Types of Catholics in Ireland

Orthodox Catholics are the most devout of the four categories. This is the group that identifies most strongly with the institution of the Catholic Church. They follow church teachings rigorously, take part in church activities, rituals and practices, and strive to live by it's rules. Such individuals are incredibly proud of their faith, and wear it like a badge. They tend to be deeply involved with the church. Their entire social structure is based first and foremost (although not entirely) around like-minded strong Catholics who have similar if not identical views to them. This is a product of their habitual attendance at mass and other religious ceremonies. Their religion is a factor in every aspect of their lives. If a conflic were to arise between church teachings and some other large social commitment (family, work etc), it is likely that the orthodox Catholic would favour the views of the church. For example, it is highly likely that an orthodox Catholic would insist on a deceasced member of their family having a Christian burial. Otrthodox Catholics generally remain loyal to the church as a whole, despite the child abuse scandals within church run Christian Brother's schools and convents

It would appear from the present study as well as the findings from the
European Values Surveys (1990 and 1999) that strong Catholics may be becoming less rigid or legalistic in their adherence to Church rules and regulations. Certainly the notion of having to attend Mass every Sunday seems to be on the decline. A comparison of the findings between the EVS studies of 1990 and 1999 indicates that the level of attendance at Mass dropped for all age groups. Although the decline in weekly attendance was greatest among 18–30 year olds (-27 per cent) it was also high among the 31–49 year olds (-17 per cent) which may be an indication that the notion of middle-age Catholics returning to orthodox practice once they marry and have children, may not be happening so often.

However, even orthodox Catholics are becoming less consistent and inflexible when it come to abiding by church teachings. This is particularly evident when we consider the rule of going to mass every Sunday, as attendance appears to be declining. STATISTICS

What needs to be investigated is to what extent strong Catholics are still prominent in everyday life in Ireland, to what extent they manifest their Catholic identity outside of the religious field. We are well used to the notion of strong
Protestants in Northern Ireland, but are there any equivalents in the South? Have strong Catholics disappeared out of political life in the Republic? Are there any
Catholic equivalents to Ian Paisley? Thirty years ago, strong Catholic politicians such as Oliver J. Flanagan had a high public profile. In 1974, the Taoiseach Liam
Cosgrave, voted against his own government’s proposed legislation to allow chemists to sell contraceptives to married couples (Lee, 1989: 479). But the question is not just to what extent strong Catholics have disappeared from the political field in the
Republic, it is also to what extent they have disappeared in the fields of education, health and social welfare. Indeed, what needs to be examined most is to what extent they have disappeared within families, communities and everyday social life. have disappeared within families, communities and everyday social life. Identity is about how individuals see and understand themselves, the people with whom they have a sense of commonality and belonging. In everyday social life, identity revolves around an ongoing ontological sense of self, the sense of being different from other individuals and the sense of being the same. For most people, seeing and understanding oneself as a Catholic is an inherited social identity. The question is to what extent this self-understanding permeates everyday social life, when, where and among whom does it manifest itself.

Cultural Catholics are generally more interested in what in means for thier cultural heritage to be Catholic, rather than the institutionalised church. They are more flexible when it comes to the 'laws' of the church, and appear more open to modernization, debate, and the introdction of teachings more relevant to the society in which they live. However, they are Catholic, and are not in any way tempted to change their religion, as they see it as part of who they are. They are not particularly enthusiatic about finding their particular and unique identity, and their religion is in no way a means of them accomplishing that. It is, however, part of their culture and something that has always been in their lives. It is something in which they can feel comfortable and have no desire to leave, despite the many options available to them. It is not something that they question, more something that they accept as a given fact, ''I am a Catholic'', in the same way that one might simply accept the fact that they live in their parents' old house, and like it there. In this way, they are not willing for their religious life to change, as religion is not an important aspect of their life. It is unlikely that a cultural Catholic will have an in depth knowledge of Catholicism (despite knowing prayers and perhaps parables etc) and will most likely not seek further knowledge of it. Despite a loss of trust in the Catholic Church due to child abuse scandals, cultural Catholics seem to have no problem with sending their children to a Catholic run school, and allowing them to be taught the Catholic faith. It is highly likely that these children would also be baptised, receive Holy Communion and be confirmed. In this way, a cultural Catholic (even one who does not regularly attend mass or pray) is often in attendance of religious cermonies, such as Christenings, marriages, funerals etc. It is hard to imagine that such a person would boycott these events on the basis that they are perhaps not as devout as an orthodox Catholic. However, it is likely that (despite raising them Catholic) the cultural Catholic will allow their children to choose whether they want to attend mass or not, perhaps encouraging them on major events such as Christmas and Easter.

The creative Catholic is a category that has generally been frowned upon by the orthodox leaders of the church. In recent years, there have been demands by outraged clergy for the so called 'a la carte' Catholics to either declare themselves in or out. This is because the creative Catholic chooses not to follow the teachings 'religiously', preferring instead to choose what practices to follow, and which to ignore entirely. This is what separates the creative Catholic from the cultural Catholic. They tend to be more spiritually and religiously daring, and are exited to find new ways of either expressing or 'finding' themselves spiritually. They may attend mass regularly, pray, believe in God and receive holy sacraments, but will make thier own decisions when it comes to more controversial issues such as abortion, contraception, divorce, genetics, stem cell research, etc. Not only do this category of Catholics choose what Catholic teachings they do or do not believe in, they have taken to fusing these beliefs with traditionally non-Catholic practices. The aim of a creative Catholic is to find the identity and personal belief system that suits them the most. In this way, creative Catholics are not restricted by the moral and social boundaries imposed by the conservative Catholic church, and are able to find their own spirituality. Despite their religious independence and freedom, they still consider themselves fundementally Catholic, as they believe that their beliefs (even those that are attained from other religions) do not clash with, and have become part of their Catholic style of life. It is possible that creative Catholics are searching for meaning or identity that the Catholic church alone cannot provide, and must look to other sources of sprirituality. Examples of this include meditation, yoga, a belief in karma or astrology, despite the fact that the church does not recognise an in some cases condemns such beliefs. As they are exposed to a wider range of religions and practices, they become more adventurous and willing to try new things. In this way, they are able to find what relates directly to them. It is suggested that creative Catholics identify more with ideas and teachings of religions such as Buddhism and Taoism rather than major religions such as Judaism and Islam. This may be because-although there are incredibly large cultural differences and customs associated with these religions-Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are fundementally very similar. The creative Catholic is looking for something fresh and unfamiliar in which they can find themselves. It is possible that the meditation aspect of Buddhism for example, provides them with this. The liberal nature of the creative Catholic has caused outcry among the ordained members of society, as they believe that the teachings of the Catholic church should not be hand picked at will and placed alongside the teachings of other religions. However, creative Catholics have a strong identification with the Catholic religion. It is in their desire to enhance their faith and religious identity that they have incorporated new methods of self expression and spirituality.

Alienated Catholics
In the 2002 Census of Population, there were 146, 258 (5.5 per cent) people returned as having no religion or not stating their religion. There were only 1,528 who said that they were either agnostics or atheists. As previous censuses have shown over 90 per cent of the population to be Catholic, it is probably safe to assume that most of these are alienated Catholics. This corresponds roughly with the 7 per cent of respondents Mothers played a key role in passing on the faith and keeping Ireland so
Catholic for so long. However, it would appear that the decline in the number of strong Catholics and the rise in the number who have become alienated from the institutional Church, can be linked to women who abandoned the traditional image of the Irish Catholic mother. Hilliard (2003) found that the Church’s teaching on fertility control was a crucial factor in this process. For Fidelma, this was the more important scandal in Irish society.

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