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Bibby on Canadians and Religion

I followed up Nathan Bauman's suggestion from the comments section of my last post and found some information on Religion in Canada by Reginald Bibby. Bibby says:

In 1871 Catholics had a hold over 45 per cent of the Canadian population. Today they represent 44 per cent of the population.

So where are the changes? "In no religion," Bibby said. "No religion jumped up from below one per cent in 1961 to 16 per cent now."

So perhaps Canadians don't change churches as often as Americans. Bibby also comments on attendance numbers: "We see that the weekly attendance level has dropped down to about 20 per cent. Yet at the same time when we ask Canadians if they believe in a God that cares about them personally, about 80 per cent of them say they do." Bibby backs up some of my observations when he discusses what the future may hold:

"But as they get a little older they invariably want weddings, Baptisms, confirmations and funerals (and end up) reverting to the religious identification of their parents," Bibby continued.

"Within five years, one in three no religion people become something. Within 10 years, two in three become something. So if you don't get them on their wedding and you don't get them on their Baptism, you get them on their funeral."

... "Among 15 to 19 year olds we have seen in recent years an increase in the proportion of teenagers who are actively involved in the churches," he said, noting that World Youth Day had shown "young people are interested in God."

Thanks to Nathan for the tip! More here.

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