Chaplaincy – University of Malta
Press Release – 19 June 2009
Religious Beliefs and Attitudes of Maltese University Students Revisited – 2009
Annexe - Key Findings
Explanatory note
This Annexe: (a) provides data about the sample (Section 1); and presents key findings on (b)
religious practice, attitudes and belonging (Section 2); (c) religious belief (Section 3); and (d)
moral views of the respondents (Section 4). Corresponding data for 2003 is reproduced where
relevant.
Section 1: The 2008 Sample




421 responses out of a total projected random sample of 600 students of Maltese
nationality
92% residing in Malta, 8% in Gozo
163 (39%) males; 258 (61%) females, >0.8% (2003)
Mean age 20.9 years:
 91% between 17 and 23 years of age, > 7.3% (2003)
 9% between 24 and 49.
Academic disciplines (compared to 2003):
 Increase in proportion of respondents from FEMA (+8.3%), Arts (+6.7%), and ICT
(+3.4%)
 Decline in proportion of respondents from Education (-9.3%), Science (-3.9%), IHC(8.4%) and Medicine (-3%).
Social status:
 93% single; 91% were living with their parents
 Cohabiting 0.5%.
Religion:
 91% claimed to be Catholics; 5% agnostic (>3.1%)
Section 2: Religious practice, attitudes and belonging
•
88% claim that their religious practice is a free choice (+21.9%)
•
84% pray, a reduction of 4.6% since 2003, and a corresponding increase in those
who pray infrequently, although women’s positive responses to the question were
significantly higher than those of male students. Only 8% pray using the Bible.
•
60% attend Mass on Sundays or more frequently; 71% receive communion at
least monthly; 63% go to confession at least yearly.
•
62.2% agree that ‘the Bible is a guide, full of signs in the search of God, and not
a historical account’.
•
54% disagree that ‘faith is more of a dream which turns out to be an illusion
when one is confronted with the harshness of life’.
•
Only 32.6% agree that ‘a scientific understanding of human life and the world
has made a religious understanding superfluous’.
•
76.5% disagree with the view that ‘faith is an expression of a weak personality.’
• 91% of respondents want the University to provide religious services and guidance for
students.
• 15% are members of religious organisations; 38% are members of other organisations.
Section 3 – Results of the Belief Responses 2008/2003
BELIEF (Christian)
God
God, the Creator of all that exists
The Trinity
Jesus, the Son of God
The Incarnation of Jesus (God made human)
The Holy Spirit
Bodily Resurrection
Afterlife
Heaven and Hell
Mary, Mother of God
The Virginity of Mary, Mother of God
The Church
The Sacraments
The Intercession of Saints
Angels
The Devil
Existence of more than one god
Energies
Reincarnation
Fortune Telling
The Horoscope
YES (%)
93.5
74.0
74.8
81.2
67.1
75.5
41.6
68.5
65.4
78.4
65.4
51.2
63.7
50.0
57.2
63.9
4.8
29.1
13.2
3.1
5.0
2003
98.0
93.5
92.8
93.8
91.1
92.0
71.7
88.1
80.9
92.3
87.2
74.6
86.3
77.2
82.1
86.1
7.8
45.0
22.9
14.7
13.1
DIFF.
-4.5
-19.5
-18.0
-12.6
-24.0
-16.5
-30.1
-19.6
-15.5
-13.9
-21.8
-23.4
-22.6
-27.2
-24.9
-22.2
-3.0
-15.9
-9.6
-11.6
-8.1
 In Table 3, for the first 16 topics (“God” to “Devil”), which are basic tenets of Catholic
faith, the average number of positive responses is 67%, compared to the 33% of negative
responses. Thus, approximately two-thirds of respondents continue to accept the
basic tenets of faith, although this is substantially less than it was in 2003.
 For three issues, namely, belief in Bodily Resurrection, the Intercession of Saints, and
Belief in the Church, the negative responses outnumber the positive ones. This could be a
sign that young people on the one hand acknowledge the existence of God, but on the
other hand find it difficult to relate this to an earthly existence.
 There is also inconsistency between lack of belief in Bodily Resurrection (42%) and
belief in the Afterlife (68%). Young people may find this a difficult link to make.
 An average of 11% profess belief in the last five items, (ie, Existence of more than one
god, Energies, Reincarnation, Fortune Telling and Horoscope). There seems to be a
consistency among unbelievers as well, in that their lack of belief in the traditional
Christian Faith tenets is not being replaced by other beliefs or superstitions.
 The positive responses to the basic tenets of Faith of the students from Gozo by far
outweigh those of their Maltese counterparts.
Section 4: Results of the Morality Responses 2008/2003
ISSUE
Abortion is always morally wrong
Divorce is morally wrong
Artificial contraception is morally wrong
Pre-marital sexual intercourse is prohibited
Do you approve pre-marital cohabitation?
YES
(%)
62.9
43.8
14.7
24.0
73.5
2003
DIFF
68.5
60.1
15.0
34.2
58.2
-5.6
-16.3
-0.3
-10.2
+15.3
 Apart from abortion, the majority of students express disagreement with the moral
teachings of the Church on divorce, artificial contraception, pre-marital sexual
intercourse and pre-marital cohabitation (Table 3). However, when more specific and
more personal questions were asked, participants offered some interesting variations and
some positions were even reversed.
 Things appear more conservative in reality when it comes to sexual practices and
cohabitation. Only 44% of respondents said that they had recently had sexual
intercourse, although 76% see nothing wrong in it. The discrepancy between opinion and
practice appears even wider with the issue of pre-marital cohabitation: thus, while 74%
agree with it, a mere 0.5% are actually cohabiting. (The vast majority of respondents are
single students (94%) who live with their parents (91%)).
•
The survey reveals overwhelming support for marriage as a life-long
commitment, despite the fact that the respondents prefer divorce to an unhappy
marriage, and think that divorced people who remarry should not be excluded from
Communion.
 When Churchgoers are distinguished from Non-churchgoers, greater consistency between
belief and religious practice and between belief and moral standpoints is evident,
although the correlation is weaker with regard to pre-marital sexual intercourse and
cohabitation. Churchgoers are no more inclined than non-churchgoers to accept the
Church’s discipline of withholding Communion to people in irregular relationships.