More than three-quarters of adult Catholics in the archdiocese of Cashel and Emly attend Mass once a week, according to a survey, but three in 10 said recent scandals in the church had affected their beliefs and practices.
The survey found Mass attendance figures well above the national average and most Catholics thought the archbishop and clergy were doing a good job.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, responding to the results, said: "The prevailing wisdom that the Catholic Church is in terminal decline is given the lie here and in rural Ireland in particular." He said a fall-off in Confession had to be addressed. Family prayer would seem to be the victim of the modern age: television, telephones and the pace of life had squeezed out the family rosary.
The Irish Marketing Surveys study was carried out for the archdiocese with the Catholic Church's council for research and development. It was the first study of its kind in an individual diocese.
In all, 505 out of the 78,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, which includes most of Co Tipperary and part of Co Limerick, were interviewed.
It revealed Mass attendance were above the national average of 65 per cent. Weekly attendance was highest for older people at 94 per cent and lowest for the 18 to 34 age group at 60 per cent, while 45 per cent received Holy Communion at least once a week.
Three in ten, or 29 per cent, said recent scandals in the church had affected their religious beliefs and practices. This was felt most strongly by the 25 to 44 age group and middle-class respondents but 82 per cent said the scandals had not affected their confidence in the priests of their parish.
Only 5 per cent said priests should be allowed to marry and the rule of celibacy should go. A total of 3 per cent favoured women priests.