Catholicism in decline in Ireland

New census figures showing a drop of almost 6 per cent in the number of Catholics and an increase in the number of those of no religion to 9.8 per cent of the population have prompted the Archbishop of Dublin to say “a radical change” is taking place in Ireland, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

Census 2016 shows that the percentage of the population who self-identified as Catholic fell from 84.2 per cent of the population in 2011 to 78.3 per cent in 2016. That is a drop of 132,200 from 3,861,300 to 3,729,100.

Along with the fall in Catholics is a corresponding rise in the number of people with no religion. This group grew by 73.6 per cent from 269,800 to 468,400, an increase of 198,600 since 2011.

Worryingly for the Church, the figures show that although the group aged 20-39 accounts for 28 per cent of the general population, it accounts for 45 per cent of those with no religion.

Speaking after Mass in Knock where he led prayers for the success of next year’s World Meeting of Families, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the Church must “consolidate its mission.” Emphasising that the number of people who registered as Catholic was “still high”, he said the figure nevertheless could be “slightly deceptive” as many parents would have put down all their children as Catholic and that may not have been the case. He told The Tablet, “We should not give in to any type of defeatism, but we have to present the faith in a very different way … We need far more lay people and far more women working in leadership positions.”