Irish people are split on their view of the Catholic Church in Irish society, according to a new poll [1] commissioned by The 
Iona Institute.
The poll, carried out by Amarach Research, shows that 47pc currently hold an unfavourable view of the Church, but that 46pc believe Church teaching is still of benefit to society.
The 47pc who have an unfavourable view of the Church currently includes 20pc of weekly Mass-goers. This indicates that holding an unfavourable view of the Church at present, does not mean that such a person is against the Church as such.
The 22pc of the public who agreed that they would be happy if the Catholic Church disappeared from Irish society completely are more likely to fall into this category. Thirty one percent strongly disagreed with the statement, while 20pc disagreed slightly. The rest had no opinion.
However, one in five people agree that the Government is excessively hostile towards the Catholic Church. Thirty one per cent of weekly Mass-goers agreed with this statement, while 32pc of weekly Mass-goers disagreed. Forty five percent of non-Catholics disagreed with this statement.
The poll was conducted in September, only weeks after the public outcry following the publication of the Cloyne report and the attack on the Vatican by Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.
It showed that the main reason offered by those who view the Church unfavourably is the scandals. Fifty six per cent of those with an unfavourable view said that the child abuse scandals was the main factor behind their view, with 18pc citing the cover-ups surrounding the scandals.
However, the poll also showed that 20pc of people strongly agreed that Catholic teachings were still of benefit, with 26pc agreeing slightly.
Seventeen percent of people disagreed strongly, with 14pc disagreeing slightly. Nineteen percent had no opinion. Women were more likely to agree that Catholic teachings were still of benefit to Irish society. Fifty percent of women agreed with that statement, compared with 43pc of men.
Commenting on the poll, Dr John Murray, the Chairman of The Iona Institute said: “The poll shows that the public is varied in its attitude towards the Church. On the one hand, almost half view the Church unfavourably and on the other almost half believe the teachings of the Church are still of benefit to society, despite the scandals.
He continued: “The poll also seems to show that viewing the Church unfavourably doesn’t in itself indicate anti-Catholicism. This is probably to be found among the 22 pc of people who say they would be happy to see the Church vanish from Ireland completely.
“The poll was conducted shortly after the publication of the Cloyne report when anger at the Church was probably still intense. It would be interesting to see what a poll conducted at a calmer time would find.”