Church showing many signs of a resurgence

GIVEN the findings of your special investigation into religion and religious practice in Ireland (March 20-21), the introductory headlines were somewhat misleading, to say the least.

If 45% of Irish people still attend Mass weekly, and 84% believe in God, this hardly constitutes a loss of religion or the religious sense.

In fact, numbers attending Mass have remained stable over the past few years. An opinion poll conducted in May 2006 by RTÉ’s Prime Time showed an almost identical rate of attendance. This means that half the population go to Mass weekly — some two million people.