DID you say your prayer this morning?
Most probably, you did. According to the Fourth Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey released early Tuesday morning, most Filipino Catholics spend a few minutes of their day in prayer.
This survey will likely put the Philippines among one of the most prayerful countries in the world.
7 out of 10 Filipinos pray every day
The SWS survey on the frequency of praying shows that seven out of 10 Filipinos pray at least once daily.
Around 79 percent of the 1,200 adults nationwide surveyed last December 2022 are Catholics.
Most prayerful countries on earth
Pitted against the 2021 compilation of surveys by the Pew Research Center, the new SWS shows that the Philippines may be considered one of the most prayerful countries worldwide.
According to Pew Research surveys conducted from 2008-2017, the most prayerful nations are:
- Nigeria – 95%
- Iran – 87%
- Indonesia – 84%
- Paraguay – 82%
- India – 75%
- Brazil – 61%
Frequency of prayers
While most Filipino Catholics say a prayer daily, some still say they don’t pray as much.
- several times a week – 10%
- every week – 6 %
- 2-3 times a week – 4%
- once a month – 4%
- 2 percent nearly every week
Only 1 percent of the respondents say they do not pray at all.
Dwindling weekly mass attendees
The respondents were also asked about how often they attended religious services.
Around 38 percent replied that they attend services once a week or more than once a week.
This is four percent lower than the rate of weekly mass attendance during the November 2020 survey of the SWS.
Only 24 percent of Filipino Catholics attend mass every other week or thrice a month.
Most mass attendees — 93 percent — went to churches personally in the last three months.
Only 3 percent are online or on TV.
Online masses still available under new normal
Church services amid the pandemic have become available online or broadcast on TV.
In recent months the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has been decreasing. On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 113 new COVID-19 cases, with the daily average declining to 128 from 157 last week.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has responded by releasing a new prayer.
The Filipino bishops have replaced the Oratio Imperata, or obligatory prayer for protection amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the “Litany of Gratitude after the COVID-19 Pandemic”, which should be prayed in weekdays and Sunday Masses from February 11 to 22, Ash Wednesday.
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The prayer includes prayer for graces received during the pandemic, for those who showed heroic kindness for providing scientific, social and spiritual help, and for the newly discovered medicines and vaccines.
With the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, some opt to attend mass and other church services physically.
However, despite this development, a small percentage of respondents still avoid joining church community services in public places.
Survey sampling
The survey, conducted from December 10 to 14, 2022, used a sample size of 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above nationwide with a sampling error margin of ± 2.8%.
