Northern Ireland: Religious Faith Falters As Christmas Looms
10 December 2007

Although the traditional Christmas season rapidly approaches, it has been revealed that levels of religious knowledge in Northern Ireland are lower than thought – and are beaten into second place by the Irish Republic.

According to a new public opinion poll published today, religious knowledge among northern and southern Catholics is much the same, but the northern figures indicate that religious knowledge among northern Protestants is lower than among northern Catholics.

The poll was conducted in October by Millward Brown Ulster on behalf of the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance (Northern Ireland) and The Iona Institute and is a follow up to a similar 2007 survey in the Republic.

Some of the key findings in the Northern Ireland poll are that only 42% know that there are four Gospels (Catholics 52%, Protestants 36%); only 54% could name the Holy Trinity (Catholics 65%, Protestants 45%); just 60% could name the first book in the Bible (Catholics 54%, Protestants 68%) and only 31% could name Martin Luther as the religious figure who started the Protestant Reformation (Catholics 30%, Protestants 32%). the rest