Census
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
14 Jul 2002
We are often led to believe that Australia generally, and Sydney in particular are irreligious places, that all religions have similar teachings, and that one church is very much like any other. In fact, as the latest Census results show, none of these claims are true.
Throughout history most people have believed in God (or gods) and belonged to a religion. While Australia is not as religious as the United States or Ireland, we are more religious than many European countries, including Britain.
In the census of 2001 the number of Catholics in Australia increased from 1996 by 202,000, the total number for all Christian denominations increased by 181,000, and the members of non-Christian religions increased by 296,000 or about 45 per cent.
It is true that the percentage of Christians in Australia has dropped from 1961 when it was 88 per cent, to 68 per cent today, but Australia is still populated by an overwhelming number of people who call themselves Christian, and an increasing number of believers from the other great religious traditions (911,000 people).
The number of people who claim to follow no religion has risen dramatically from 1961, when 0.5 per cent said they were irreligious. In 2001 the percentage was 15.5, still a minority. What was unexpected was that the number of unbelievers fell by 70,000 from 1996, when 16.6 per cent were in this category. It is remarkable that not one commentary a have read noted this surprise decline in the number of the irreligious. Some unbelievers like to think they represent the wave of the future and do not like to admit contrary evidence.
Pagans are people who do not believe in God (10,600 in the census) and it is true that paganism in Sydney is alive, well and disproportionately powerful for its minority status. But Sydney is a religious city, with 29.6 per cent of the population Catholic (well above the national Catholic percentage of 26.6 and slightly higher percentage-wise than Melbourne), and Sydney has a strong Anglican community. Historically the percentage of unbelievers has been lower in New South Wales and the percentage of Sydney Catholics who worship every Sunday is close to the highest in Australia, almost double the rate of the lowest areas.
The irreligious do not seem to be clear on how or what they disbelieve. Fewer than 25,000 define themselves as atheists, who reject the idea of God. 1,600 call themselves rationalists and fewer than 18,000 are agnostics, people uncertain about or disinterested in God's existence. Disinterest is a bigger problem than active disbelief.
Most census figures contain some surprises. We often see in the media images of booming evangelical communities in the suburbs. Unfortunately however over the last five years the number in the Assemblies of God dropped 50 per cent to 30,000, with similar falls in the Outreach Centres and Revival Crusade. The Baptists increased slightly and the Mormons improved their numbers by 15 percent.
The number of Buddhists increased by almost 80 per cent to 358,000 and the number of Moslems increased by 40 per cent to 282,000, a good percentage of them in Sydney. Many of these Moslems have a strong faith in the one true God, are deeply prayerful, with a keen awareness of life after death and an enthusiasm to spread their faith. They are a new religious force.
