(NewsNation) — Monsignor Jim Lisante believes a 17% drop in religious Americans means that while attendance at services is down, belief in a higher power remains strong.

Lisante, of Our Lady of Lourdes parish on Long Island, New York, joined “On Balance” to discuss a Gallup poll in which 49% of Americans surveyed considered themselves religious, compared to 66% in 2015.

The data, which was simplified to be framed as if the U.S. were a small town, asks how many people would be religious.

Forty of the 100 considered themselves Protestant, 19 Catholic, two Mormon, two Jewish, two “other Christian” and one each for Muslim and Buddhist. Those who considered themselves “religiously unaffiliated” totaled 29.

“A lot of people don’t make the distinction, but we should between belief and practice. I don’t think there are any fewer people in America who don’t believe in God,” Lisante told NewsNation.

“They’re just not crazy about organized religion, and in many ways, we probably have given them reasons to go in that direction. But I think belief in God is still very strong.”

Lisante acknowledged that participation in the Catholic faith and others is down, but said “signs of hope” exist.

“When I talk to young adults about why they’re not going to church, they’ll often say they’re disgusted by what happened, and they shouldn’t be,” he said.

“I like to remind them that 96% of priests have never touched a kid, wouldn’t hurt a kid for their lives; 4% did bad things, and that’s not just limited to the Catholic Church.

“… There’s lots of things we can fix to make things better, but belief is still real,” Lisante added.