Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why the Roman Catholic Church Is Rising in England—and What It Reveals About Faith in an Age of Uncertainty
Anglican Ink ^ | April 17, 2025 | David Roseberry

Posted on 12/11/2025 12:11:52 AM PST by Cronos

In an age of moral confusion and cultural uncertainty, people are drawn to those who actually believe what they say—who live as if their core convictions are real and unshakable.

This may explain the quiet shift unfolding in England. For the first time in centuries, the Catholic Church surpasses CoE in active attendance. Among young people, Catholics outnumber Anglicans. In London, the shift is even more pronounced. The tide is turning—and it’s not turning toward trendy liturgies or progressive theology but toward clarity, continuity, and conviction.

Every Anglican worldwide, and every Episcopalian in the U.S., knows that even after 500 years, the hierarchy of the church is still thinking through its theology. Its doctrine, famously, is up for a vote. That’s not a small thing.

Roman Catholicism is not democratic. It doesn’t ask the culture to weigh in on what it believes—it declares it. And in an age when society is debating everything—from truth to gender to morality—there is something profoundly reassuring about a church that does not budge.

..There are rhythms, rituals, holy days, moral expectations, and communal identity. It’s not something you keep hidden. ...

People respect the visible. They trust what is practiced. Christians might be waking up to the reality that private belief alone isn’t enough. They want a faith that shapes life, not just inner thought.

...So why is the Roman Catholic Church rising in England while the Anglican Church declines? Because Catholicism offers clarity in a confused age. It offers rootedness in a restless time. It offers a visible, practiced, and morally serious faith in a culture increasingly adrift. And above all, it offers conviction—the kind that draws you in, even if you’re not sure you believe it yourself.

It may have taken five centuries, but the quiet shift is unmistakable.

(Excerpt) Read more at anglican.ink ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events
KEYWORDS: catholic; church; europe
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last
Some of the most intriguing religious shifts today aren’t happening in suburban parishes or rural chapels—they’re happening among the intellectual elite. Writers, scholars, and public figures like Tom Holland, J. D. Vance, and Paul Kingsnorth (a former radical environmentalist) have either converted to Roman Catholicism or aligned themselves with historic Orthodox Christianity.
1 posted on 12/11/2025 12:11:52 AM PST by Cronos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Glad they are serious,but being catholic does not save you...
It is not “the church”...the problem is folks are not longer looking for themselves..they still think the form of Bible they read will pop up and help them at “judgement...it will not...its just a start...man can’t tell you what to be, they don’t know, but play someone on TV that acts like they do...
Nothing against catholic persuasion, its just not real..
Mass murdering church of God won’t cut it..look at the massacres in south America etc...its fake folks..
Jesus is real, religions aren’t..

https://youtu.be/WlTdGJzwbsQ?si=aTFSeP7QOo4UCBSg


2 posted on 12/11/2025 2:59:18 AM PST by aces (and )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cronos; SaveFerris; gundog

George: *ahem* In this age of uncertainty and confusion, a man begins to ask himself certain questions. How can one even begin to put into words something so um… (trying to think of a word)

Father-priest: Enigmatic?

George: No.

Father-priest: Vast? (he pronounces it as “vost”)

George: No not vast (he pronounces it as “vost”)

Father-priest: Well whatever it is, basically you like the religion.

George: Yes.


3 posted on 12/11/2025 3:01:58 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Hopefully this is the beginning of the next anti-islamic crusade ...

It is imperative that the koranimals are sequestered in a small part of this planet.


4 posted on 12/11/2025 3:11:35 AM PST by ByteMercenary (Election 2020 was stolen by mail-in voting. It should be abolished.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aces

And in other news, New York archdiocese announces $300,000,000 settlement fund, for victims of clergy abuse.


5 posted on 12/11/2025 3:39:41 AM PST by Swanks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

It wouldn’t surprise me if these Catholic converts first considered converting to Islam, got scared of being labeled, then rationalized that Catholicism was a close second and went with it. Not much difference between the two and better to be a closet Muslim cloaked in the Papacy than deal with the world as a Muslim.


6 posted on 12/11/2025 4:28:54 AM PST by Philsworld
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Philsworld

So you’re actually claiming there’s no difference between a faith that believes in the Trinity and redemption through Christ’s death on the Cross and a religion that denies both of those things and much more?

Really?

I seriously doubt I’m going to see a more a stupid comment anywhere on the internet today than the one you just made.


7 posted on 12/11/2025 5:27:48 AM PST by vladimir998 ( Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: vladimir998; Cronos

——>I seriously doubt I’m going to see a more a stupid comment anywhere on the internet today than the one you just made.

Of course there are differences. But what they have in common is their Pagan roots. As far as Satan is concerned, he’s happy with either one.

https://youtu.be/qZRj-CleopA
Walter Veith. The Islamic Connection to Catholicism. Total Onslaught


8 posted on 12/11/2025 5:36:26 AM PST by Philsworld
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: vladimir998

The reliable rule of thumb regarding the Catholic church holds steady here as elsewhere: those who inveigh the most against the church are always the ones who know the least about it.


9 posted on 12/11/2025 5:42:56 AM PST by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: hinckley buzzard; vladimir998; Cronos

The author of the video I just posted (Walter Veith) was as Catholic as Catholic gets. So, I don’t see your statement applying to him or anyone quoting him, like me.


10 posted on 12/11/2025 5:48:45 AM PST by Philsworld
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church is suffering from a less advanced case of the same disease.


11 posted on 12/11/2025 6:48:51 AM PST by Salman (Trump is good, but we need Pinochet. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hinckley buzzard
“ those who inveigh the most against the church are always the ones who know the least about it.”

I've noticed oner the years that whenever the legacy media publishes articles about Christianity, too frequently the reporter has a Jewish last name. Lately, multiple authors, with some middle eastern last names thrown in.

12 posted on 12/11/2025 8:23:23 AM PST by Albion Wilde (To live free is the greatest gift; to die free is the greatest victory. —Erica Kirk)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Cronos
We have to believe that God chose the time and place for Jesus to come to earth. He chose Israel during the dawn of the Roman Empire. Why could that be? As for the location, that has been clear from the Old Testament that Jesus was to come from the House of David. But why then, and why earlier or later?

Did God intend His church on earth to adopt many of the structural elements of the Roman Empire? Was it just coincidence? Why is it that the title Pontiff Maximus was once held by the pagan Julius Caesar, but later became the title of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church?

Could all of this development of the church throughout the ages be coincidence or accidental, or did God have a plan to use this structure for the following thousands of years?

I believe that God took an interest in how his church would develop after Jesus' death and resurrection. So, I take it seriously when Matthew wrote, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Of course, Peter was not perfect, and so the leaders of the church have never been perfect. But in 2,000 years, God has not seen fit to make a drastic change in direction. For all its flaws, I believe the Catholic Church is the course that God wants me to follow.

13 posted on 12/11/2025 8:50:03 AM PST by Repealthe17thAmendment
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Repealthe17thAmendment
Of course, Peter was not perfect, and so the leaders of the church have never been perfect.

Leo X, the Medici one, was just awful. And there have been worse. On the other hand we've had John Paul II which was excellent.

14 posted on 12/11/2025 8:53:39 AM PST by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Philsworld

Of course you say that, just like when people say “I went to Catholic school my entire life...” and then say the most ignorant thing about the church.

Put down the Jack Chick tracts and fo your own research, not what tickles Protestant ears.


15 posted on 12/11/2025 9:52:09 AM PST by Texas_Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Philsworld

That is a ridiculous comparison.
Read more.


16 posted on 12/11/2025 9:53:16 AM PST by Texas_Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Texas_Guy

——>Put down the Jack Chick tracts and fo your own research, not what tickles Protestant ears.

I don’t know anything about this Jack Chick guy. Is he related to you?


17 posted on 12/11/2025 10:32:56 AM PST by Philsworld
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Texas_Guy

Typical Catholic doesn’t know what they’re talking about. You can view the video I posted, or not. I don’t care. But the facts are there whether you like them or not. As far as Satan is concerned, Catholics and Muslims are the same.


18 posted on 12/11/2025 10:39:32 AM PST by Philsworld
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Philsworld

This is an old and ridiculous canard made by Protestants to justify their rebellion from the Catholic Church.

I can see why exorcists say that the demons claim the Protestant churches if they lie like this.


19 posted on 12/11/2025 12:33:22 PM PST by Texas_Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Philsworld

That video is ridiculous. It’s more Jack Chick fantasy BS. There are so many falsehoods in it I don’t know where to start debunking first.

Read more. You’re being lied to by this false prophet.


20 posted on 12/11/2025 12:38:39 PM PST by Texas_Guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson