62 percent of adult U.S. Catholics, representing an estimated 36.2
million people, have a profile on Facebook; 58 percent of Catholics age
of 30 and under share content such as pictures, articles and comments at
least once a week, and nearly a third of all surveyed said they would
like their pastors and bishops to blogs: these are some results of a
study released by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate,
CARA at Georgetown University.
"Catholic New Media Use in the United
States, 2012," surveyed 1,047 self-identified Catholics.
The study was
released on November 11, at an Encounter With Social Media, sponsored by
the Department of Communications of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in conjunction with the U.S. bishops annual
Fall General Assembly in Baltimore.
The report, sent to Fides Agency by
the USCCB, "suggests many opportunities for the Church to engage with
those who live on the Digital continent, as Pope Benedict XVI describes
this new culture of communication," said the Bishop of Salt Lake City,
His Excellency Mons. John Wester, chairman of the USCCB Committee on
Communications.
"We can approach this as missionaries, eager to find God
already present among the inhabitants of this world and to engage them,
especially young people, in meaningful dialogue about morals and values
in this new public square."
The adult Catholic population is nearly
evenly divided by those aware of the Church’s presence online and those
who are not aware of this.
About a quarter (24 percent) indicated said
that the Church is "somewhat" or "very" visible, while another quarter
said it is "only a little '" or "not very" visible (23 percent) .
More
than half (53 per cent) were unaware of any significant presence.
The
Catholic website most often visited regularly by self-identified adults
Catholics is their parish website: about one in 10 say they visit once a
month or more often.
This is equivalent to 5.3 million individuals.
About 80 percent of respondents took the survey in English; 16 percent
took it Spanish.