Belief in God and in the dignity of unborn human life is more widespread in Malta than in any other European Union country, according to a survey published yesterday in Brussels.
Ninety-five per cent of the Maltese believe that "there is a God" and a further three per cent believe that "there is some sort of spirit or life force". Only two per cent think there is no God.
Other predominantly Christian populations, in Cyprus and Greece, also demonstrate high belief in the existence of God.
Only in Turkey, an EU candidate and mainly Muslim country, is the belief in God as strong as it is in Malta, with 95 per cent declaring they are believers.
The survey, which forms part of a new Eurobarometer study on social values and ethics, was conducted in Malta between January and February by Misco on behalf of the European Commission. A total of 500 people, selected randomly, took part in one-to-one interviews.
"Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Malta and 95 per cent of Maltese respondents confirm that they believe in a God," the study notes.
"The majority of the population of Cyprus is Greek Cypriot and Christian Orthodox and the results show nine in 10 declare that they believe in a God.
"Four in five respondents in Greece (81 per cent), Portugal (81 per cent) and Poland (80 per cent) declare that they believe in a God and are followed by Italy and Ireland where respectively 74 per cent and 73 per cent confirm their religious beliefs.
"These are all countries where the Church as an institution has, historically, always been present and strong."
In Romania, another candidate country, where the vast majority of the population is Eastern Orthodox, 90 per cent state that they believe in a God.
In contrast, in Estonia and the Czech Republic, less than one in five declare they believe in a God. In these countries, at least one in two believes there is some sort of spirit or life force. In Sweden a majority shares similar spiritual beliefs (53 per cent).
This result is also closely related to a question in the survey regarding the importance of protecting the dignity of unborn human beings. On this subject Malta also ranks first.
In an effort to gauge the strength of values, respondents were asked to state how important they deem that the protection of the dignity of any human unborn life will be in 10 years' time. Seventy-four per cent of the Maltese answered it would be very important while another 22 per cent answered fairly important.
In general, only 53 per cent of EU citizens felt the same way as the Maltese.
Eurobarometer notes that the results in Malta, Greece and Ireland stand out, with over seven in 10 respondents foreseeing that it will be very important.
Within the European Union, Malta is the only member state where abortion is illegal under all circumstances. In Ireland, abortion is permitted to save the woman's life. In Greece, abortion is permitted on request provided it is within the authorised period.
"In this context, it is also worth recalling our earlier observations whereby Malta, Greece and Ireland ranked at the upper end of the scale for the proportion of citizens believing that there is a God," the study says.
The survey also concludes that 86 per cent of the Maltese feel satisfied with their present life.
The most satisfied are the Dutch (97 per cent), the Danes and the Finns, both registering 93 per cent. The least satisfied turned out to be the Lithuanians (60 per cent) and the Hungarians (62 per cent).