A new digital resource aims to uncover continuity, change, and diversity within Catholicism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The Catholic Record Society has launched a new project called ‘Catholicism in Numbers’ which aims to become a hub for statistical information that illuminates the lives of Catholics in England and Wales, Scotland and, where possible Ireland.
The first output published by the project has been produced by Tim Kinnear, a PhD student at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, and takes data from Catholic Directory publications in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and from other sources to draw out statistics on a range of topics relating to Catholicism. Most data in this particular project relate to the twentieth century, with some for the twenty-first and a small number of figures for the nineteenth century.
At a glance, users can download statistics and figures relating to baptisms, conversions, marriages, mass attendance, ordinations, and the number of priests, as well as information on the overall Catholic population, places of worship, religious congregations, and schools and pupils. Each dataset gives national estimates and many also include estimates at diocesan level. The datasets feature tables and graphs for ease of use and are accompanied by a note on sources and methodology.
The Catholic Record Society aims to continue to develop the resource, hopeful that other scholars and academics with their own datasets will add to the project.
The Chair of the Catholic Record Society, Dr Susan O’Brien, said: “We are thrilled to have launched our new digital project ‘Catholicism in Numbers’ and are grateful to Tim for his hard work in contributing the first set of data for the project.
“Historians and interested individuals have often expressed a desire for more statistical information on modern Catholicism in Britain and Ireland, and we are delighted to have made the first step to fulfilling that need. Users can now quickly get a sense of large overall trends and changes taking place within Catholicism in the past few centuries, as well as drill down into regional variations at diocesan level. It will undoubtedly prove to be an invaluable tool for future work in the field”.
The Catholic Record Society was founded in 1904 and, through its work and publications, makes available to scholars and a more general readership a wide range of sources relating to individuals and ecclesiastical institutions in the period after the Reformation. ‘Catholicism in Numbers’ is the first of several digital projects the society are supporting in the build up to the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Catholic emancipation in 2029.
Catholicism in Numbers can be accessed here: www.crs.org.uk/catholicism-in-numbers