University students have, on average, 20 per cent less faith in the major Catholic beliefs than they did in 2003, according to a survey carried out by the University Chaplaincy.
However, two out of every three respondents (67 per cent) still accept the basic tenets of the Catholic faith, including heaven and hell, the sacraments and the virginity of Our Lady.
Students' faith in the Church dropped dramatically, from 75 per cent in 2003 to 51 per cent just five years later, while belief in Christ's resurrection declined from 72 per cent to 42 per cent.
While 98 per cent of students in 2003 said they believed in God, the figure now stands at 94 per cent. The shift is even more striking when it comes to belief in God as Creator, down from 94 per cent to 74 per cent.
Even faith in things like fortune-telling, the horoscope, reincarnation and the existence of more than one god has also dropped dramatically. The authors said this showed a consistency among unbelievers that their lack of belief in the traditional Christian faith is not being replaced by other beliefs or superstition.
Gozitan students were by far more likely to accept the basic tenets of faith than their Maltese counterparts while female respondents also displayed more faith than males.
Sixty per cent of those interviewed said they attended Mass on Sundays or more frequently, a drop of more than 17 per cent when compared to 2003.
Prayer remained popular among students with 84 per cent saying they pray, compared to 89 per cent in 2003. Most students said they preferred to pray mentally and eight per cent said they prayed using the Bible.
Students were asked to rate their level of agreement with a number of statements about faith and religion. One fifth of respondents agreed with the statement that "faith is more of a dream, which turns out to be an illusion when one is confronted with the harshness of life". A majority of 54 per cent disagreed.
Thirty-one per cent said that "in the end, faith is nothing more than a safety net for human fears" and nine per cent went as far as saying that "faith is an expression of a weak personality".
One third of students said that a scientific understanding of human life and the world made religious understanding superfluous.
According to the authors, the study reveals a shift from the traditional structured concept of religion to a broader sense of spirituality.
The survey also showed that 57 per cent of students believed divorce should be legalised in Malta.
A larger than expected minority of 37 per cent said abortion could sometimes be morally acceptable, especially when it came to saving a mother's life or if the child was going to be disabled.
Except for abortion, the majority of students disagreed with all the Church's moral teachings they were asked about, including use of artificial contraception, cohabitation and pre-marital sex.
The survey was sent to 600 randomly-chosen students, of whom 421 replied.
cperegin@timesofmalta.com