For centuries, Malta was regarded as a staunchly Catholic country, and abroad this perception is still quite strong. When it is mentioned in foreign media, Malta is often referred to as being “an ardently Catholic State”.

Religion is still taught at schools, and young children who are to receive First Holy Communion and, later, the Sacrament of Confirmation, have to attend religious doctrine classes that are organised by the parish they live in.

Yet, when it comes to Sunday Mass attendance, a sharp drop has been registered in the number of people who participate. The latest census shows that just 53 per cent of the Maltese go to Mass on Sunday. Many others do so occasionally; at Christmas, for example, or for a wedding or a funeral but, in the latter two cases, it is more out of respect towards someone dear to them than because they follow Church teachings.

The number of people who go to Sunday Mass is bound to continue decreasing, if the trends of the past years will persist. With the younger generations having a different mentality than the older people, Sunday Mass attendance is likely to drop even more.

However, whether people are living a Christian life or otherwise should not be measured with the number of times they go to Mass. It does not necessarily follow that people who go to Sunday Mass are living a Christian way of life, and neither does it follow that those who do not go to Sunday Mass are not living a good life.

Many times, it is the other way round.

Over the years, people have drifted away from the Church for many reasons. Lifestyles have changed, and whereas in the past the Church was a dominant force within the community, and priests had a massive influence on the way people behaved, today it is no longer so.

The fact that today people are much more educated than they were 50 years ago, and contest Church teachings instead of simply believing every word that they are told, has pushed people away from the Church. In the past, what the Church and what priests said was considered as being the “truth”, but today this “truth” has many facets and people form their own opinion of what this “truth” is.

Issues such as abortion, divorce, homosexuality, bioethics, euthanasia and contraception have not helped to keep people close to the Church. With the Church not budging from its traditional positions, people feel that it has not moved along with the times and often confront the Church with their own ideas.

Their conscience might still be bothering them, largely because of the things they were forced to learn during their childhood, but they still feel strong enough not to follow the Church’s teachings.

Others simply do not care anymore to see what the Church is saying and get on with their life in the way they deem fit. They have made up their mind that they can never be on the same wavelength as the Church and have turned away from it.

The Church knows what is happening, but it steadfastly holds on to the values that have characterised its existence for centuries. Sunday Masses remain boring affairs and many priests deliver sermons which put people to sleep rather than set them thinking. Added to this, it is not doing much to bring back the lost sheep into its fold.

Still, as pointed out earlier, going to Sunday Mass is not the way to gauge one’s Christianity. There are many, many people out there whose way of living, kindness, consideration for other people’s problems and willingness to help makes them more Christian than others who profess being so.