The Scottish bishops have called on Catholics to declare their faith in the 2022 census.
Recent years have seen a further sharp fall in those declaring any religious affiliation on medical and other official forms.
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, speaking to The Tablet, connected what he described as a “go-to source” for the development of social policy to the Nativity.
He said: “We have our treasured Christmas Gospel story of Jesus’ birth in the stable at Bethlehem only because the Holy Family opted in to the Roman census of Caesar Augustus.”
Bishop Keenan went on “It seems the census even then was looking for particular details like birthplace, ethnicity, traditional affiliations, religion and the like. For the Holy Family it involved more than filling in a form but meant quite a bit of inconvenience and upheaval. Still, the result of their effort was that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, was included in the first ever universal census in history”.
Bishop Keenan said that the example of the Holy Family should encourage Catholics to take an active and willing part in the census and that a declaration of religious affiliation would directly affect the shaping of public policy with regard to education, healthcare and other community services.
The Scottish Bishops have also encouraged parishes to identify and nominate parishioners who might be able to assist anyone having difficulty accessing or completing the census, because of limited vision, literacy issues or poor health. Bishop Keenan called on Scottish Catholics to accept an “opportunity in Lent to be good Samaritans”.
It is anticipated that a million fewer Scots will identify as Christian in the 2022 census. Recent research by YouGov suggest that while half of Scots said they were Christian in 2011 that figure has now dropped to about one third, with a very large percentage of younger Scots declaring no religious affiliation at all. In the 18 to 34 group, almost 70 per cent made no declaration of religious faith. The research was commissioned by the Humanist Society Scotland, which has questioned the way questions about religion are phrased in the census form and has called on Scots to make an honest declaration rather than a merely cultural statement. The deadline for completion of the census is March 20.
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