SW News: A recent Pew Research Center study reveals in-person Mass attendance among Catholics has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. One-fourth of all Catholics feel their attendance has decreased recently. Only 4 in 10 US Catholics say they attend Mass in person as frequently as they did before the pandemic.

Observers of American religious life have wondered whether and how the turmoil would affect religious worship ever since the World Health Organization designated COVID-19 a global pandemic three years ago. Would the temporary closing of churches and other houses of worship during the pandemic speed up the long-term fall in attendance? Or may the increasing adoption of Internet services help congregations reach new audiences, attract more young people, and expand their geographic reach?

There are some signs that since 2019, before Covid-19, attendance at religious services in person has marginally decreased. One in five Americans attend in person less frequently than they did before the pandemic and the percentage of adults who say they typically attend religious services at least once a month is down modestly but measurably by 3 points from 33% to 30% over that time.

While this has changed significantly since the early stages of the pandemic, the percentage of US adults who participate in religious services in some capacity (in person, digitally, or both) each month has stayed fairly consistent.

Since the summer of 2020, Pew has conducted five polls in which they have questioned US adults on their participation in religious services, including whether they went in person or participated virtually by watching them on TV or streaming them online.

In July 2020, when many churches had attendance restrictions or were no longer open to walk-in worshippers, 27% claimed they had only engaged virtually. A further 9% reported attending in person and watching online.

However, as the pandemic has ended and numerous religious institutions have welcomed worshippers once again, the proportion of Americans attending worship sessions virtually has been declining. Although this was happening, in-person attendance recovered before appearing to reach a plateau.

Regarding party affiliation, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have been far more likely than Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to participate virtually as well as in-person during the pandemic.
Despite having a higher risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, older individuals have often been somewhat more likely than young adults (ages 18 to 29) to physically attend religious services. This is because older Americans tend to be more religious than young adults. However, older Americans report attending religious services at rates that are almost double those of younger individuals.