Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB during the Opening Mass of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, Sunday 3 October at St Mary’s Cathedral. New research shows Australians are experiencing a renewed spiritual awakening, with three in ten praying more since the pandemic. Photo: Ron Tan.
Australians are experiencing a renewed spiritual awakening, with three in ten praying more since the pandemic.
A new report released mid-last week has revealed that the experience of COVID-19 has caused many Australians to experience a renewed spiritual search.
A third of Australians have thought more about God (33 per cent), while three in ten (28 per cent) have prayed more. During the pandemic, almost half of Australians have thought more about the meaning of life (47 per cent) or their own mortality (47 per cent).
The collective experience of the pandemic has ushered a return to local and a focus on community, with half of Australians (53 per cent) valuing a strong local community more than they did three years ago.
The local church is a key element of the local community, with three in four Australians (76 per cent) agreeing the churches in their local area are making a positive difference to their community.
The research, conducted by McCrindle Research, surveyed 1,000 Australians and found that two-thirds of Australians are likely to attend a church service either online (64 per cent) or in-person (67 per cent) if personally invited by a friend or family member.
Far from religion and spirituality being only for older Australians, Gen Z (45 per cent) are twice as likely as Baby Boomers (21 per cent) to be extremely or very likely to attend an online church service if personally invited by a friend or family member.
Mark McCrindle, Founder and Principal of McCrindle Research, says the data is worth reflecting on a little longer.
“In this seemingly secular era, where the church is perceived by many commentators to be on the decline and culturally outdated, almost half of all young adults invited to a church service by a friend or family member would very likely attend.”
The report also found that Australians are accepting of others’ religious views.
Nine in ten (90 per cent) agree that in Australia, people should have the freedom to share their religious beliefs if done in a peaceful way, even if those beliefs are different to mainstream community views.
There is, however, wavering support for religious symbolism in public life. Almost two in five Australians (39 per cent) agree that Christian practices in public life such as parliament opening in prayer, oaths in court being taken on the Bible, or Christian chaplains in hospitals or jails should be stopped.
Three in five (61 per cent), however, disagree and are therefore open to Christian practices in public life continuing.
Interestingly, Religious discrimination is a genuine issue in Australia, with almost three in ten Australians (29 per cent) having experienced religious discrimination, this equates to about half of those who identify with a religion which is six in ten Australians.
The local church is a key element of the local community, with three in four Australians (76 per cent) agreeing the churches in their local area are making a positive difference to their community. Photo: Ron Tan
Australians who identify with a non-Christian religion are more likely to have experienced discrimination (54 per cent) than Protestants (27 per cent) or Catholics (32 per cent).
Religious discrimination is also more likely to be experienced by younger Australians who are four times as likely as their older counterparts to say they have experienced religious discrimination (51 per cent Gen Z cf. 13 per cent Baby Boomers).
The City Insight report is available to download here.