The number of Catholics of Aboriginal and Torres Straight origins in
Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years, the bishops'
research agency has found in an analysis of the 2011 national census.
The 2011 census recorded a rise from 62,000 in 1991 to 124, 618 - almost
a quarter of all indigenous Australians.
Indigenous elder and
the Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in the
Archdiocese of Sydney, Dr Elsie Heiss, told Catholic Communications in
Sydney: "The increasing numbers of young indigenous people proclaiming
their faith and regularly attending Mass is partly due to Sydney's World
Youth Day in 2008 and WYD in Madrid last year."