Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1493590
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 FEBRUARY 2023 NEWS Malta Kattolicissima: living faith The vast majority of Maltese, from 92% in cosmopolitan St Paul's Bay to 99% in rural Għasri, say they are Roman Catholics. But how deep is the adherence to the faith? JAMES DEBONO digs into the Census data and spekas to theologian and episcopal delegate Nadia Delicata to understand what's happening CENSUS data suggests that an overwhelming majority of Maltese citizens aged 15 and over identify with the Roman Catholic religion. While 83% of the entire population – in- cluding migrants – identify themselves as Catholics, the percentage rises to a stagger- ing 96% among the more restricted cohort of Maltese citizens. A breakdown by age shows adherence to Catholicism ranging from 91% among 20- to 29-year-olds to 99% among those over 70. Maltese who do not identify with any reli- gion, outnumber other religious minorities in all age groups with their numbers ranging between a mere 0.2% among over 70-year- olds to 7% among 20- to 29-year-olds. Of the 7,254 Maltese citizens who do not identify with any religion, 85% are aged un- der 40. Maltese citizens who do not identify with any religion account for more than 3% in only five Maltese localities with the highest numbers found in St Paul's Bay (3.8%), Swie- qi (3.6%) and St Julians (3.1%). But among under 30-year-olds those who do not identify with any religion account for a tenth of the native population in St Paul's Bay, Swieqi and St Julians. In Saint Paul's Bay which hosts a wide variety of faiths due to the strong presence of migrants, the per- centage of those who do not identify with any religion is higher among Maltese citizens (10.3%) than among the entire population (8.8%). A bulwark of Catholicism The Census also suggests that identification with the Catholic faith is strongest in Gozo. In fact, nine of the 10 localities with the high- est percentage of Catholics are all in Gozo, where Catholics account for over 98% of the Maltese population. Moreover, identification with the Catholic faith in Gozo remains strong among under 30-year-olds. Among this cohort, identifi- cation with Catholicism ranges from 93% in Zebbug, which includes Marsalforn, to 100% in Ghasri and San Lawrenz. The Maltese localities registering the high- est percentage of Catholics are Qormi, Isla, Santa Lucija, Luqa and Mqabba, all localities with a Labour majority at local level. The Census results also suggest that Malta is far less secular than other EU member states. For example, while in the German Census, also held in 202, 42% classified themselves as unaffiliated. Only 5% of the entire Maltese population did so. The Census also pours cold water on far- right fears of Islamisation. The Census con- firms a strong minority of Muslims in the general population – 17,454 Muslims com- pared to 373,304 Roman Catholics, but their numbers are only slightly higher than those of Orthodox Christians. Moreover, only 0.5% (1,746) of Maltese citizens identify them- selves as Muslims. But while the census confirms a strong identification with the Catholic faith among Maltese citizens, it does not throw light on how deep adherence to the Catholic faith goes. The Census considered religious affiliation as "the set of beliefs and practices with which respondents identify themselves, regardless of the level of religious attendance or obser- vance, or formal membership to a church or religious community." The last study on mass attendance conduct- ed by the church showed that that just under 37% of the country's Catholic population go to mass on Sunday. Malta Kattolika: From marker of identity to a culture of encounter? For Dr Nadia Delicata, the Catholic Church's Episcopal Delegate for Evangelisa- tion, the Census results show that 'Maltese' and 'Roman Catholic' are practically synony- mous and thus, the Roman Catholic label "is GHARB CATHOLICS ALL 98.6% U30 98.5% GHASRI CATHOLICS ALL 99.4% U30 100% VICTORIA CATHOLICS ALL 98.6% U30 96.7% NADUR CATHOLICS ALL U30 SAN LAWRENZ CATHOLICS ALL 98.6% U30 100% SANNAT CATHOLICS ALL 98.1% U30 97.8% MELLIEHA CATHOLICS ALL 95% U30 91.4% MGARR NON-AFFILIATED ALL 3% U30 7.5% MDINA CATHOLICS ALL 94.1% U30 91.6% XEWKIJA CATHOLICS ALL 99% U30 97.3% KERCEM CATHOLICS ALL 98.4% U30 96.8% FONTANA CATHOLICS ALL 98.6% U30 97.5% The 10 localities with the highest percentage of Roman Catholic Maltese citizens The 10 localities with the lowest percentage of Roman Catholic Maltese citizens