After the publication of the preliminary results of the Sunday Mass attendance census, several people expressed surprise and disappointment at the decreasing percentage of Maltese Catholics who fulfil this religious duty. However, those who have kept a watchful eye on the in-roads of secularism in our society are far from astonished, though there are plenty of reasons for serious pastoral concern.
Aggressive secularism, which is making headway in several European regions, presents itself as the only voice of rationality. This leaves very little room for the Catholic way of life and is pushing religious practice further and further into the private sphere. Besides absenteeism from Church services, there are other symptoms, which point to this sad reality, one of them being the increasing number of people who do not feel any need for God in their lives.
Social pressure from peer groups, especially among the younger generation, is another important factor, and is a centrifugal movement that carries dozens of youngsters away from religious practice. The weapon of derision is often ably employed to dissuade contemporaries from frequenting church and some people are unjustifiably ridiculed for attempting to honour their religious duties. In fact, these days the youngsters that do complete them do so against all odds.
The census obviously has a number of merits. But it has a number of defects and limits too, which means that the results should be analysed in the right perspective, allowing for the possibility of a wide margin of error, and keeping in mind that some aspects of religiosity beat every attempt at quantification. Moreover, it would be a mistake to focus all our attention on Mass attendance, while failing to take heed of some positive items that emerge from the census, such as the high rate of individuals who are members of the Catholic associations.
Overall the survey is worth having because it reveals some weak points in our plans and methods. And it acts as necessary shock therapy that spurs pastoral activity. As a Church we prefer to become aware of our malaise and seek out remedies rather than ignoring a situation and allowing it to deteriorate.
That said, it is important to assess the efforts and sacrifices made by the thousands of churchgoers to attend Sunday Mass. It is also worthwhile to analyse why they go to church and the real motives that persuade them to participate every weekend in the Eucharistic celebration; as well as the attempts that have been made to make it easier for people to attend Sunday Mass.
From apostolic times, the faithful have gathered on Sundays to share a common faith and hope in Jesus, the Risen Saviour and author of salvation. Throughout history, even when threatened by dangers and hardships, the Church assemblies were held every Sunday. Yet even in those early days there were some absentees.
Today, as in the past, the faithful of every category, race and condition are invited for the Sunday service and should feel at ease when sharing in it. Rather than an obligation imposed by the Church, the participants should regard the observance of Sunday as an important celebration, necessary for the faith and spiritual well-being of the entire Christian community. Failure to share in this liturgical Sunday gathering, without sufficient reason, besides depriving oneself of a good dose of spiritual tonic deals a blow to the vitality of the Church. Good Christians feel that if they do not go to Mass on Sundays they are not only offending God, but also letting down the community to which they belong.
It is well known that Church attendance is deemed to be a distinctive mark of a practising Catholic, but surely not the only one; in fact there are other tokens such as personal prayer, loyalty to the Church's teaching, alms-giving and expiation. However, such practices cannot be statistically gauged.
Vatican Council II has emphasised the active participation in the liturgical action by the faithful, which requires a personal interiorisation of one's faith; however, this goal is still far from being reached.
In the liturgical reform that followed the Council, some measures were adopted in order to make the celebration more relevant and to encourage the regular and fruitful participation of the faithful, such as the use of the vernacular language, the Saturday evening Mass, a variety of religious songs, Masses for particular groups etc. In some places these attempts proved to be fruitful, but in others they made little difference.
Various experiments, such as holding Masses late at night, or in locations other than churches and the use of modern musical instruments have failed to attract large crowds - especially youngsters. The impressions one gets from the census is that the Church has been flogging a dead horse.
Ironically enough, the survey took place just a few months after the celebration of the Eucharistic Year in the Universal Church. In our country, besides meetings, sermons, lectures, processions and liturgical functions, an Inter-diocesan Liturgical Congress was also held. Yet, Mass attendances have dropped. So it seems we have failed to hit the nail on the head.
However instead of crying over spilt milk, it behoves us more to take positive steps, researching the causes that keep people away from the Church, and planning for wiser and more practical pastoral action in the future. In so doing, we must not be so unfair and ungrateful as to lay all the blame on the clergy and the local Church authorities. Hunts for scapegoats are to be avoided, but a humble and courageous search for the truth and the sincere seeking of God's will are to be our only goals.
In the final analysis, the problem of Church attendance is the collective responsibility of the whole Catholic community, including the rank and file.
It is an oversimplification - and a misleading one - to pin the cause of the drop in Mass attendance to the fact that some homilies do not please the congregation. Yes, some are too long, Yes, some preachers are detached and fail to prepare adequately. But priests are not DJs who attempt to pick the most popular song to accommodate the crowd; we preach "Christ crucified". That is, at the same time, our weakness and our strength. If someone is expecting us to go for the medieval costume of the risus paschalis and tell jokes during a homily, just to be more entertaining, he is missing the point.
Reviving the faith is the key. Today there are many factors, which weaken it and put it at risk But, on the other hand, by God's grace, the means are not lacking to strengthen our faith. Family prayer, the sacraments, popular religiosity, the Catholic media, catechetical instruction and gospel witness, to mention just a few. When such activities are missing or not carried out properly, faith suffers and morality declines to a very low ebb with many adverse consequences. If we are looking for change, we must start by looking at ourselves.