumed through balanced stratifications of the population.

To give an example of this difference, we compare below the findings of this Internet- conducted survey with two other surveys carried out on representative samples of the Italian population by the Catholic University of Milan in 1994 (4,500 cases) and by the sociologist Franco Garelli in 2006 (3,160 cases). As is easily noted, we are dealing here with percentage universes quite distant from each other, even though both the 1994 survey and the 2006 one describe segments of the population claiming to belong to the Catholic religion with a percentage respectively of 88.6% and 86.1% in contrast to the 99.4 % of the present survey.

Excluding weddings and funerals, how frequently do you attend Mass, or if you are not Catholic, other religious services?

	Italy 1994	Italy 2006	Web 2010
Never	13.0%	21.8%	0.9%
Once or twice a year	17.6%	19.8%	2.0%
Several times a year	19.7%	16.2%	2.4%
Once a month	6.8%	7.3%	0.9%
Two or three times a month	11.7%	8.4%	4.2%
Weekly	25.6%	20.9%	51.2%
Several times a week	5.5%	5.6%	38.5%

How frequently do you take communion?

	Italy 1994	Italy 2006	Web 2010
Never	19.7%	21.7%	3.1%
Every few years	16.8%	15.4%	4.6%
Only at Christmas, Easter, or other religious holidays or occasions	13.8%	13.8%	2.4%
Several times a year	21.3%	18.6%	8.1%
About once a month	7.2%	5.7%	4.8%
Two to three times a month	8.3%	7.5%	15.4%
Every week	9.7%	14.6%	30.9%
Several times a week	3.2%	2.7%	30.7%

How often do you go to confession?

	Italy 1994	Italy 2006	Web 2010
Never	25.7%	28.4%	4.6%
Every few years	21.8%	20.7%	7.9%
Once or twice a year	15.2%	13.4%	3.9%
Several times a year	21.4%	21.2%	21.9%
Monthly, or almost monthly	12.8%	12.7%	37.3%
More frequently	3.1%	3.5%	24.3%

5. The Roman Rite of the Mass: The Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms

Once we had identified the human type of our sample as “young/ male/ university graduate/ Catholic, / assiduous practitioner,” our intention was to verify our initial hypothesis that this sample was composed of traditionalist Catholics. This was done by enquiring if they attended masses held in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. Attendance of the Latin-Gregorian liturgical rite seemed to us to be a sufficient indicator of traditionalist Catholic sensibility. This indeed seems to be the case in that 36.2% respondents declare that they regularly attend (from two-three times a month to several times a week).

How frequently do you attend Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Never	22.8%	102
Once or twice a year	13.8%	62
Several times a year	15.0%	67
Once a month	12.3%	55
Two or three times a month	8.5%	38
Weekly	19.2%	86
Several times a week	8.5%	38
Total	100%	448

The majority of respondents claim that they never participate in this form of liturgy (22.8%), with a significant difference between males (19.7%) and females (40.0%), offering further confirmation of the male trend of this sampling, with the exception of the 45-54 year old age group, which was revealed to be the most assiduous in weekly practice (33.7% every week or several times a week).

It is to be noted that 32.3% of respondents in the under 45 age groups, i.e., those whose sacramental lives began after the liturgical reform of 1970, affirm that they regularly participate in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite (from two-three times a month to several times a week). If the question regarding practice of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite offers indication of the level of declared religious behavior, it must be taken into account that the liberalization of this liturgical form, brought about by the Benedict the XVI’s Summorum pontificum of July 7, 2007, has not yet found widespread application in Italy or abroad.

Aware of the intrinsic limits of every question concerned not so much with a concrete and actual possibility but rather a hypothetical horizon, limits linked to a lesser degree of objectivity in the respondents’ answers which may assume characteristics stemming from their desire to satisfy needs and aspirations – we followed this question with another one designed to identify how frequently respondents would participate in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, if it were celebrated in their area of residence.

Assuming that the Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite is not celebrated at present near you but will be celebrated in the future, how often will you participate?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Never	7.8%	34
Once or twice a year	5.7%	25
Several times a year	6.6%	29
Once a month	7.6%	33
Two or three times a month	8.7%	38
Weekly	36.2%	158
Several times a week	27.5%	120
Total	100%	437

As we can see, to the already significant number of respondents who claim to participate with a certain regularity in the Latin-Gregorian liturgy (36.2% from two-three times a month to several times a week), we must add the doubled percentage of those who would participate if the rite were available (72.4% from two-three times a month to several times a week), while those who would never participate are a mere 7.8%. Also in this case we have a percentage which stresses the greater presence of males in the hypotheses underlying this questionnaire (6.3% in contrast to the 16.0% females).

As with the preceding question, this question also reveals that the 45-54 year old age group is the one most potentially interested in weekly or more frequent practice of the extraordinary form of the Roman rite (73.2% in contrast to the 63.7% of the sampling as a whole). Similarly, we must note the percentage (68.7%) of those belonging to the under 45 age group, who began to practice a sacramental life after the liturgical reform, and who claim that they would participate in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite from two-three times a month to several times a week, if that form of liturgy were celebrated in their area of residence.

Cumulatively interpreting the results of these two questions, we may define the human type of our sample as prevalently “young/ male/ university graduate/ Catholic/ assiduous practitioner/ of traditionalist sensibility.”

6. Trust in the Catholic Church

Lastly, considering the fact that Catholics of traditionalist sensibility are sometimes represented or perceived as manifesting a certain amount of tension towards the ecclesiastical authorities – for example – unwillingness to heed appeals made by those authorities (the types of response in the preceding table give an idea of the state of mind), we decided to ask a conclusive question regarding “trust in the Catholic church” purposefully not specifying (not only in order to follow the formulation of other national surveys) whether this referred to the institution of the Church or to the theological and spiritual content of the concept (if indeed a real distinction can be drawn between these two keys of interpretation).

Do you trust the Catholic Church?

	Response Percent	Response Count
Very much	71.7%	312
Enough	20.2%	88
Not much	6.9%	30
Not at all	1.1%	5
Total	100%	435

The responses to this question reveal a particularly significant level of “trust in the Catholic church,” i.e. respondents who chose the answer - pair “very much/ enough” amounted to 91.9%. Overall the stratification of these responses is homogeneous in terms of gender and age groups. The only inhomogeneous element is the level of education, even though in this specific case we are dealing with data that suffer from their reference to a reduced universe of valid cases, thus caution is needed in gauging the representativeness of the results. In fact, the average of 91.9% who chose the pair “very much/ enough” corresponds to 75.0% of respondents with a middle school level of education (in contrast to the 90.0% with high school education and 93.3% with a university education). This data is confirmed by the number of respondents answering with the pair “not much/ not at all” who represent 25.0 % of those with a middle school level of education (in contrast to the 10.0% with a high school level and 6.7% with university level).

The significant datum remains that 91.9% affirm that they “place their trust in the Catholic church,” a much higher number compared to other surveys carried out on representative samples of the Italian population, as for example the 2006 survey mentioned above in which 64.1% of the sampling answered “very much/ enough.”

7. Conclusions

If the cautions expressed in our brief discussion of methodology in the beginning of this paper are borne in mind, the Survey on the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite has given us a snapshot of a sampling of 472 “Internet users of traditionalist Catholic sensibility,” which we have tried to investigate by means of a synthetic questionnaire.

With no claim to furnishing any results beyond those actually collected, the survey as a whole described a sample of “Internet users of traditionalist Catholic sensibility” who seem to characterize a human type prevalently “young/ male/ university graduate/ Catholic/ assiduous practitioner/ of traditionalist sensibility/ trusting in the Catholic Church.