Catholic World News News Feature

Church Attendance Dropping In Italy October 18, 2001

ROME, Oct 18, 01 (CWNews.com) - The number of Italian Catholics who attend Mass each week has dropped steadily since 1993, according to a new poll published on Thursday.

Only 35 percent of Catholics went to church every week during 2000, the Church's Jubilee Year, according to the survey conducted by the Italian national statistics office (ISTAT). Some 14 percent of Italians said they never go to church. In 1993, 39.2 percent of Italians aged 11 and older when to church at least once per week.

Students were also found to be the least likely to attend church regularly -- only 21 percent of 25-34 year olds go each Sunday. The poll also showed marked regional and gender variations in religious practice, with the southern regions having the highest percentages of people regularly attending church. Twice as many women as men go to church once or more a week.