The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Sydney

Australia is one of the least religious nations in the western world, research showed Friday, as the country prepares to host Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic World Youth Day celebrations this month.

Most Australians -- 52 percent-never or very seldom visit a church, mosque, synagogue or temple for religious reasons, according to an international survey carried out by Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation.

While one in four of Australia's 21 million people classify themselves as deeply religious, 28 percent are not at all religious and another 44 percent say religion does not play a central role in their lives. The Religion Monitor survey is the most extensive and detailed study on the significance of religion in the main cultures of the world, says the Bertelsmann Foundation, a private, non-profit group.

The survey found that of 21 countries surveyed, only four showed less interest in religion than Australia-Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

But the pope will not be in a "religious desert" for the celebrations in Sydney from July 15-20, the report says-at 25 percent of the population, Catholics make up the country's biggest faith group.

"On the eve of World Youth Day it is interesting to note the strong religious vitality recorded amongst the nation's youth," Martin Rieger, leader of Bertelsmann Foundation's religious project, said in a statement.