More Catholics than Anglicans in Britain

Jonathan Wynne-Jones in London
December 24, 2007

CATHOLICS have overtaken Anglicans as Britain's most dominant religious group, reflecting great waves of migration from Catholic countries.

More people are now attending Mass every Sunday than are worshipping with the Church of England, confirming that the established church has lost its spot as the most popular Christian denomination after more than four centuries of unrivalled influence following the Reformation.

Leading figures warned on Saturday that the Church of England faced becoming a minority faith and that the findings should act as a wake-up call.

The figures show that attendance at the Church of England's Sunday services has dropped by 20 per cent since 2000. A survey of 37,000 churches to be published in the new year shows that the average number of people going to Mass each Sunday last year stood at 861,000 compared with 852,000 Anglicans worshipping.

The rise of Catholicism has been bolstered by an influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa, who have packed the pews of parishes that had previously been dwindling.

It is part of the changing face of churchgoing across Britain that has also seen a boom in the growth of Pentecostal churches, which have surpassed the Methodist Church as the third-largest Christian denomination.

To combat the declining interest in traditional religion, the Anglican Church has introduced radical forms of evangelism that include nightclub chaplains, a floating church on a barge and even internet congregations.

The Reverend Alister McGrath, a professor of historical theology at Oxford University, said that the church attendance findings from the organisation Christian Research should act as a wake-up call to the Church of England.

"While it can rightly point to the weight of history, the importance of cultural memory, the largest number of church buildings and nominal church members in defence of its continued status as the established church, there is clearly a problem emerging," said Professor McGrath, one of Anglicanism's most respected figures. "What happens if the established church becomes a minority church?"

The Catholic Church also suffered falling congregations, but the expansion of the European Union in 2004 has led to a surge in its numbers with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians.

The Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, Crispian Hollis, said the Roman church had been increasingly active in trying to attract lapsed worshippers but conceded that mass immigration had been a significant factor in swelling its numbers.

"We don't want to be seen to be scoring points over the Anglican Church as we are in no way jealous of its position as the national church, but of course these figures are encouraging. It shows that the church is no longer seen as on the fringes of society, but in fact is now at the heart of British life."

Danny Sriskandarajah, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, said research showed the packed pews would not stay that way for long.

"We're already seeing numbers from Eastern Europe dropping and many of them have already returned home. It is an important phenomenon, but it is likely to be temporary. I doubt we'll be seeing this level of attendance in another 10 years."

Churchgoing in Anglican and Catholic parishes had stood at about 1 million each for the past 10 years, although this has been surprising considering there are 25 million people who regard themselves as Anglicans, with only 4.2 million Catholics.

"It isn't a competition. I'm delighted to see all Christian denominations flourishing," said the Right Reverend Graham Cray, the chairman of the Church of England's report on evangelism.

"Large numbers of Eastern Europeans have come in to the country, which has certainly strengthened them as has happened with non-whites in central London churches.

"We can't carry on as usual and complain that no one is coming so we are committed to ensuring that the church responds to the changes in society."

Telegraph, London

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/12/23/1198344884603.html