Which is the most Catholic country of them all?

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Two very Catholic countries are Poland and the Philippines. I have been to both and live now in the Philippines. I doubt that Catholics can well list five top countries, nor can I, since there are many Catholic countries we know little about, such as East Timor, Croatia and the countries in sub-Sahara Africa with majority Catholic populations. When it comes to most Western counties, Catholicism has dire problems when it comes to such matters as faith and lack of influence on public policy. Accordingly, you may have difficulty in finding a place you find satisfactory to live. I advise you just to start praying about what to do.
I am happy though that in the Philippines where I now live I do not see any dissent from Catholic beliefs among the priests and religious here, and the people have a very strong Catholic faith. When I left the U.S. I attended mass at several parishes where the people were mostly old people. Now, in the Philippines, the churches are filled with young people.
 
Not Brazil. I was in Brazil for several months and I have to say protestantism is spreading like wildfire. If things continue, Brazil will become a minority Catholic country before too long. I would have to pick Mexico because it is the second most populous Catholic country after Brazil, but I found that the faith is much stronger there.
 
I am thinking of moving to Italy or Philippines 🙂 I am an EU citizen, so I could work in Italy no problem…

Does anyone know if Italy has many young people attending church?

Thanks! 😃

Dyl
 
angelic06 said:
I don’t have any proof, but I thought it was Poland?😉

(That could change or have already done so, due to the European Union.:()
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Yes, I heard that the EU is affecting Italy too 😦 They appealed against an EU ruling banning crucifixes from classrooms 😦
 
Some people already said Malta. I’ve been there and would move there in a split-second if the opportunity ever arose! Very Catholic and English speaking, very cool.
 
Just remember that less than 50 years ago America was HUGELY Catholic. Running away to a “Catholic” country may making life far more difficult for your children or grandchildren.
 
crazydyl said:
I am thinking of moving to Italy or Philippines 🙂 I am an EU citizen, so I could work in Italy no problem…

Does anyone know if Italy has many young people attending church?

Thanks! 😃

Dyl
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Nope, mostly elderly in Italy’s churches.
 
Ok, I may just stay in England or move to Canada 😃 my kids are just going to have to put up with living amongst non-Catholics 😛
 
Orthodox Catholic schools still exist in certain areas. It makes all the difference. Move near one, before pop culture desensitizes and indoctrinates your kids. Do a google search or ask in a new thread.
 
Homeschool. Meet up with other Catholic homeschoolers, they are usually orthodox. Become active in pro-life work, I can recommend SPUC as a place to meet other committed catholics.Check out some UK Catholic blogs, we *are *about.
 
crazydyl said:
Hello All 😃

I did not have the best of childhoods growing up as a Catholic amongst the idiot youths of today (I am from England). If I have kids I want to have kids in a country where there is the most amount of kids going to church and actually being devout Catholics, does anyone know which countries have the highest percentage of youth being devout Catholics?

I was thinking Brazil? Could you list roughly the top 5 most Catholic countries, please? 👍

I don’t mind learning Portugese or even Korean if I am to move to South Korea 🙂 I have nobody cool and devout to chill with so I can learn the language in my spare time haha 😃

God bless

Dyl
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No, not Brazil(at least according to a 2003 almanac, and there are some who combine Catholicism with cultic beliefs there). However, Portugual is 95% Catholic(though keep in mind that thare probably a lot of people are non-practicing/lapsed). As a chilling side-note, Haiti is about 70% Catholic, yet approx. 3/4 of those "Catholics’ practice voudou! In addition, if Spain is so “devout”(over 90% of at least nominal Catholics), how was the horrendous crime of homophilic “marriages” ever allowed there?
 
Belgians are said to be particularily pious, as are the Italians(even though ultra-secular France had a higher no. of self-identifying Catholics ten yrs. ago- those whom have to “order” priests for weddings and baptism; however, I think that Burgundy is a little better than the rest of France, as is probably the Lourdes area). And do not forget about the Poles and their concordat with the Vatican(I had previously thought that there was fairly even numbers of Catholics and Lutherans there, but then found out that the country is overwhelmingly Roman).
 
Based on the most recent data I could find (most is within 5 years, two are within 10), here are numbers for some ‘traditionally Catholic countries’:

Malta
Identify as Catholic: 96%
Weekly Mass attendance: 84%

Poland
Identify as Catholic: 96%
Weekly Mass attendance: 60%

Philippines
Identify as Catholic: 82%
Weekly Mass attendance: 56%

Mexico
Identify as Catholic: 86%
Weekly Mass attendance: 51%

Ireland
Identify as Catholic: 90%
Weekly Mass attendance: 50%

Brazil
Identify as Catholic: 80%
Weekly Mass attendance: 45%

Italy
Identify as Catholic: 97%
Weekly Mass attendance: 36%

Spain
Identify as Catholic: 94%
Weekly Mass attendance: 19%

France
Identify as Catholic: 77%
Weekly Mass attendance: 12%
 
Havard said:
Based on the most recent data I could find (most is within 5 years, two are within 10), here are numbers for some ‘traditionally Catholic countries’:

Malta
Identify as Catholic: 96%
Weekly Mass attendance: 84%

Poland
Identify as Catholic: 96%
Weekly Mass attendance: 60%

Philippines
Identify as Catholic: 82%
Weekly Mass attendance: 56%

Mexico
Identify as Catholic: 86%
Weekly Mass attendance: 51%

Ireland
Identify as Catholic: 90%
Weekly Mass attendance: 50%

Brazil
Identify as Catholic: 80%
Weekly Mass attendance: 45%

Italy
Identify as Catholic: 97%
Weekly Mass attendance: 36%

Spain
Identify as Catholic: 94%
Weekly Mass attendance: 19%

France
Identify as Catholic: 77%
Weekly Mass attendance: 12%
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Interesting; it is sad how Spain is really not that much than better than France(the only difference is that they still have a King- sorry!). I did not want to emphasize the microstates(Monaco, Luxembourg, etc.), but there are said not to be too irreligious(for instance, Andorra has a policy towards the Church akin to Poland’s). Do you anything about the Church in Belgium, Portugal(I know that it is next to Spain, but they have Fatima, for instance) or any of the sub-Saharan African countries(however, good stats. for, say, the D.R.C. may be difficult for us to obtain)?
 
I think that Canada actually has a Catholic majority; so, would that say much about religiosity in Que’bec?
 
Also, I wanted to note that the leading faiths in Tonga are Catholicism and Mormonism, which is an intriguing combination(or should I say coexistence?).
 
This topic has been interesting reading for me. I am single and planning to move to Malta when I retire in 2028. One of the reasons I chose Malta was because of the Catholic culture there, as well as the other benefits such as climate etc. I live in Ireland (Northern) and would love to hear from any other Catholics who have moved to Malta.

Jim
 
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