Urban youth turn backs on Church, survey shows

The majority of young urban Irish people have turned their backs on "a part of Irish life which was almost universal less than a generation ago", according to a survey conducted last summer for the State's Catholic bishops. The survey results, in the March issue of Intercom magazine, found that of those living in urban areas just 31 per cent of men aged 25 to 24 and 37 per cent of women in the same age group attended weekly Mass. For those aged 15 to 24, the figures were 32 per cent for young men and 39 per cent for young women.

The IMS survey, conducted among 1,400 people last summer for the Bishop's Council for Research and Development Commission, found that half of young people in the 15 to 34 category attended weekly Mass, whereas for those over 50 the figure was 80 per cent. Overall, just 65 per cent of those over 18 attend weekly Mass, compared to 91 per cent in 1974.

On their attitude to recent scandals in the Catholic Church, 72 per cent said their religious beliefs and practices had been completely unaffected by them, while 29 per cent said the scandals had adversely affected their confidence in the priests of their parish.

Two thirds thought the majority of priests had been unfairly judged as a result of the scandals, while 26 per cent felt their confidence in the bishop of the diocese had been adversely affected.

However, 40 per cent did not believe the bishops had taken appropriate action to deal with the issue of child sex abuse by priests and religious, while 25 per cent thought the media had unfairly dealt with the issue.

Commenting on the IMS findings in an article in Intercom, Ms Ann Hanley, director of the Bishops' Council for Research and Development, said that when studying them they needed to keep in mind that the young man or woman of today who felt that the practice of their religion had little to offer them might not always feel that way.

"Hence, it may well be that one of the challenges facing the Irish Church in the future will involve honing the skills needed to bring back into the fold those who have strayed in the years of early adulthood," she writes.