Is it really true that young people in Ireland - those in the 18-28 age group - have a higher sense of Catholic identity than any other age-group? What can it mean that they also score higher than others on trust in their local clergy?
Certainly, those two findings are among the most surprising in the International Social Survey Programme report on religion in Ireland, written by Andrew Greeley and Conor Ward, and published in Doctrine & Life this month.
Last autumn, when Andrew Greeley sent me a draft of the report with a request to publish it, it was immediately clear that the account of the religion of younger people would be the element to arouse most comment and interest.
It's not that the findings, positive though they may be, tell an altogether rosy story. This younger age group, with their high level of trust in clergy, is also the group most likely to say they have no religious affiliation. And it is clear that, more than any other segment of the population, they have made up their own minds regarding sexual behaviour.
While a drift away from traditional sexual ethics is found among all age groups, it is strongest in the youngest cohort: only one fifth of those among them who attend church weekly believe sex before marriage is always wrong.
This development does not seem to be affected by whether a person has had university education.
Even if the picture is not exactly what pastors might hope for, the report should go some way to help lift the sense of gloom and paralysis which is too common in church circles at the moment.
The report gives welcome proof of the persistence of belief in God and in core Christian truths. How does one reconcile this persistence with the definite signs of people making up their own minds?
Sean Mac Reamoinn suggests that people are not rejecting the transcendent, the supernatural, the divine. Instead, it may be that Christianity in Ireland is entering a new phase.
In that new era "human life in both personal and social aspects is `liberated' from the detailed control of religion, while remaining lit and guided by faith," Dr Mac Reamoinn argues.
If this is what is taking place, there are rich opportunities to work towards that revitalisation of Catholic worship for which Anne Thurston calls in her comment on the survey results. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that when the liturgy is celebrated with a sense of joyful participation, and with sensitive attention to the beauty inherent in it, it does appeal to the young.
Too often people's experience is that liturgies are dull and plodding. As Anne Thurston comments: "We feed our young people junk food and expect them to appreciate a banquet. Let them taste and see!"
And, to continue the metaphor, we don't even let them see the full menu. A French visitor to Dublin commented recently, with some surprise, that in order to join the Office of Evening Prayer on a Sunday he had to visit either Christ Church or St Patrick's Cathedrals.
Choral Evensong is one of the glories of the Anglican tradition; but Evening Prayer is also part of the Catholic inheritance.
Celebrated more often and more publicly, it would open people's eyes to the fuller treasury of the church. It could also be a point of entry, or re-entry, for those who desire public prayer but are not yet ready for regular participation in the Mass.
The results of the ISSP survey should also bring encouragement to clergy. The figures should confirm to them that they are doing a good job, that they have the trust of their people, and that it is particularly in the parish that people find resources to enrich their spiritual lives.
Theologian Liam Walsh sees the survey results as opening our eyes to important home truths about the church. He calls for a recognition that because the church "came to depend on social patterns to enforce its teaching and practice", it was itself secularised. He believes this form of secularisation "was not noticed or criticised because it had such a comfortable Christian shape".
He calls for an acceptance that "there is dying in the church today". Restorationist projects have not been successful - and couldn't be. Too often they are based on nostalgia which, as someone commented, is like grammar: past perfect and present tense.
As Father Walsh says, we need "a willingness to accept the pain we have brought on ourselves". Only then should we look to the positive findings of the survey and find in them signs of resurrection.
Father Bernard Treacy OP is editor of Doctrine & Life