British Catholic news magazine The Tablet has honed in on what it means to be a Catholic in the UK today.
The results obtained are very interesting indeed. The Tablet
found that while “over-60s fit a model closer to that officially
promulgated by the Vatican,” “under-50s believe, behave and belong in
different ways.”
Obedience to Catholic doctrine and practice generally
generally declines.
But rather than completely abandoning the faith,
many faithful tend to switch to a more personal practice of the Catholic
faith.
The percentage of Catholics in the country remains constant at 8-10%;
when the 2011 census revealed a fall in the number of people who call
themselves “Christian” – from 72 per cent to 59 per cent over a decade –
it was Anglican, rather than Catholic, losses which were
responsible. 70% of those who call themselves Catholics say they believe
in God. This figure is higher among the over-60s (80% and lower among
other age groups (75%).
But only 30% of twenty-year-olds claim they are
certain of God’s existence, compared to 57% of over-60s.
How often do British Catholics attend mass?
“Catholics are now split
roughly 50:50 between those who go to church and those who never go or
hardly ever attend, except for events like weddings and funerals.”
Over-60s are slightly more likely to attend than under-60s, but the most
dramatic difference is in the pattern of attendance. Among churchgoers
aged over 60, nearly 60 per cent retain a pattern of weekly attendance,
whereas only around a quarter of under-60s churchgoers do so.
At least
once a year, not every month, once a month: these are the three most
common churchgoing patterns.
But Catholics do pray: “Over 40 per cent say they have prayed during
the past month, a fifth that they have visited places which feel sacred
or holy, the same number that they have taken regular time to be alone
and still the mind, and 8 per cent that they have meditated.
More than
one in 10 read sacred and spiritual writings on a monthly basis, and the
same number report “feeling a deep connection with nature/the earth,” The Tablet reports. And these figures are all higher than the averages recorded for the general population.
Catholics are also generally less obedient towards the Church’s
teaching. When asked where they go to seek guidance in their lives and
in making decisions, over 50% of Catholics say they “their own reason,
judgement, intuition or feelings and another fifth say family or
friends.”
“More narrowly religious sources of authority are much less
popular, even with churchgoers. The most cited is “tradition and
teachings of the Church” (8 per cent), followed by God (7 per cent), the
Bible (2 per cent) [and] the religious group to which a person belongs
(2 per cent).”
This and the importance given to social justice help explain why
“younger Catholics are more likely than older ones to be broadly in line
with Catholic Social Teaching.”
“Four-fifths invoke the principle of
equality to explain why they disagree with the Church about its
permissibility ... Catholics are now in favour of allowing same-sex
marriage by a small margin, and the margin increases with every
generation – though churchgoers are less favourable than
non-churchgoers.”
Catholic attitudes towards such matters are not as
influenced by the teachings of “natural law” as other Christian
denominations are. “Fewer [Catholics] give as a reason that it’s
“unnatural” than do opponents from other Christian denominations.”
According to The Tablet, “the result is a Britain in which
“faithful Catholics”, according to official teaching, are now a rare and
endangered species.”
This analysis seems to fit in with what the former Archbishop of
Canterbury, George Carey, said in a recent statement. In his opinion,
Christianity has one more generation to go before it becomes extinct,
unless, that is churches don’t turn things around to attract young
people to the faith.
Clergy are now gripped by a “feeling of defeat”,
congregations are worn down by “heaviness” while the public simply
greets both with “rolled eyes and a yawn of boredom”, he said.
The joy
of faith has been lost and replaced with a feeling of heaviness.
Carrey
is calling for a campaign aimed at the “re-evangelisation of England,”
starting with the young and trying to bring them closer tot he faith.
“We ought to be ashamed of ourselves,” he added.