Poll: Just half of farmers attend Mass regularly

Ireland’s farmers are losing their religion, with fewer attending Mass and more people claiming they only attend church for occasions such as weddings and christenings.

The findings from the Irish Examiner/ICMSA farming opinion poll shows strong support for women priests, but little backing for the doing away of one feature of Irish life — the tolling of the Angelus bells.

In response to the statement ‘I attend Mass regularly’, 54% of people agreed — down from 69% in 2015, when the question was also asked, and an even more pronounced fall from the corresponding figure in 2013, when 71% agreed with the statement.

Some 37% disagreed with the statement, also a higher percentage than in both previous years.

Mass attendance and interest in religion have traditionally been seen as stronger in rural areas but the poll findings show an eroding of the faith, with 40% of those questioned agreeing that ‘I tend to only visit the Church for weddings, funerals, christenings, communions and other special occasions’.

A higher percentage again, 58%, agreed that religious services had been cut back in their local parish. When the same question was asked in 2016, 53% of respondents agreed.

Recent years have also shown increased support for changes within the Church and the latest poll shows that 78% of respondents believe the Catholic Church should ordain women priests, including 45% who strongly agree.

When it comes to the demographics, younger farmers and those heading into middle age are more likely to hold these views.

Just 37% of the under 35s attend Mass weekly, whereas the figure for those aged 65 and above is almost double that.

As for attending church only for occasions such as weddings and christenings, 53% of those under 35 and 69% of those aged 35 to 44 agreed, versus 22% of those aged 55 to 64 and 19% of those aged 65 and over.

There is broad support across all age groups for the idea of ordaining women priests, peaking at 87% in the 35 to 44 age category, while middle-aged farmers (65%) are more likely to have noted the reduction in services in their local parish.

There is one bright spot for the Church, however — if anyone were to suggest scrapping the Angelus, it would get short shrift, with just 20% in favour versus the 62% who are opposed and another 18% who expressed no view.

Almost one-third of respondents aged 35 to 44 agreed that the Angelus should be axed, but support among the other age categories was much lower.

There has been increased attention on the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland due to the visit of Pope Francis in August and the parallel focus on an often painful past, not least the issue of clerical child sex abuse.

Pubs opened on Good Friday this year and the passing of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment also indicated a changing Ireland.

A special report on the state of the Church carried out by the Irish Examiner earlier this year showed that at least half of the 25 archdioceses and dioceses around the country have seen an aggregate fall in the number of priests serving within them in the past five years, while almost half have parishes which have had to reduce the number of Mass services they can offer.

Senior figures also warned that the ageing profile of priests and the lack of new ordinations could mean a further reduction in the Church’s footprint around the country, with stretched human resources, a small but growing number of parishes without a resident priest, and an increased role for deacons and for priests coming to serve from overseas.

There is a shrinking number of Masses, according to the survey, and, in some areas, limitations on when ceremonies such as weddings and baptisms can be conducted.

Back in our 2013 poll, 52% of farming families expressed the view that the Catholic Church was still a dominant force in Ireland.

The ICMSA said: “What is notable is the practical nature of the farmer-respondents; faced with the decline in the numbers of priests available to their dioceses and the likely acceleration of that reduction, you see the marked support for the ordination of women.”