Some numbers:

THE RELATIVE decline of Catholicism in France over recent decades is continuing, according to the findings of one of the largest ever surveys into the faith.  Two-thirds of the 60 million people of France describe themselves as Catholic, but of these only 2.8 million attend Mass regularly.

Twenty-five per cent (10 million) of those declaring themselves Catholic describe themselves as practising, said the survey. Twenty years ago three-quarters of the French population declared themselves Catholic 20 years ago. Some 90 per cent said they were Catholic in 1972. For the purposes of the survey, regular Mass attendance was counted as at least once a month.

The exceptionally large survey – of almost 30,000 people – was carried out by Ifop, a prominent French polling company, on behalf of the French Catholic daily La Croix.