Once deemed a predominantly Catholic city the latest data from the 2021 census has found Ballarat has become increasingly less religious with notable decline in two of the most populous faiths: Catholicism and Anglicanism.
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Comparing the 2016 census to the latest 2021 census data there was a 10.6 per cent increase in those who stated they were not religious in Ballarat.
It also reported a more than 16.57 per cent decrease in those who identified as Anglican as well as an almost two per cent decrease in those who identified as Catholic.
Ballarat Anglican Church dean and Father Michael Davies believed the decline in those identifying as non-religious could be attributed to the pandemic as well as western society's push towards secularism.
"I think we can account this decrease in part due to the pandemic because one of the problems we've had with the lockdowns is denying people coming to church," Father Davies said.
"Attending church is also about gathering people in community and togetherness and the restrictions really flew in the face of what it means to be a church and broke peoples habits of physically attending church.
"We're also living in an increasingly secular society where there's an increasing anti-religious sentiment."
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Father Davies said the drop in Anglicanism and Christian religions more broadly could be due to Christianity's history specifically, its association with colonialism as well as younger Christians opting for more "upbeat" Christian denominations.
"There's an increasingly aggressive secularism against Christianity because of its history; a lot of people also see Christianity as a colonial religion," he said.
"Our age demographic is mainly senior citizens and younger Christians are tending to lean towards more upbeat versions of Christianity such as Pentecostal."
Catholic Diocese of Ballarat's Father Ed Moloney said he also felt the pandemic played a part in this decline. However, he also cited a cultural shift towards individualism as a contributing factor.
"I think as a society we've become more tied up in materialism and also the busyness and pace of life is another reason people are neglecting religion as they've got out of the practice (of religion)," Father Moloney said.
"We're also as a society focusing more on individualism rather than community and Christianity is all about looking after our neighbour so that's another reason."
Regarding the specific decline in those identifying as Catholic, Father Davies said he found this figure "surprising" but acknowledged western societies were seeing a decrease in Christians.
"Globally the numbers (of those identifying as Christians) are still high but in the west it's a different story," he said.
Over the 20 years as a priest Father Davies said he noticed a sizeable reduction in those attending church prior to the pandemic.
However, he said this decline was further exacerbated by the pandemic.
"This concerns me and just makes it apparent for us as a church and community that we have a huge challenge ahead of us to draw people into our community," Father Davies said.
Similarly, Father Moloney said over the past five years he had also noticed a decrease in his congregation.
"It is a bit of a worry to see numbers drop but I think the main thing for us is we must transcend numbers and tell the community the good news we have to offer," he said.
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Malvika Hemanth
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
