Help a bishop feed and clothe his flock in northern Nigeria: LifeFunder
(LifeSiteNews) — A recent breakdown of data by Georgetown University shows that despite instances of deadly persecution in the region, a whopping 94 percent of Nigerian Catholics report attending Mass on a weekly basis.
In a breakdown of polling data published in a research blog for Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), it was reported that of the 36 countries with large Catholic populations surveyed by World Values Survey (WVS), Catholics in Nigeria attend Mass at a nearly unparalleled frequency.
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According to the data breakdown, “apart from weddings, funeral and christenings,” 94 percent of Nigerian Catholics report attending Mass “more than once a week” or “weekly.”
In a distant second was Kenya, with 73 percent of Catholics reporting at least weekly Mass attendance.
After Lebanon’s third-place ranking of 69 percent, the numbers begin to fall dramatically, with just over half of Catholics in the Philippines, Colombia, Poland and Ecuador saying they attend Mass weekly or more.
For Western nations, the numbers decline in even steeper fashion, with Catholics in the United Kingdom polling at 25 percent, in the United States at 17 percent, in Canada at 14 percent, and in France and the Netherlands at just 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
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CARA noted that while there seems to be a disconnect between people identifying themselves as religious compared with those who actually attend Mass – 74 percent of American Catholics consider themselves “religious” despite the fact that only 17 percent of them actually go to Mass
“The fit between GDP per capita and frequency of Mass attendance is stronger than religiosity and Mass attendance,” CARA explained. “Mass attendance falls sharply as GDP per capita rises to $10,000 and then this drop slows and flattens as GDP per capita continues to increase.”
At the bottom of the research breakdown, CARA did explain that “self-reported frequencies of Mass attendance can be inflated by social desirability bias,” meaning that the numbers may not always be as accurate as shown.
However, CARA did note that because “this bias may be relatively similar across populations,” while the actual numbers may contain exaggerated figures, “the differences between countries in attendance are likely accurate.”
Interestingly, while Nigeria tops the list of Mass attendance, it is also a nation whose Catholic populace endures severe persecution.
According to a report by the NGO Open Doors, nearly 5,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2022, many of whom were murdered by Islamic extremist groups like Boko Haram.
READ: Nigerian bishop begs European Parliament to help stop Islamic terrorism against Christians
According to the report, converts from Islam to Christianity can face harassment or death simply for the act of converting. In other areas, while they may not face death, Christians are persecuted through restrictions on daily life: being denied water or basic supplies, left out of humanitarian relief packages, and subjected to trial in Sharia courts. Young Christian girls are also regularly abducted for forced marriages with Muslim men, a practice that Open Doors stated was supported by “ruling emirs.”
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