Religion

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
14 Dec 2008

Most people throughout history have been religious, worshipping God or gods, acknowledging the reality of a supreme Power.  But the world-wide religious scene contains a number of surprises and hides important differences of belief and practice.

Most Christians now believe that heaven is open to non-Christians of good will, but this was not always the case.  Many Jews still remain uncertain about the nature and even existence of life after death, while Muslims believe that heaven is closed to non-Muslims.  The two great Eastern religions often teach a doctrine of reincarnation, whereby we return after death as another being.

Very few Australians are Hindus or Buddhists, but a surprising 25 percent of Australians claim to believe in reincarnation.  Most seem uncertain of the meaning of the term, although it demonstrates once again the persistent yearning for life after death.

Some other differences between the great religious traditions are well known; others less so.  Most Australians are well aware that the position of women in Islamic society is different from Jewish and Christian understandings and that there is no Christian theory of a holy war, although Catholics in particular have a just war theory and the Christian participation in wars is another question again.

Not so many realize that Buddha did not speak about God at all and many do not know how entrenched belief in the caste system is among Hindus.  Recently Christians have been killed in India by religious extremists and many injured.  The continuing violence is motivated not merely by religious prejudice but by class antipathy to "untouchables", the lowest caste and tribal people who have converted to different forms of Christianity. 

We also find significant differences in religious practice around the world.

In Australia young people are less religious than their grandparents, with only 63 percent belonging to any of the main religious traditions.  Nearly 80 percent of their grandparents claim to be religious.  A more encouraging aspect of the Australian youth scene is the collapse of hostility among the different Christian denominations.

Leaving aside the resurgence of religious enthusiasm among young Muslims in many countries, often aided by Saudi money, in a survey of 84 countries older people in 76 of these countries attended more frequently than young adults.

Those who know the strength of Catholic life in the Philippines would not be surprised that more young people worship regularly there (88%) than older people, although I was surprised that this was true also in Norway, even if the level of attendance was only 10.5%.

The largest falls have occurred in Spain and Japan where five times as many older people attend.

In post-Communist Russia the percentage of young worshippers has doubled from 1995 to 8%, while young Croatian worshippers have increased from 30% to 50%.

Religion is not alive and well everywhere, but in many places it is healthier than in Australia.