Catholicism to overtake Anglicanism in the UK. A newspaper account

[mdgspencer]

OPINION: Catholicism to overtake Anglicanism in the UK | Southern Star

“Research shows that more people attend mass every Sunday than those who worship with the Church of England. What’s more, attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dropped by as much as 20%, setting alarm bells ringing.”

In a surprising reversal of history, while the Anglican Church superseded the Catholic Church in the 1500s, when its followers became small after Catholicism was crushed by the English government, now a Catholicism is taking the first place.

(This does not mean that Catholicism is the dominant force in the UK though.)

 

[ATraveller]

These same Catholic ‘toffs’ are now the very people who influence ideology within the Conservative Party

I doubt it unless they were the ones who called for and implemented same-sex ‘marriage’, secretly wanting Northern Ireland to have abortion on demand and entertaining the idea of quotas for all sectors of society in the name of equality. All of which makes them no different from any left-wing party.

 

[goodcatholic]

That’s a healthy sign in my view.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If I saw this happen in my life time I’d be quite pleased.

Edited to add, let me know when C of E gives us all our ancient cathedrals and abbeys back

 

[PaulfromIowa]

I don’t think that the Catholic Church is growing much in the secularized UK. It is more the case that the Church of England is being abandoned. Catholics (and probably Muslims) now have more active worshippers there.

 

[Augustinian]

The Catholic Church may be exceeding the CofE, but how about other religious groups? How far behind are the Muslims and Hindus and are they catching up too?

 

[anon10271182]

Considering how the Episcopalian “church” in the US has fought tooth and nail and like a dog in manger to hang onto real estate…not likely.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

let me know when C of E gives us all our ancient cathedrals and abbeys back

Not going to happen.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Considering how the Episcopalian “church” in the US has fought tooth and nail and like a dog in manger to hang onto real estate…not likely.

It’s canon law in The Episcopal Church that the property and parish structure belongs to the Diocese. I would imagine that the same thing holds true for the RCs. The Diocese decides what to do with properties they no longer afford, and disband or merge a parish membership. Am I not accurate?

 

[ComplineSanFran]

I don’t think that the Catholic Church is growing much in the secularized UK. It is more the case that the Church of England is being abandoned. Catholics (and probably Muslims) now have more active worshippers there.

Perhaps the biggest factor in RC growth is the steady stream of immigrants coming from Catholic countries like Poland. Now that they are going back, there may be a considerable drop.

 

[anon10271182]

And they have spent many millions of dollars in court battles to hang onto church buildings after whole congregations, even dioceses, have decided to join, usually, the ACNA. Now they have plenty of vacant buildings.
But not for long. TEC will fold even before the C of E does.

 

[GodSpawned]

me know when C of E gives us all our ancient cathedrals and abbeys back

You can have them. Many of them are hundreds of years old and cost millions a year to repair and maintain, especially if they are listed buildings.

 

[po18guy]

Tis_Bearself:

let me know when C of E gives us all our ancient cathedrals and abbeys back

Not going to happen.

Wait until the funds to maintain the buildings run out.

 

[anon10271182]

Which will happen within the next 25-30 years, as attendance reaches an event horizon vanishing point.
So much for the plan to be more “relevant” and attract new members by embracing secular wickedness. Oops.

 

[po18guy]

Which will happen within the next 25-30 years, as attendance reaches an event horizon vanishing point.
So much for the plan to be more “relevant” and attract new members by embracing secular wickedness. Oops.

In attempting to be all things to everyone, you end up being nothing to absolutely no one.

 

[Inquisitor85]

I think you’re all getting carried away here, according to the 34th British Social Attitudes Survey only 41% are Christians of any type (15% Anglican, 9% Catholic, 17% Other Christian) and 6% represent Other Faiths. The largest group is the None Religious with 53%.

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[Eric_Hyom]

I think true growth could be measured by people coming into the church, through RCIA. In our parish, it is often just two or three a year, sadly many more are dying.

Immigration has been boosting the numbers. At a Pentecost Service we had, parishioners whose first language was not English, were asked to say a short prayer in their native tongue, we had thirty six different languages.

 

[Inquisitor85]

I remember a statistic from a BBC documentary a few years ago that said that Anglicanism was losing 12 followers for every 1 convert, the Catholic church was performing better losing 10 followers for every 1 convert. However this is from memory and I can’t find a source to support it so take that with a bucket of salt.