Viewpoint Who are the traditional Catholics?
By ANDREW GREELEY
In its Feb. 5 issue, NCR reported that the National Opinion
Research Centers 1998 General Social Survey had revealed that Catholics
were evenly split among traditional, moderate and liberal with 14
percent rejecting all three offered labels. Twenty eight percent of American
Catholics chose to describe themselves as traditional, a much
higher proportion than many of us might have expected.
Who then are these traditional Catholics? What do they
believe? For what do they stand?
The answer in brief is that they are devout, dedicated, loyal and
generous Catholics. Most of them, however, would not be welcome in the offices
of Crisis or First Things or The Wanderer or the Catholic
League. They are Catholics on their own terms, as are most American Catholics.
I will now drop the quotes around the word traditional and
begin to compare those who claim the term with all other American Catholics.
Traditional Catholics are on the average older than other Catholics by eight
years. The educational and income level of both groups is about the same. Both
are equally likely to describe themselves as Democrats.
The traditional are marginally more likely to describe themselves
as politically liberal. They are twice as likely to think that it is definitely
the governments job to reduce income differences between the rich and the
poor and to provide jobs for everyone who wants a job. The traditional,
finally, are 10 percentage points more likely to be women.
From here on, I will cite the comparison percentage for all other
Catholics in parentheses.
Traditional Catholics are devout: Two thirds of them attend Mass
at least several times a month (one-third). More than half of them think that
it is important to attend services regularly (one-fifth). Three quarters pray
daily (half). They are twice as likely to meditate every day (28 percent versus
14 percent).
They are faithful: Seventy-nine percent believe in life after
death (73 percent). Seventy-five percent are certain there is a heaven (61
percent). Fifty-five percent are certain there is a hell (45 percent).
Fifty-eight percent are certain that there are miracles (44 percent).
(Ninety-six percent of both groups believe in God.)
Half of traditional Catholics think it is very important to follow
church teachings in making moral decisions (one quarter). Half of both groups
think it is also important to follow ones own conscience.
They are more generous: Their financial contributions are two and
a half times higher than that of other Catholics. Half of them have done some
kind of volunteer work for the church in the last year (16 percent six or more
times) as opposed to a quarter (3 percent six or more times) of other
Catholics. They are also more likely to do volunteer work for other charities -
40 percent versus 35 percent (15 percent versus 5 percent six or more times).
They are more likely also to think of themselves as religious.
They are three times as likely to think to describe themselves as spiritual
persons (36 percent versus 12 percent). Sixty two percent think of themselves
as strong Catholics (25 percent). They are more likely to report
religious experiences (31 percent versus 21 percent). They are twice as likely
to report they feel Gods love for them either directly or through others
(66 percent to 31 percent).
They are loyal: Forty-four percent have confidence in religious
leaders (26 percent). Forty percent describe themselves as active
religiously (26 percent). Forty-six percent think of themselves as very
religious (11 percent). Forty-six percent have often forgiven themselves for
what theyve done wrong (37 percent); 54 percent have forgiven others (42
percent) and 80 percent are confident that God has forgiven them (67 percent).
Who could ask for a group of better Catholics? In fact, the
picture is not as bright as it seems. On the sexual issues that so divide the
church, the traditional Catholics are more orthodox than other Catholics but
still substantially less than orthodox. Thirty-one percent think that it is
acceptable for a man and woman to live together without marriage (50 percent)
and 26 percent think that cohabitation may be a useful preparation for marriage
(45 percent). Thirty-five percent think that premarital sex is always wrong (14
percent). Fifty-nine percent think that homosexuality is always wrong (48
percent). Three out of five think that abortion should be possible when a
womans health is in danger (seven out of eight).
If these three items are combined into a single index, 17 percent
of the traditional Catholics are completely orthodox as opposed to 6 percent of
other Catholics. It would appear therefore that the traditionalists
are not traditionalists, although they are more devout, more dedicated, more
loyal and more generous than other Catholics. Nonetheless, while they are
almost three times more likely than other Catholics to agree with the church
completely on abortion, homosexuality and premarital sex, five out of six are
still Catholic on their own terms and disagree with one or more of these
positions.
What conclusions might we draw from these findings? First of all,
we should conclude that labels are tricky. The respondents in the survey meant
something quite different by the word traditional than do the Society of
Pius X or the Society of Pius V. They also mean something quite different than
do Crisis, First Things, The Wanderer, and the Catholic
League on the one hand, and NCR, America and Commonweal on
the other. It is (lamentably perhaps) unlikely that very many of them have even
heard of such journals.
Like most other American Catholics (as I have shown elsewhere)
they are not polarized or caught up in culture wars. Those of us
who are part of the Catholic elite (and I dont intend that word
pejoratively) and have a fairly clear idea of what ideological words mean, must
force ourselves to remember how gray, messy, uncertain, problematic and
seemingly inconsistent the human condition is.
You cant call yourself a traditionalist, we say,
and still tolerate abortion or homosexuality. But who says so? We may say so,
but people dont often listen to us. They may never have heard of us. They
march to their own drummers, follow their own instincts, listen to their own
consciences, make their own decisions, blow whither they will. They
shouldnt, we may say. But they do. And we cant stop them.
Secondly, the leaders and the teachers in the church must face up
to the fact that even the devoutly traditional and the traditionally devout (as
they see themselves) are in open if relaxed dissent. They too are cafeteria
Catholics, buffet Catholics, communal Catholics. The traditionals in the
General Social Survey are the green wood.
Fr. Andrew Greeley is a sociologist and novelist. His most
recent book is Irish Mist.
National Catholic Reporter, March 5,
1999
|