Roman Catholic baptism figures are being significantly swelled by lapsed Catholics keen for their children to gain places at popular faith schools, new research suggested yesterday.While Catholics have traditionally had their babies baptised before their first birthday, a growing proportion are now approaching priests when their children are much older, according to an independent research body.
Between 1958 and 2005, the proportion of "cradle" baptisms declined from 85 per cent to 64 per cent, while "late" baptisms rocketed from five per cent to 30 per cent. The proportion of adult conversions also fell.
Anthony Spencer, of the Pastoral Research Centre Trust, which compiled the figures, said the rise in such baptisms had been fuelled by the improving academic reputation of Catholic state schools.
Oona Stannard, the director of the Catholic Education Service, admitted that educational considerations were a factor, though there were others, such as improved child mortality rates. "There may well be some who, as the baby grows up, give more careful consideration to the question of education and decide that they do want their child to be baptised and have the best possible opportunity to attend a Catholic school," she said.
"That the child is brought into the Church and the family's bond with the Church strengthened can only but be a good thing, irrespective of whether the child does eventually have the benefit of attending a Catholic school."
But Terry Sanderson, the president of the National Secular Society, said that this trend was one of the reasons that many people opposed faith schools.
"Religious schools are increasingly encouraging parents to be actively engaged in faith, even if they don't want to be," he said.
The statistics, produced with the help of the bishops, also showed that Catholicism had suffered a sharp decline over the past 50 years.
The trust found that the Catholic population, measured by those who used the Church for at least three rites of passage - baptism, marriage and burial - had fallen by 23 per cent since 1958, from just over five million to below four million.
The number of converts dropped by 69 per cent between 1958 and 2005, and Catholic marriages fell from 69,000 to 15,000.
Mr Spencer said the decline had occurred despite waves of Irish and Polish immigration and was "pretty horrific". He added that Catholic marriage was "on the way to extinction".
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