75% say Catholic teachings on sex are not relevant

CATHOLIC CHURCH teachings on sexuality have “no relevance” for 75 per cent of Irish Catholics or for their families, according to a survey.

It also found that 87 per cent of Irish Catholics believe priests should be allowed marry, 77 per cent believe there should be women priests and 72 per cent believe older married men should be allowed become priests.

The Amárach survey also found that weekly Mass attendance in Ireland, at 35 per cent, is one of the highest in Europe.

Commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests, the Contemporary Catholic Perspectives survey was carried out among 1,000 Catholics throughout the island of Ireland over a two-week period in February. It was launched at a press conference in Dublin yesterday.

As was pointed out there, “those who defined themselves as anything other than Catholic were screened out early in the survey”.

Where church teaching on homosexuality was concerned, 46 per cent “disagree strongly” with it while 5 per cent “agree strongly”. The total who disagree with the church on the issue is 61 per cent, while 18 per cent think homosexuality is immoral.

Divorced and/or separated people in a second stable relationship should be allowed to take Communion, according to 87 per cent, with just 5 per cent saying they should not. Responding to the findings, a spokesman for the Catholic bishops said yesterday: “The recent apostolic visitation highlighted the need for a new focus on the dignity and role of all the faithful and for deeper formation in the faith. The results of this survey confirm the importance of all in the church taking up this task in a spirit of communion and sharing the good news of the Gospel in a rapidly changing social and cultural environment in Ireland today.”

He would not comment on any of the findings in the survey.

It found five times as many Irish Catholics believe the Irish church is subservient to Rome as those who believe it is independent, while more than one in four (28 per cent) believe it to be completely subservient. A small majority (55 per cent) believe bishops should serve for a fixed term with the remainder divided between those who believe a bishop should serve until 75 years or for as long as the bishop likes.

A clear majority agrees with the church speaking out on issues while four out of five believe it should do so on social issues. Forty-five per cent of priests and 63 per cent of lay people believe there should be more involvement of laity and priests in choosing a bishop. Clustering of parishes as a way of dealing with the shortage of priests is favoured by 60 per cent.

Where wording in the new missal is concerned, half of those who are aware of it prefer the old wording while 33 per cent find the new missal more difficult to understand and 43 per cent are unfavourable towards the changes. As many as two in five believe liturgies should be developed at a national level rather than in Rome, while one in five don’t think they should.

On the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, 56 per cent believe there is a value in it being held in Ireland. However just one in 10 believes lay people in their parish were involved in preparations for the congress. As was pointed out at the press conference, that figure has most likely improved since February.

The survey findings are expected to be discussed at the "Towards an Assembly of the Irish Catholic Church" conference on May 7th next at the Regency Hotel in Dublin. Full details of the survey are at www.associationof catholicpriests.ie

Perspectives survey findings:

MASS-GOING

35 per cent of Irish Catholics attend Mass weekly or more often, while 20 per cent go for either celebratory and/or religious occasions. Five per cent never go.

PRIESTS MARRIAGE

Some 87 per cent believe priests should be allowed marry.

WOMEN PRIESTS

77 per cent believe women should be allowed become priests.

HOMOSEXUALITY

Some 61 per cent disagree with the church on homosexuality, 46 per cent “strongly disagree”. Just 18 per cent agree, while 5 per cent “strongly agree”.