Findings of a Dutch survey show the Covid pandemic’s impact has had lasting effects on parish life in the Netherlands.
The Katholiek Nieuwsblad survey was conducted three years after the initial lockdown in the Netherlands.
It has confirmed the decline in church attendance from pre-pandemic levels.
The decline, already predicted by many, shows between 2019 and 2022, there was a drop of up to 36 percent in weekend church attendance.
“If you calculate this through, you end up with an average decline of about 14 percent per year, whereas in the years before the pandemic the decline averaged about six percent,” said researcher Joris Kregting.
What wasn’t anticipated though was that the number of church volunteers also sharply declined.
In the first year of COVID, that number dropped 10 percent. In previous years the decline was three to four percent annually.
“With churchgoers, the interruption caused by COVID may be temporary, with volunteers, quitting is more likely to be permanent,” Kregting noted.
Right now, Dutch parishes have the greatest difficulty finding new volunteers, he added.
Besides speaking to researchers and professionals working in parish pastoral ministry, Katholiek Nieuwsblad also conducted an online survey.
They targeted Catholic parishioners in the Low Countries about their experience of the effects of the pandemic.
They heard from 43.8 percent that parish church attendance was slightly less than before the pandemic. According to 23.4 percent, attendance was much less.
However, 78.8 percent stated that they themselves still attend church about as often as before the pandemic.
It is likely though that the survey was completed mainly by active churchgoers. It does not claim to be representative of the entire Catholic community.
The survey results show a sharp contrast in the personal valuation of COVID effects.
It found effects most often valued as positive were also perceived as negative: they include digital developments and non-contact sign of peace.
The survey responses suggest the opposite views might be indicative of a polarisation that has also taken place within the Church community in the Netherlands.
“This madness has created only an even greater divide between people,” wrote one participant. Another complained of “inhumane and un-Christian” reactions toward anti-vax believers.
At the same time, churchgoers and church workers also see the pandemic’s positive effects in parish life.
One said they got to know a lot more people.
Many survey respondents noted a similar positive social effect.
One wrote about lists of names leading to a welcoming group – who could greet people by name – being created.
Deepening faith and attending to the Church’s missionary aspect were other often mentioned positive effects.
Many remarked positively on the additional emphasis on the essentials of the faith during the liturgy and growth in personal devotion and participation in the sacraments.
“The first time together again with people in the same church, praying aloud the Lord’s Prayer, the Gloria and the Creed made a deep impression on me,” one respondent wrote.
A priest noted livestream celebrations, in particular, lowered the threshold of parishes for those interested.
“The Church itself is mission. COVID has helped to bring more attention to this.”
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