Seventy per cent of Catholics responding agreed that the translation is a “good thing,” according to results of the survey conducted by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Half of respondents agreed with the assessment while 20 per cent strongly agreed with it, the survey found.

That still left three in 10 Catholics saying they disagreed with such an assessment. Seven per cent said they strongly disagreed that the translations were good for the Catholic Church.

Sulpician Father Anthony Pogorelc, a staff member of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America, which commissioned the survey, said the findings were not surprising.

“The (Mass) actions have not changed, the words are not as big a change to people,” he said.

The institute conducted a similar survey in 2011 prior to the introduction of the new missal to establish a baseline on how Catholics responded to the eucharistic liturgy and the results were similar then, Pogorelc said.

The latest survey revealed that the acceptance of the new language was higher among Catholics who attended Mass weekly or more often than those who worshipped less often.

Worshippers who like the translations said the new wording inspired them to be more faithful in daily life, helped them feel closer to God and make it easier to participate in Mass.

The findings were based on responses from 1,047 self-identified Catholic adults with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.