Falling Birthrate And Rising Secularization Accounts For Fewer Catholic Baptisms

According to a new report from The Iona Institute, the number of Catholic baptisms taking place in Ireland annually has dropped by 30 percent in the last decade. The nonprofit noted that researchers determined that the decline is due to a drop in births and rise in “secularism.” “Falling births account for about 60 percent of the decline with the rest accounted for by secularization,” the report affirmed.

The Iona Institute cited statistics gathered by Ireland’s Center for Statistics Office (CSO) showing that births have dropped by 18.8 percent during the same period. Births dropped by 17.9 percent in the Republic of Ireland and 21.3 percent in British-controlled Northern Ireland. The NGO reported, “Census data from the CSO allows us to look at the religion of mothers and children. In 2016, 78.3 percent of 0-4-year-olds were marked down in the Census as Catholic, and 9.2 percent were recorded as having no religion. By 2022, these figures had changed to 65.4 percent and 15.6 percent respectively.” 

The CSO reported that 67.9 percent of the mothers of these children identified themselves as Catholic, while 15.7 percent claimed no religion in 2022. Catholic mothers of children 0 - 4 years of age report having them baptized. 
The archdiocese of Dublin saw a fall of 40 percent in ten years, while the diocese of Kerry saw 22.3 percent. The dioceses of Down and Connor, which covers the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland saw a big drop, as did the Meath diocese in central Ireland. The diocese of Kerry saw a drop of 22.3 percent. The diocese of Elphin in the west of Ireland saw an increase of 0.9 percent, the only diocese to witness an increased number of baptisms.

In response, Iona Institute chairman Tom Finegan said he was not surprised by the figures, given the sharp decrease in the birth rate and “growing secularization.”Given that births have fallen by almost a fifth in the last ten years, and more people are ticking the ‘No Religion’ box in the Census, we could expect nothing but a big drop in baptism figures,” he said.

Finegan remains assured that the figures reveal that “‘cultural Catholicism’ remains strong on the island.” He added, “We see that as at Census 2022, 67.9pc of mothers with children aged 0-4 still identified as Catholic, even though a big majority of these would not be regular Mass-goers.”

He cautioned that it remains to be seen whether “cultural Catholicism will remain a force in Irish life.” He concluded: “The fall in baptisms must be seen not simply as the result of secularisation, but even more as a result of falling births. Ireland’s fertility rate is now just 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1. This should be of concern to everyone, regardless of religious belief.”

In 2023, the Iona Institute reported on the CSO’s census of that year, noting a sharp decline in Catholic identity in Ireland. Preliminary results from the 2022 census showed that Catholics represented 69 percent of the population, representing a drop from 79 percent in 2016 and more than 90 percent in 2006. Catholics in Dublin, according to CSO, had but 53 percent claiming a Catholic identity, while rural counties retained Catholic majorities. Mayo, for instance, stood at 80 percent. 

At the same time, Ireland’s population surpassed 5 million for the first time since the Great Famine in 1847, growing by 8 percent since 2016, largely because of immigration. The number identifying as having “no religion” rose by 284,269 to 736,210, or 14% of the population, compared with 9.8 percent in 2011. The total number of Catholics fell by 180,783 to 3,515,861.

The Central Statistics Office cautioned that the 2022 figures cannot be directly compared with earlier censuses because the religion question was changed. In 2022, “no religion” appeared first among the response options, and the question was changed from “What is your religion?” to “What is your religion, if any?”