This all Catholic Poll was conducted for Paix Liturgique by CSA immediately following Pope Benedict's recent visit to France. The results have been circulated today by Una Voce to its membership. These are much more useful than the Figaro ones featured on my earlier post. I have not been able to find the size of the sample but have asked Una Voce to let me have this information. Even if it was as small as the Figaro one (1,054)it is more relevant to the immediate concerns of this blog, its associates and followers. And knowing how bad things have been and seem, here in France profonde, the results are (believe you me)surprisingly good and encouraging. Where they are not so good, there is still plenty of room to be optimistic about the future of the 'Reform of the Reform' in France.
Four questions were asked of participants:
1. DID YOU KNOW ABOUT POPE BENEDICT'S SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM AND ITS CONTENT REGARDING THE ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS?
RESULTS:
All Catholics: Yes 58% No 42%
Practising Catholics Yes 82% No 18%
2. DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE THE NORM THAT THE TWO FORMS BE CELEBRATED REGULARLY IN THE PRINCIPLE CHURCHES OF YOUR DIOCESE?
RESULTS:
Yes
All Catholics 62%
Practising Catholics 61%
No
All Catholics 30%
Practising Catholics 34%
No Comment
All Cs 8%
Prac. Caths. 5%
3. WOULD YOU APPROVE OF HAVING AN E.F. MASS IN YOUR PARISH CHURCH EACH SUNDAY AS WELL AS THE USUAL O.F. MASS?
RESULTS
In favour: All Caths. 12% Practising Caths. 16%
Rather in favour: All caths. 31% Practising Caths. 26%
Not really in favour: All Caths. 23% Practising Caths. 30%
Not at all in favour: All Caths. 27% Prac. Caths. 25%
No comment: All Caths. 7% Prac. Caths. 3%
4. IF AN e.f. mASS WERE TO BE CELEBRATED IN YOUR PARISH CHURCH OR IN ONE NEAR YOU, WOULD YOU GO TO IT?
RESULTS
Every Saturday or Sunday All Caths. 3% Prac. Caths. 19%
At least once a month All Caths. 4% Prac. Caths. 15%
From time to time/several times a year All Caths. 22% Prac. Caths. 27%
Only for Les Ceremonies/Grandes Fetes (Christmas, Easter, Rites of Passage)
All Caths. 37% Prac. Caths. 9%
Never All Caths. 32% Prac. Caths. 28%
No Comment All Caths. 2% Prac. Caths. 2%
The Una Voce communication includes four interpretative paragraph from Paix Liturgique. These I hope to translate over the weekend and put up here as soon as possible. Suffice it to say now, that to my mind several surprising things stand out. French Catholics, particularly the practising ones, are very well informed about the Holy Father's initiative. (I would like to have seen an additional part to the first question, 'Who told you, your bishop, PP or other?') However, they clearly have a lively interest in developments, with the core of obvious liberal hardliners much smaller than I expected. The open mindedness reflected in the results is to be applauded and welcomed. I'm surprised they didn't ask people whether the Holy Father
himself had influenced their attitudes during his visit.
Paix Liturgique is similar to the LMS but operates differently. (Explanation later)
However, it would be VERY INTERESTING IF SUCH A POLL WERE TO BE CONDUCTED IN ENGLAND AND WALES.....! This one cost Paix L. 4,000 euros and I suspect that the LMS would consider its money more wisely spent on Merton-type initiatives.
IN CHRISTO PRO PAPA
2 comments:
Interesting! They approve of it, and want it in their Dioceses, yet would not go!?
I'm not really sure of the prudence of such a survey in England and Wales: the French situation is different, since the traditional Mass has been kept very much on the agenda over the years by the S Pius X Fraternity, as well as certain monasteries, and therefore a certain level of interest has been maintained.
Here in the UK, it has slid rather more, despite the best efforts of the LMS, and it is really only by initiatives such as at Merton College that we will see an increase, I feel. Over the years, the LMS kept occasional Masses going in disparate places, but the only thing that will actually engender a love of the old Mass in peoples' hearts is when they have an opportunity to attend it Sunday by Sunday. This is still distressingly difficult to achieve.
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