If there's one very good thing that Pope Francis was able to initiate in his first eight months into office was that he was able to increase the number of wayward, non-active parishioners going back into the fold at Italian Catholic churches.

A study culled by sociologist Massimo Introvigne, also head of Italy's Centre for the Study of New Religions (Cesnur), said an increase has been observed in the number of people in the pews since the new pontiff assumed the position in March 2013.

In interview some 250 priests, Mr Introvigne said 51 per cent of them reported attendance in their respective parishes have risen.

"If we project these findings nationally, and if half of the parishes have been touched by the Francis effect, then we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people returning to the churches," Mr Introvigne said.

Pope Francis is highly noted for his simple lifestyle. While still archbishop of Buenos Aires, he has consistently advocated a simpler, poorer and less bureaucratic church. To recall, right immediately after being elected the 266th pope, he even checked himself out of the hotel which housed him and other cardinals while the conclave went on in March.

A smaller survey of 22 British cathedrals likewise noted a 65 per cent increase in the number of attendance.

"It might have been attributable to the novelty of having a new pope and the emotions stirred by the resignation of pope Benedict," Mr Introvigne said. He thought the fascination could just be a passing fancy.

"But after six months I got more or less the same result," he said.

"The Francis effect is not disappearing with the passage of time, but enduring."

According to The Guardian, quoting Italy's most senior clerics, the biggest increase was in the attendance by long-lapsed Catholics.

"So many are returning to the sacraments, in some cases after decades," The Guardian quoted Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, the archbishop of Florence.