Stunning figures here, courtesy of the Iona Institute, which has been commissioning regular polling on Mass attendance throughout the pandemic:
A new Amarach Research poll commissioned by The Iona Institute shows that 46pc of Catholics who were going to Mass on a regular basis before the pandemic began last year have returned to Mass since public worship was permitted again in May…..
….. Polling commissioned by The Iona Institute last August, found that 36pc of Catholics who were going to Mass each week before the pandemic, had returned by then, and another poll showed this had risen to 47pc by October of last year, when the second lockdown started.
Commenting on the findings, David Quinn of The Iona Institute said: “Church leaders will be encouraged that almost half of Catholics who were attending Mass regularly before the start of the pandemic have returned. In many cases, this is about the maximum a given church can accommodate because of social distancing requirements.”
He continued: “What is noteworthy, however, is among those who have not returned, fear of Covid is still the main driving force even though almost every Mass-goer will be fully vaccinated by now, whereas last year, no-one was vaccinated. Clearly some work needs to be done both by the Churches and public health authorities to reduce the fear factor to a more reasonable level”.
Quinn concluded: “Church leaders will also be concerned that around a quarter of those who were coming to Mass regularly before the pandemic either won’t be back, or don’t know if they will. Is this because they have fallen out of the habit, or they have become permanently nervous of crowds? One way or the other, there will have to be an outreach to this group.”
In other words, the vaccines might well be very effective, as per all the evidence, but they have not made a blind bit of difference to the level of fear people have. Last year, when there were no vaccines at all, 47% were comfortable going back to mass. This year, with almost everybody in the older age groups vaccinated…. 46% are comfortable going back to mass.
What this means, in other words, is that Ireland has tens of thousands of people who have been double vaccinated, have strong Covid immunity, and yet who are still too afraid to attend an event in a large, spacious area, where they can wear their masks…. in case they catch Covid.
Now, it is, of course, easy for a younger person like me to sneer at the fears of the (mostly) old. So let’s be absolutely clear: The fear is entirely irrational, but it is not baseless. It has, after all, been drummed into people by the media, and politicians, and plenty of others, who coincidentally show little fear themselves. (See, for example, how little fear there was about attending Katherine Zappone’s little party). But we have written a thousand articles on that subject. The only question that remains relevant is this: How will these people ever be convinced that they can live normal lives again?
The problem, really, is this: They have been convinced firstly that Covid is potentially lethal, to a far greater extent than it actually is. They have been convinced secondly that even vaccines, and masks, will not protect them in a public space. They have been convinced, thirdly, that Covid can be defeated, and that there will come a day when there is “no more covid”.
None of those things are true, but the last one is the most problematic. The attitude, speaking to older relatives, tends to be “well, I have waited this long, I can wait a few more months until it is over”.
The problem, of course, is that it is never going to be over. That is not a political statement – just a statement of fact. Covid is here to stay. Nobody is ever going to be entirely “safe” from Covid. Just as there will always (well, unless the Japanese have their way) be Sharks in the Sea, so too will there always be Covid in the environment. Some people refuse to get in the sea, in case they are bitten by a shark, even though the chances of that are infinitely tiny. This is also the attitude that a great many people are taking, and have been cursed to take for a long time, with Covid.
This, by the way, is not only a problem for the Church. It is also an economic problem. Are people who are still too scared to go to mass really likely to go to a restaurant, or a bar? Are they likely to be as active as they were, before the pandemic? The chances are that the answer to that is “no”. What they are doing, of course, is sitting at home, listening to the radio, and watching TV, and becoming the eyeballs that justify higher advertising rates.
This, more even than the deaths, is on course to be the great human tragedy of Covid 19. If Government has any sense at all (which is doubtful) it will soon be time to start running ads telling people that it is safe to go back to normal life. People like me, or you, will never convince them. They are only going to come out when they hear Dr. Holohan on the radio, telling them that it is over, and they are safe.
That is the power he now has. The rest of us can only hope that he uses it, one day soon.