Posted on 12/22/2007 7:56:40 PM PST by melt
Roman Catholics have overtaken Anglicans as the country's dominant religious group. More people attend Mass every Sunday than worship with the Church of England, figures seen by The Sunday Telegraph show.
Blair becomes Catholic in private ceremony The changing face of British Christianity Your view: What can the Church of England do to win back worshippers? This means that the established Church has lost its place as the nation's most popular Christian denomination after more than four centuries of unrivalled influence following the Reformation.
Last night, leading figures gave warning that the Church of England could become a minority faith and that the findings should act as a wake-up call.
The statistics show that attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dropped by 20 per cent since 2000. A survey of 37,000 churches, to be published in the new year, shows the number of people going to Sunday Mass in England last year averaged 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 Catholic parishes that had previously been dwindling.
It is part of the changing face of churchgoing across Britain in the 21st century which has also seen a boom in the growth of Pentecostal churches, which have surpassed the Methodist Church as the country's third largest Christian denomination.
Worshipping habits have changed dramatically with a significant rise in attendance at mid-week services and at special occasions - the Church of England expects three million people to go to a parish church over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
What does marriage have to do with a sick perverted mind? You think that would solve the “Catholic Problem”?
“..they will go to their graves arguing those “points of little relevance.”
Unfortunately they might be taking Christianity with them in the process.
Nope, I would credit Gutenberg for that. He made it all possible.
It isn’t a Catholic problem. It is a societal problem. Priests, or any clergy who have molested are held up by the media because they are expected to be above sin. Please take your Catholic bashing elsewhere.
The fact is that God used the Church He established on earth, the Catholic Church, to collect, Canonize, preserve, protect and defend the Scriptures so that beginning 11 centuries later people like Luther, et al, could utilize their free will and begin abridging and editing it to their liking. Denial of that fact is both arrogance and ignorance on your part.
I will not condemn every Priest, Teacher and Clown based upon the behavior of a few. Yes, schools, courts and dioceses have failed to adequately prosecute.
I turned away from the Catholic Church long ago. Later I discovered Bible based Christianity (without the Missle and the Mass). When I really read God’s Word I felt angry at the Church. After much time and much prayer I let go of my anger and felt a lot of chains fall from my soul.
And despite all that, Gods word prevailed. Praise Jesus.
thanks..
are you going to the party in jan?
.
Maybe now they will finally leave Ireland.
Indeed!
Have you checked out the list of Protestant ministers and what they've been up to?
Outside of the Church it exists only in a heavily abridged and edited form.
Sadly, I am not suprised at all the anti-Catholic attacks on some of the RC threads. It seems the RC Church has become the new whipping post for flaming. Oh well.
Not suprising considering anyone who becomes a Christian is now called a nutter.
Wow, what a coincidence. As an Catholic, I don’t hate evangelicals… I just think they are wrong in their theology and pray for them daily.
Neither does the Catholic Church these days.
This did not seem to be the case even twenty years ago, at least according to what Catholics told me then. As a non-Catholic observer, I am continually amazed at what I find in the new Catechism - glad I bought one for reference. Universal priesthood, anyone?
861,000 Catholics + 852,000 Anglicans ==================== 1,713,000 observant Christians -------------------------------- === 3.379 percent 50,690,000 population of EnglandOuch! Granted, there are other Christian denominations in England (primarily Pentecostals, Methodists, and Presbyterians) not herein enumerated, but I wonder how many people go to an English mosque in any given week? Worse still, the Catholics didn't expand their congregations to attain primacy; they merely slowed their descent. To put this non-churchgoing phenomenon in perspective, let us consider my home parish in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City boasts a population of 747,003 (including suburbs). A similar church attendance rate would put 25,244 people in the pews on any given Sunday. I'd estimate at least 500 people at each of three Masses at my parish. From visiting various other parishes throughout the City over the years, I can tell you that many other Catholic parishes boast similar attendance at their Anglophone Masses. (Many parishes offer Mass in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and various other languages.) Given the number of parishes in the City and its suburbs, we can surmise that the Mass attendance in Oklahoma City easily proportionally exceeds Anglican Church attendance in England. And Oklahoma City ranks among the least Catholic dioceses in the country. I don't even have to consider the various Protestant denominations--Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, "independent" churches, Methodists, Episcopalians, Nazarenes. Many such churches easily accommodate a thousand worshipers once, twice, or thrice a Sunday--and their parking lots usually fill that time of week. It is often said that you can't beat something with nothing. And most Britons apparently have no serious faith. The Christian churches of the once-great nations of Europe continue to sink in attendance as they often sink in religious fervor. Ethnic Europeans in Europe don't reproduce. Perhaps that's why Muslims attract converts from the irreligious population. Perhaps the most alarming statement in the article comes at the end: "It isn't a competition. I'm delighted to see all Christian denominations flourishing," said the Anglican Right Reverend Graham Cray, apparently unaware of the long-term precipitous decline in attendance at his Church. The demographic implosion of civilized Europeans continues apace, and we only can hope that a stagnant Catholic Church can revive it. God bless the Pope Benedict XVI as he makes whatever effort he can muster to save Europe. Mark Steyn argues in America Alone that it will not suffice, leaving America alone (possibly alongside Australia) as the only world outpost of Western civilization some decades hence. I'm inclined to agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.