Posted on 03/26/2008 5:38:15 AM PDT by NYer
The increasing influence of Islam on British culture is disclosed in research today that shows the number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in England and Wales will outstrip the numbers of Roman Catholics going to church in little more than a decade.
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Projections to be published next month estimate that, if trends continue, the number of Catholic worshippers at Sunday Mass will fall to 679,000 by 2020.
By that time, statisticians predict, the number of Muslims praying in mosques on Fridays will have increased to 683,000.
The Christian Research figures also suggest that, over the same period, the number of Muslims at mosques will overtake Church of England members at Sunday services.
Church spokesmen point out, however, that a growing number of Anglicans worship at other times of the week.
The projections show that, if the Churches do not reverse their historical decline, there will be more active Muslims than Christians in Sunday services across Britain before the middle of the century.
The figures, based on Government and academic sources and the latest edition of Christian Research's Religious Trends, come amid growing tensions over the place of Muslims in British society.
They follow fierce rows over the extent to which Islamic law should be recognised and over claims that "no-go" areas for non-Muslims are emerging in parts of the country.
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, provoked criticism by saying the introduction of some aspects of sharia into British society was "unavoidable".
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, faced death threats after writing in The Sunday Telegraph that Islamic extremism was turning some communities into "no-go" areas "where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability".
Peter Brierley, a former Government statistician who edited the latest Religious Trends, said that the continuing growth of the Muslim population since the 2001 census would have significant implications for society.
not to worry!
the remaining whites of the former great britain will
be allowed to immigrate to a white peoples’ reservation
in the united states.
we see a lot of ex-brits here in so cal. si.
Why did you feel the need to add the word ‘Catholic’ to the headline? The article also mentions the C of E.
Churches of all kinds are empty in Europe on Sundays. I always thought it strange that American churches are sending missionaries there, but the reality is that God seems very hard to find in Europe.
Why? Because the apples to oranges comparison (all Muslims to Latins regularly attending Mass) mentions them.
I suspect Muslims already outnumber Anglicans regularly attending services.
A more useful comparison would be Muslims regularly attending Friday prayers vs. adherents of any Christian confession regularly attending Sunday services.
Exactly.
This is about the division between Islam and Christianity, yet NYer decided to draw a line down the middle of Christianity between Papists and Proddies. Hence my question.
Bleach in the gene pool...
I thought there was a news item recently that the number of people attending Catholic Mass on Sundays in England is now slightly more than those going to Anglican services.
I don’t think she was “drawing a line down the middle.” The article starts off by mentioning Catholics, and she usually posts things of interest to Catholics. I have read that Muslims already outnumber people attending C of E services, anyway, so that’s not even news anymore.
"... Muslims praying in mosques on Fridays will have increased to 683,000.
"There are 37.3 million people in England and Wales who state their religion as Christian."
Taken altogether, I'd say Christians in the UK will outnumber the Koranimals for a long while.
LOL! Gotta love those Brits.
That’s true - not to mention the Druids...
Because there are more Catholic worshippers in England than CoE
btw, that’s in the Telegraph headline
Not quite the middle of Christianity. As an Orthodox Christian, I subscribe to the view of St. Justin Popovic that the Popes of Rome were the first protestants, and that protestantism is no the negation of papism, but its universalization (replacing one infallible man in Rome with a host of infallible men—every protestant with a copy of the Scriptures is his own pope).
Of course not all the news in England is bad: us Orthodox are now the largest religious group in Walsingham, where the principal English shrine to Our Lady is located.
OTOH, the second largest are the neo-Druids.
u hafta be a racist.
i did not say anything you said i said.
Number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in England and Wales will outstrip the numbers of Roman Catholics going to church in little more than a decade.
That's what the article says n its body while being vague in the headline.
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