Letter: Irish church attendance
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.IN YOUR leader ``Catholics and the state'' (20 November) you refer to a figure in relation to regular church attendance in Ireland which I believe is wrong (although it has been quoted elsewhere).
``This is the most orthodox Catholic community in the Western world, where more than 80 per cent attend Mass once a week.''
As reported in the Irish Times of 1 July 1994, the book Values and Social Change in Ireland quotes a figure of 59 per cent attending church once a week, rising to 61 for Catholics. These statistics are taken from the 1990 European Values Studies report. They do not indicate a sudden drop in church attendance but actually a slight rise on the 1981 report figures.
Whereas I agree with the thrust of your editorial, exaggerating how conservative the Irish people are does not help those of us who would like to see change.
Gerry Blake
Glenageary, Co Dublin
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments