After decades of steady decline, the proportion of Americans who identify as Christians appears to have stabilised, according to a major new survey by the Pew Research Center. Moreover, the youngest age group surveyed – the 18-24-year-olds – seems to be somewhat more religious than age groups immediately above them. This is similar to polling...
What happens when a person converts from one religion to another, or abandons religion altogether? A major new report charts exactly this, and a big finding is that “Conversion into Christianity appears to provide meaning, coherence, and social integration, whilst leaving the faith often coincides with disorientation and emotional decline.” This stands to reason. When...
The UK Supreme Court has delivered an important judgment on religious education in a Northern Ireland State primary school, ruling that the current way religion is taught amounts to ‘indoctrination’, and that the right to withdraw a child from RE class should not be unduly burdensome on the child. The ruling does allow that RE...
The latest Religious Freedom in the World Report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reveals that almost two-thirds of humanity, about 5.4 billion people, live in places where serious violations of religious freedom religious, up to and including martyrdom in all too many cases, occur. The most widely persecuted group is Christians. The...
At a press conference last week, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was asked by Gript journalist, Ben Scallan, whether Ireland should adopt pro-natalist policies to raise our very low birth rate. The context was the launch of a major new report looking ahead to 2065 and the financial challenges we will face, including from a fast-ageing...
People used to mainly inherit their religion, like their politics, from their parents. This is no longer the case and hasn’t been for a long time. Now people often have to acquire religion (and politics) for themselves. It is a much more individualistic thing. A new report from Britain overall highlights this fact but shows...
What are the signs of a great openness to religion among members of Gen Z? Stephen Bullivant, Professor of Theology and Sociology of Religion at St Mary’s University, Twickenham in London, looks at what the data have to say. He gave his talk at 2025 Iona Institute youth conference on October 11 in Dublin. The...
At our recent youth conference, Bishop Niall Coll (pictured) addressed the topic, ‘The Crucial Choice Before Gen Z’. Citing St John Henry Newman, he said that there are “three Ds” needed for faith, namely ‘disposition’, ‘decision ‘and ‘difference’, that is, a disposition towards the faith, followed by a willingness to make a decision to embrace...
Watch the opening remarks from David Quinn at the annual Iona Institute youth conference. In his opening address at the annual Iona Institute youth conference last Saturday, (you can watch the address here), David Quinn spells out the demographic facts of life to Gen Z. He told a packed room that ‘Gen Z’ (roughly corresponding to those in their...
There is a marked revival of interest in religion among young people in Northern Ireland, a major new poll commissioned by The Iona Institute has found. This is a clear reversal of the previous continual decline by age. The youngest age group polled, that is, the 18-24-year-olds, are more likely to have a ‘very positive’...
