Decline in churchgoers 'can be slowed down but not stopped'

The decline in the number of churchgoers was not limited to Malta and although slowing it down was possible, stopping it was not, Rev. Robin Gill, a theologian and an Anglican priest, told a Discern seminar on falling church attendance.

Discern is the Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times of the Archdiocese of Malta.

A Discern census on Church attendance in Malta and Gozo in 2005 showed a continuing decline.

Rev. Prof. Gill tried to set the Malta census into a wider perspective, looking at other European countries.

Comparing Malta and Gozo to Gibraltar and England, Rev. Prof. Gill said that while 81.9 per cent of the Maltese population went to church in 1967, the percentage of churchgoers in England was 40 per cent.

In 1982, the percentage of churchgoers in Malta was 72.7 per cent, in Gozo it was 97 per cent, in Gibraltar it was an estimated 33.4 per cent and in England it stood at 34.4 per cent.

In 1995, Maltese churchgoers represented 61.7 per cent of the population, Gozitans totalled 83.5 per cent and the English stood at 24.6 per cent.

In 2005, the amount of churchgoers in Malta was down to 50.7 per cent, in Gozo to 81.3 per cent, in Gibraltar to 16.7 per cent and in England to 17.7 per cent.

This showed that not only was there a decline, but that it was also accelerating.

It was pointed out that although there was a decline, 90 per cent of churchgoers in Malta and 93.3 per cent in Gozo went to Church regularly.

Rev. Prof. Gill said he believed that churchgoing, more than religious belief, fostered and sustained a distinctive culture of beliefs and values.

A participant in the talk pointed out that there were things that could be done to improve churchgoing, such as making churches more friendly and welcoming.

Unfortunately, going to church was not an expression of joy and, perhaps, it was time to ask non-churchgoers why they were not going to church.

Archbishop Paul Cremona said it was important for people to establish the kind of relationship they wanted to have with God. A person who went to church once or twice a year was not really committed.

The issue was committing oneself to having a proper relationship with God, he said.