CNA Employees, Could 23, 2025 /
15:03 pm
The Dublin-based Iona Institute for Religion and Society has launched a comprehensive report that highlights important shifts in spiritual attitudes and practices in Eire.
Updating findings from an identical 2011 survey, Amárach Analysis performed the most recent research and commissioned it in two levels — a survey of 1,000 adults in February adopted by a second survey in March.
A hanging discovering challenges the narrative of declining religiosity amongst youthful adults.
Amongst 18- to 24-year-olds (Technology Z), 17% establish as spiritual, in contrast with simply 5% of 25- to 34-year-olds (millennials). Moreover, 54% of Gen Z describe themselves as spiritual and/or non secular, in contrast with 46% of millennials. This group can be extra engaged with non secular content material: 18- to 24-year-olds usually tend to learn spiritual or non secular books, watch associated content material, and observe non secular influencers on social media, together with platforms like “FaithTok,” than their barely older counterparts.
David Quinn, CEO of the Iona Institute, advised CNA he thinks “younger persons are seeing that secularism is arising quick. It has no solutions to life’s nice questions and nothing to say about that means and goal. Folks will at all times crave these items. Faith supplies them.”
Quinn mentioned the survey’s findings are according to a not too long ago revealed report titled “The Quiet Revival.” Commissioned by the U.Ok.-based Bible Society, the report finds that religiosity is up amongst 18- to 24-year-olds in Britain as effectively, with explicit development within the Roman Catholic and Pentecostal church buildings.
The Iona survey finds that common Mass-goers, who make up 16% of respondents, have essentially the most favorable view of the Church, whereas the 22% who don’t establish as Catholic — roughly aligning with Census 2022 data — categorical essentially the most detrimental sentiments. “Cultural Catholics,” the 62% of respondents who say they establish as Catholic however hardly ever attend Mass, fall in between.
The survey highlights divided public sentiment towards spiritual figures, with attitudes towards clergymen and nuns break up evenly: 33% view them positively, 33% negatively, and the remaining stay impartial.
Respondents overestimate the variety of youngster sexual abusers among the many clergy by practically 4 to 1, on common, although this quantity is decrease than it was within the 2011 survey.
Whereas 50% of respondents say they maintain a optimistic view of Christianity and solely 20% maintain a detrimental view, the Catholic Church as an establishment fares much less favorably. Solely 27% have a positive view of the Church, whereas 40% view it unfavorably, possible influenced by the legacy of clerical abuse scandals. Nevertheless, 45% agree that Catholic teachings stay helpful to society, with 32% disagreeing, suggesting that the Church’s ethical and theological teachings resonate extra deeply than the establishment itself.
Notably, 25% of respondents say they might be completely happy if the Catholic Church vanished from Irish society, although 51% disagree.
“In a means it isn’t shocking that public attitudes in the direction of the Catholic Church are so divided and that there’s appreciable negativity, particularly in view of all of the scandals that are nonetheless contemporary within the public thoughts,” Breda O’Brien, a spokesperson for the Iona Institute, mentioned in a press launch.
Nevertheless, she continued: “It’s good to see that many individuals are much less detrimental concerning the teachings of the Catholic Church than they’re in the direction of the establishment.”
Quinn advised CNA that he sees this as a possibility.
“The Church wants to speak much less about itself and way more about its teachings and do its finest to place these teachings into apply. That is what is going to entice folks,” he mentioned.
Amira Abuzeid is a senior editor at Catholic Information Company.
