The overall aim was to conduct a wide-ranging survey of Catholic adults living in Britain, which asked about many aspects of their lives, including their socio-demographic circumstances, the nature and extent of their religious engagement (belonging, behaviour and beliefs), their views of the Catholic Church’s leadership, institutions and teachings, and their social and political attitudes. The survey was conducted online by Savanta ComRes, in October-November 2019. This is a cross-sectional dataset, based on interviews with 1,823 self-identifying Catholics adults in Britain (aged 18 and over).

In recent decades, the religious profile of British society has changed significantly, with a marked increase in 'religious nones', declining proportions identifying as Anglican or with a particular Non-Conformist tradition, an increase in non-denominational Christians, and the spread of non-Christian faiths. Within this wider context, Roman Catholics have remained broadly stable as a proportion of the adult population and represent the second largest Christian denomination in Britain, after Anglicans. However, there have been significant internal and external developments which have affected the institutional church and wider Roman Catholic community in Britain, and which could have shaped how Catholics' think about and engage with their faith and how it impacts their daily lives. Recent years have seen demographic change through significant inflows of Catholic migrants coming from Eastern Europe, the papal visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain in autumn 2010 (the first since 1982), Pope Francis's pontificate from 2013 onwards, Catholic leaders' political interventions against 'aggressive secularism' and in other policy debates, and internal crises and debates impacting on the perceived authority of the Catholic Church. The last major academic investigation of the Catholic community (and only in England and Wales) was undertaken in the late 1970s (Hornsby-Smith and Lee 1979; Hornsby-Smith 1987, 1991). It found that the 'distinctive subculture' of the Catholic community in the post-war period was evolving and dissolving in complex ways due to processes of social change and developments within the wider faith, such as the Second Vatican Council (Hornsby-Smith 1987, 1991). It also demonstrated growing internal heterogeneity in Catholics' religious beliefs, practices and social attitudes (Hornsby-Smith 1987, 1991). However, while there has been some recent scholarship on particular topics relating to Catholics and Catholicism in Britain, using both general social surveys and limited one-off denomination-specific opinion polls (Clements 2014a, 2014b; 2016; Bullivant 2016a, 2016b), there has been no systematic academic inquiry into the Roman Catholic population in Britain. In comparison, an academic-led survey series has profiled the Catholic population in the United States on five occasions between 1987 and 2011, with other large-scale surveys carried out in recent years by organisations such as the Pew Research Center. Most existing research into the waning of religious belief, practice, and affiliation in Britain has focused either on the very large, macro level or on the very small, micro level. While both are important and necessary, largely missing has been sustained sociological attention on how secularising trends have affected - and are being mediated within - individual religious communities. This project would undertake such a task for Roman Catholics in Britain, by conducting a large-scale, thematically wide-ranging and nationally representative survey. It would provide a detailed study of personal faith, social attitudes and political engagement within a significant religious minority with distinctive historical roots and in which 'tribal' feelings of belonging have been strong. The core topics would consist of personal faith, religiosity and associational involvement in parish life; attitudes towards leadership and governance within the institutional church; attitudes on social and moral issues; and political attitudes and engagement. It would be thematically wide-ranging and analytically rich, providing a detailed portrait of contemporary social, religious and attitudinal heterogeneity amongst Catholics. By undertaking this large-scale and wide-ranging survey, an important and distinctive contribution would be made to the sociology of religion in Britain in general and to the study of its Catholic population in particular.

The 2021 Northern Ireland Census marked the first time since records began where the Catholic share of the population was larger than the combined Protestant share. In 2021, over 42 percent of the population classified themselves as Catholic or from a Catholic background, in comparison with 37 percent classified as Protestant or from a Protestant background. Additionally, the share of the population with no religion (or those who did not answer) was 19 percent; larger than any individual Protestant denomination. This marks a significant shift in demographic and societal trends over the past century, as Protestants outnumbered Catholics by roughly 2:1 when Northern Ireland was established in the 1920s. Given the Catholic community's historic tendency to be in favor of a united Ireland, many look to the changing religious composition of the population when assessing the potential for Irish reunification. Religion's historical influence A major development in the history of British rule in ireland was the Plantation of Ulster in the 1600s, where much of the land in the north (historically the most rebellious region) was seized from Irish Catholics and given to Protestant settlers from Britain (predominantly Scots). This helped establish Protestant dominance in the north, created a large section of the population loyal to the British crown, and saw a distinct Ulster-Scots identity develop over time. In the 1920s, the republican movement won independence for 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, however, the six counties in Ulster with the largest Protestant populations remained part of the UK, as Northern Ireland. Following partition, structural inequalities between Northern Ireland's Protestant and Catholic communities meant that the Protestant population was generally wealthier, better educated, more politically empowered, and had better access to housing, among other advantages. In the 1960s, a civil rights movement then emerged for equal rights and status for both sides of the population, but this quickly turned violent and escalated into a the three-decade long conflict now known as the Troubles.

The Troubles was largely fought between nationalist/republican paramilitaries (mostly Catholic), unionist/loyalist paramilitaries (mostly Protestant), and British security forces (including the police). This is often described as a religious conflict, however it is more accurately described as an ethnic and political conflict, where the Catholic community generally favored Northern Ireland's reunification with the rest of the island, while the Protestant community wished to remain in the UK. Paramilitaries had a large amount of support from their respective communities in the early years of the Troubles, but this waned as the conflict progressed into the 1980s and 1990s. Demographic and societal trends influenced the religious composition of Northern Ireland's population in these decades, as the Catholic community had higher fertility rates than Protestant communities, while the growing secularism has coincided with a decline in those identifying as Protestant - the dip in those identifying as Catholic in the 1970s and 1980s was due to a protest and boycott of the Census. The Troubles came to an end in 1998, and divisions between both sides of the community have drastically fallen, although they have not disappeared completely.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates about the religion or religion brought up in of the usual resident population of Northern Ireland, by broad age bands. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body.

'Age' is age at last birthday.

'Catholic' includes those who gave their religion or their religion brought up in as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

This table provides Census 2021 estimates that classify people by Country of birth (12 categories) by Religion or religion brought up in for Northern Ireland. The table contains 48 counts.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

notes

1. 'EU' is the European Union and is as defined on census day (21 March 2021).
2. People who gave 'Cyprus' as their country of birth are included within the 'Europe: Other EU countries' category.
3. 'Europe: Other Non-EU countries' includes United Kingdom (part not specified) and Ireland (part not specified).
4. 'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body.
5. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

This table provides Census 2021 estimates that classify people by National identity (8 categories) by Religion (8 categories) for Northern Ireland. The table contains 64 counts.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

Approximately ****** prisoners in England and Wales identified as being Christian in 2024, the most of any religious faith among prisoners. A further ****** identified as having no religion, while ****** identified as Muslims.

Political inequality between Catholic and Protestant communities was one of the key social issues in the 1960s in Northern Ireland, and the civil rights campaign that emerged in the pursuit of equal representation would eventually give way to the 30-year conflict that became known as the Troubles. Following Irish independence from Britain in the 1920s, the island of Ireland was partitioned and the six counties of Ireland with the largest Protestant populations remained in the UK as Northern Ireland. At the time of partition, the north's population was roughly two-thirds Protestant, one-third Catholic, which gave political dominance to unionist parties - generally seen as those representing Protestant communities' interests. However, despite the numerical advantage, the political system was rigged to further extend this political advantage. University students and business owners (both groups were overwhelmingly Protestant), were granted a second vote in Stormont (Northern Ireland's parliament) elections. In local elections, only ratepayers (i.e. the heads of households) and their spouses could vote - this excluded many Catholic adults who were living in multi-generational households, which was a symptom of Northern Ireland's housing shortage and inequalities in housing allocation between the two communities. Moreover, this meant that voters who paid rates (NI's council tax) on multiple properties could vote several times, on top of additional votes for business owners and companies, which were more likely to be Protestant. In addition to voting inequalities, districts were gerrymandered in favor of unionist parties. In combination, these factors often proved decisive in swinging elections to give unionist parties victory in Catholic-majority areas.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in Northern Ireland by their religion. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

This table reports the categories for which there are 10 or more usual residents. Where there are fewer than 10 usual residents for any category, these have been reported in a residual group which may or may not contain 10 or more usual residents in total.

'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

This table provides Census 2021 estimates that classify people by Economic Activity by Economic activity by Religion or religion brought up in for Northern Ireland. The table contains 56 counts.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

British Army troops were sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 in order to de-escalate tensions between the dominant Protestant and minority Catholic communities during the civil rights movement. Operation Banner, as it came to be known, then lasted until 2007, making it the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The army was initially welcomed by Catholic communities, who felt they would offer protection from what they viewed as a corrupt and sectarian police service, however this quickly changed after a series of interactions between the army and Catholic community turned violent. The army would then become the primary target of republican (predominantly Catholic) paramilitaries throughout the Troubles, and around 750 of those killed in the conflict were from the British Armed Forces (including the UDR). The Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was also established in 1970 in an attempt to relieve the police (the RUC) of any militaristic duties, and to replace the Ulster Special Constabulary (also known as the B Specials), who were not trusted by the wider Catholic community. During the Troubles, regular army forces were mostly made up of soldiers from mainland Britain, while the UDR drew from the local population - originally intended to represent local demographics in terms of religious representation, the UDR was almost entirely made up of Protestants within a few years.