A survey conducted for the Hong Kong diocese’s Year of the Laity Preparatory Committee shows that the fast face of modern life is taking its toll on faith growth of local Catholics.

The survey on “Catholic faith life in real context” was released on Sunday. It was conducted between Aug. 27 to Sept. 13 by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the preparatory committee.

Of the 2,653 Catholics over 15 years old who responded, 30.6 percent said they had not read the Bible in the past one year and 73.3 percent did not read the Bible regularly, with 43.1 percent citing being to busy as the reason.

More than half of the respondents –  55.8 percent – did not join any laity groups but only 38 Catholics said they did not pray and 69 did not attend a mass in the past year.

But 800 did not pray every day, with 28.1 percent saying they were too busy. Nearly 45 percent did not make confession even once a year, with 25.7 percent of them thinking it is unnecessary as God is merciful while another 20 percent were too busy.

Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming said the survey was a reminder to laypeople to re-orient their life. “It will be easy for some people to get lost in a busy life when they have no life goal,” said the diocesan vicar general who chairs the committee.

The survey result was released along with the second analysis on the diocese’s Catholic household registration, since a centralized database that registers geographical location, Catholic population, sex, age, marital status, education, occupation and other personal details was established in 2004.

The household analysis shows that Catholic population is growing steadily, with more women than men and more non-working people than working class attracted to the faith.

More than 20 percent of working Catholics have administrative and clerical occupations.

The diocese has set 2011 as the Year of the Laity to implement a resolution on laity formation as suggested in the 2000 Diocesan Synod. The two reports will be used as a guide to the pastoral needs of the laypeople ahead of the special year that starts on Jan. 1, according to the preparatory committee.

A committee member Pinky Mak Yuan-yee told ucanews.com that the diocese plans several activities to enhance laypeople’s awareness of their mission.

Some of the 10 suggestions include reading the whole New Testament and the synod resolution on laity formation and mission, making pilgrimage as well as joining activities for environmental protection and social concern.

She appealed to Catholics to join Church activities in order to increase sense of belonging in the community and strengthen their courage to evangelize.

John Lam Chi-man, a parish council head, told ucanews.com he understands that many people need to work hard for a living. “Joining some spiritual activities may relieve pressure from our suffocating everyday life,” he said.

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