Sociologists William D’Antonio and Dean Hoge recently published the results of their latest survey data on American Catholics. It was published in the National Catholic Reporter. Though the findings are interesting on many levels, there were a couple of conclusions that were most compelling.
Regarding “Typical Catholics,” the biggest gap between conservative and liberal Catholics is reflected in the statistic that tapped the question, “Would you ever leave the Catholic Church?” Among conservatives, 73 percent said they never would, while only 2 percent of liberals answered that way. The tenuous commitment that liberals have to the Church is further underscored by their frequency of Mass attendance: the majority of conservatives (55 percent) attend Mass daily or weekly, while only 29 percent of their liberal brethren do.
Now we know who pays the bills.
