Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Sydney (Agenzia Fides) - With 27.56% of the Australian population being Catholic, the Church is still the largest religious community in the country. This is what a statement sent from the Church in Australia to Agenzia Fides, said. The publication has been sent on the eve of World Youth Day, as the Church has wished to give an update on the latest statistics on Catholics in the continent.
According to this data, although the number of Catholics in Australia grew by 125,260 between the 2001 and 2006, it declined slightly as a proportion of the country's total population.
Serving Catholics are 1,390 parishes, 63 bishops, 3,125 priests, 7,950 religious, 40 lay members of secular institutes and 8,192 catechists. Catholic education also has a presence in the country. A total of 736,288 Catholic and non-Catholic children and young people participate in 2,252 Catholic schools.
Other Catholic institutions are also active in Australia including: 58 hospitals, 5 clinics, 407 homes for the elderly or disabled, 164 orphanages and nurseries, 210 family counseling centers and other pro-life centers, 480 centers for education and social rehabilitation, and 24 institutions of other kinds.
The statistics show a community in good health on the continent, although other recently-made studies from the national press tend to depict the Australian citizens as highly indifferent to the sacred or agnostics. According to a recent study published by the Sydney Morning Herald, almost 20 percent of Australians ticked the "no religion" box.
However, according to experts – in spite of the registered decline in faith in society in the last 30 years, due to the growth of secularism – the search for “the sacred” and religion of some kind is always present among the youth and throughout society. With that in mind, the Church highlights that the great event of WYD will be a precious opportunity to offer a response and to bring the Good News of Christ’s love to the hearts in search of Him. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/07/2008)
