Christianity viewed positively in Ireland, but the Church less so

A survey of 1000 adults in the Republic of Ireland was conducted by the Iona Institute in February 2025, followed up by another survey the following month. A similar survey was conducted in 2011.

The results for the 2025 survey showed that 61 per cent of people in Ireland described themselves as religious and/or spiritual. Three in 10 people said they were neither. One in two adults in Ireland said they pray, while three in 10 meditate.

More than twice as many people have a positive – as distinct from a negative – attitude towards Christianity, the survey results showed. But when survey respondents were asked if they had a favourable or unfavourable view when they think about the Catholic Church in Ireland, 47 per cent responded “unfavourable”. This was up from 40 per cent in 2011.

At the same time, 27 per cent said they viewed the Church favourably, up from 24 per cent in 2011. Just under one-third said “neither”.

The survey showed that 42 per cent of those with negative views of the Church named abuse as a reason for their views, with 31 per cent naming scandals. Only 17 per cent named “old-fashioned views” – such as attitude towards women, abortion and LGBTQ+ issues – as the reason, while 14 per cent named the traditional control of the Church on the country as a reason.

David Quinn, the founder and director of The Iona Institute, said despite its high ranking, the abuse crisis isn’t the primary reason for the falling status of the Church in Irish culture.

“I think even without the scandals, issues such as the Church’s past influence on society, its attitude to women – as critics see it – and more generally its ‘old-fashioned views’ would still be cited,” he told Crux.

“I think the scandals definitely increased public anger greatly, but I also think we would have had drastically reduced Mass attendance anyway due to secularisation. The Protestant churches here have also seen huge falls in attendance. The scandals definitely mean increased negativity towards priests and religious though,” Mr Quinn said.

The report said despite the legacy of the clerical abuse scandals, most people agree Catholic teachings and the Church itself “remain relevant and important to the wider sense of Irish identity and as a source of values and guidance for the future”.

FULL STORY

PowerPoint Presentation (Iona Institute)

Attitudes to Church in Ireland are ‘deeply divided’ according to new poll (Crux)