Mass decline
Holy Week was once a period of intense religious devotion in Ireland, but what relevance does it have today, particularly among young people?
Claire Egan
LAST WEEK marked the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year, and in churches and cathedrals nationwide young and old alike joined for Easter celebrations.
Of striking note to many observers was the declining figures attending services and the ageing profile of the congregation that did.
Research has shown that over-55s are the most likely to believe in God, heaven, hell and – most importantly – go to Mass or other religious services, while their younger counterparts are least likely to attend. For the current generation, traditional Sunday morning Mass has been demoted.
Speaking at a news conference in Maynooth last month, Archbishop Dermot Clifford of Cashel and Emly lamented the transformation of the Sabbath day.
“Sunday is the Lord’s Day, but it has been turned into a shopping day and a sports day,” he said.
This statement was complemented by recent calls on behalf of Ireland’s bishops that parents, children and young adolescents should forego the sporting rituals of Sunday mornings and attend to their religious duties. According to clergy members, buses are pulling up outside churches and whisking young congregation members off to matches.
However, while clergy members may point to sporting commitments, numerous factors have led to a decrease in church attendance nationwide over the past decade. It is undeniable that the child sex abuse scandals of the last decade rocked the Church to the core, while the changing structure of the family unit and a declining sense of religious duty – so prevalent among previous generations – has led to a discernible drop-off in attendance figures. Furthermore, the greater sense of freedom which infuses the contemporary generation has found its way into all aspects of life – influencing choices over careers, universities, relationships and, inevitably, religious devotion.
Fr Denis Carney, ADM of Westport, a parish of over 7,000 people, is well-placed to comment on the current decline and the perceived sense of apathy towards religion.
“I think that it is only in the past number of years that we have sat up and taken notice of what has been going on in terms of Church attendance. There has been a noticeable decline, but it has been a gradual thing. I think the Church would have taken comfort in the fact that numbers remained high but now that the numbers are declining the issue has become magnified. If you look around now you see that most parishes have one Mass less than what they used to have, while there is a noticeable gap in the under-35 age group.”
In earlier decades, attending Mass and professing one’s faith publicly was not only a religious event but a social one too. Traditionally, Sunday morning was a popular meeting time for returning students or young professionals working away from their rural or urban parish.
“I mean, there was a great social element to it; if you look back two decades or so ago you had students home or people working in cities coming home at weekends. Now though, people’s lifestyles have changed and the strong social element is not quite as obvious.”
Figures show that, in 1981, the proportion of people in Ireland who said they believed in God stood at 97 per cent, nine years later that figure stood at 98 per cent, dropping slowly to 96 per cent a further nine years on. It now stands at 84 per cent.
However, while three out of four people surveyed in an Irish Examiner/Red C opinion poll, published last week, believe in God, they are still not inclined to attend formal religious services.
The notion of concerted religious apathy, more specifically amongst younger generations, is not one Fr Carney readily subscribes to; he prefers the concept of personal choice and freedom.
“Again, if you look back to our parents’ generation, you find that people went to Mass and religious services out of a terrific sense of duty. Their parents were going and, along with that, it would have been quite obvious in a parish if one were absent. It was both duty and fear which compelled many people to go, and indeed the priests of that generation were also infused with this sense of compulsion to urge their congregation to go to Mass. Today, there is a greater sense of choice and freedom.”
In turn, such choice affords a greater level of ‘quality participation’. Fr Carney, who also spent eleven busy years in Claremorris, explains that despite a drop-off in Mass attendance, people are continuing to participate in Church and community activities.
“You find that people are coming along now and taking part because they want to. The age profile itself is pretty varied, ranging from people in their early thirties upwards; many may have young children or indeed people with older children. It is important to remember that people have a very different sense of ‘Church’ now. There is a huge respect for the Church in the broadest sense of the word, and I am not referring to just the hierarchy itself, but also the sense of community which emanates from the Church. So much of life is community and that becomes apparent in times of joy and so too sadness.”
In an effort to keep pace with the demands of their congregations and entice ‘lost sheep’ back to the proverbial fold, clergy members and the laity have coalesced on various initiatives. For instance, earlier Mass times and also later Masses on a Sunday evening have been arranged to account for those who work alternative hours. The challenge to entice and retain younger members within the religious fold is never-ending.
Phrases as ‘dis-enchantment’ and ‘dis-connect’ are frequently volunteered in an effort to explain non-attendance at church ceremonies.
“I mean, certainly that is a point that I hear on a regular basis and one which we attempt to understand. I think that the challenge for the Church is to try and meet people where they are at, and to come up with innovative ways to respond to their needs,” continued Fr Carney.
While Mass numbers may have declined in recent years, a strong sense of spirituality can still be found, particularly during joyous and indeed tragic occasions.
”We must draw a distinction between attending Mass and our sense of spirituality. You can still believe in God, have a strong sense of faith but yet may not attend religious services on a regular basis. For instance, we find that many young people who are getting married, and who may not have attended Mass on a regular basis, still retain a strong sense of faith and indeed our spirituality is extremely strong particularly in times of crises, where people come together to deal with tragedies and sadness in communities.”
While, in the interim, there are no obvious factors to indicate a rapid increase in Church attendance figures, attention is focussed on personal responsibility and choice.
“Yes figures have certainly dropped and there are many challenges facing the congregation and the clergy, with the latter suffering from a fall-off in vocations. I think though that, ultimately, it is a personal choice but with that choice comes a responsibility. Mass attendance is not everything, but if people disconnect from God and worshipping with their community, there is in a sense then a disconnect from their community.”
