A CENSIS survey carried out in summer 2020 found that only 8% of Italians and 11% of Catholics recognised the Church's ability to “make sense” of the situation produced by the Covid-19 hype.
Another indicator is the “8 per thousand” of the tax bill which the Italian state allows to donate to the Church or other institutions.
In 2005, when Benedict XVI succeded John Paul II, 89.82% of the taxpayers dedicated this money to the Church.
During Benedict’s pontificate the percentage of signatures in favor of the Church went down by a few points, but the absolute number of signatories went up until 2011 (15,604,034).
Francis started off with 15,226,291 signatures (80.91%). Then, things went downhill:
2017: 13,774,382 (75.36%)
2018: 13,520,527 (78.5%)
2019: 13,156,158 (77.18%) 2020: 12,056,389 (71,74%) A similar fate befell the Peter’s Pence, the offerings to the pope collected every year all over the world: 2014: €83 million 2017: €64 million 2020: €54 million. #newsGnekprabtp