 In the Greek Census of 1907, 4,675 people from the Ionian Islands stated Catholicism as their denomination, about 1.8% of the total population (254,494), while 2,541 (1%) Ionians stated Italian as their mother tongue, making it the second language by number of speakers.The Italian language remains popular on the islands.The Hellenic Union of Eptanisians, a civil non-profit company working for the promotion of the Heptanesian Culture, objected to the decision of the Ministry to abolish the teaching of Italian in schools, saying that "especially for the Ionian Islands the selection of the Italian language has become a tradition for their schools, but also a necessary language because of the many tourists from Italy and other relations e.g.