Half of all young people in Portugal are Catholics, a study by Universidade Católica reveals

About half of young Portuguese people (49%) between the ages of 14 and 30 are Catholics. The conclusion is from the study "Young People, Faith and Future", carried out by the Centre for the Study of Portuguese-speaking Peoples and Cultures (CEPCEP), of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), presented on June 6.

According to the study, developed for the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, 56 per cent of young people say they are believers, and a third of young people who say they are religious are also active: they pray regularly, participate in religious celebrations or are integrated into groups in their religious community.

The rest, although believers say they are not regular practitioners, mainly due to lack of time, they admit, lack of commitment, or because they do not agree with some of the norms of religious practice.

War is young people's main concern about the future, with 63 per cent of respondents putting it as the "main challenge of the future", followed by climate change (55 per cent) and equity and discrimination (54 per cent).

At the presentation session of the study, Patrícia Dias, who coordinated this survey, confessed to having been "surprised" by some results, as she expected "a greater contrast" between what young Catholics and non-Catholics believe.

"I was surprised by the uniformity of the answers. The differences between Catholics and non-Catholics are not very marked," she said, noting, however, that "young people of faith, especially Catholics, value more highly the idea of having a family and children when asked about the future".

Common to all is the importance of having a stable job that makes them happy.

The survey was conducted among 2,480 young people aged 14-30 through an online questionnaire, sent to school and university students, and through face-to-face approaches to collect data.