Ireland is in the “middle range” of religious countries in Europe, according to a new report published by the Catholic bishops.
Among western European countries specifically, it has one of the lowest proportions of adults reporting they had no religion, at 32 per cent. This is equal with Austria, with only Portugal – on 28 per cent – and Italy (22 per cent) having lower rates. Many countries in eastern Europe had considerably lower rates, with fewer than 10 per cent of people in Cyprus and Greece reporting they had no religion.
The country with the highest proportion of people with no religion was the Netherlands, at more than 70 per cent, followed by Sweden and Latvia.
Among the 16- to 29-year-old cohort in Ireland, 42 per cent said they had no religion.
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The report, titled Turning the Tide? Recent religious trends on the island of Ireland, is intended “to provide a clear evidence-based account of recent religious trends on the island of Ireland”, according to the Catholic bishops.
Compiled by academics Emily Nelson of Queen’s University Belfast and Prof Stephen Bullivant of St Mary’s University in Twickenham, it is an analysis of “data from European Social Study surveys, the Iona Institute’s two recent surveys (conducted by Amárach Research) and a variety of academic studies to provide empirical analysis of religious trends across the island of Ireland".
The report says that when it comes to regular attendance at religious services – which is defined as going at least once a week – Irish Catholic adults rank seventh among 28 European countries, at 23 per cent. Among young adults specifically, Ireland’s figure of 14 per cent places it eighth on that list.
In the Republic, 18-24-year-olds are proportionally more likely to identify as religious or “not sure” than are 25-34-year-olds, but less likely to identify as spiritual or “neither”.
Generally, women are more religious than men but, in the Republic, women and men are found to be similarly religious. The report says 74 per cent of Irish Catholic women believe the church does not treat them with “a lot of respect”, compared with just 6 per cent of Protestant women in the Republic.
Northern Ireland is found to be “by a very long distance, the most religiously affiliating region” in these islands, with just 24 per cent saying they have no religion. Catholics in Northern Ireland also stand out when it comes to regular Mass-going, with 41 per cent reporting “weekly-or-more attendance”.
When it comes to perceptions, 18-24 year-olds in the Republic are generally not positive about either Christianity or the Catholic Church, but they are more positive than 25-34-year-olds and fewer have a negative attitude towards priests and nuns.
Those in the 25-34 age group are more likely to agree that, despite the child sexual abuse scandals, Catholic teachings are still of benefit to Irish society, with 18–24-year-olds significantly more likely to disagree with this. The younger cohort are also more likely to agree they would be happy if the Catholic Church disappeared from Ireland completely.
In Northern Ireland, the younger cohort are more positive about Christianity, priests and nuns than their older contemporaries, but not about Catholicism or Catholic teachings.
