I’m a convert so my experiences are recent, but can say that from my own perspective that we are alive and well in the UK.
You have posed a lot of questions, but I will start off with the visit of the Holy Father. The only word for that is WOW.
Our beloved Pope Benedict knocked the country onto it’s backside… He totally confounded the critics and doom-sayers who predicted that not only would crowds of supporters be few, but also that crowds of protesters would be huge. It was the other way around. There were massive crowds turned out to see and cheer him. It was glorious to see. One of my favourite things was when he addressed the politicians in Westminster Hall. That building is the oldest building in Parliament and parts of it have been there for 1200 years, when England was a Catholic country. Seeing that beloved little man stand there and call secularism to account was wonderful. The media were stunned.
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100917_societa-civile_en.html
*In this light, I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue – paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination – that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience. These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square. I would invite all of you, therefore, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life.
*
Yes, there is tremendous secularism here, it is strident and vocal. However the RCC holds to it’s own doctrines and does not bend beneath the battering ram (often wielded in courts of law) which tries force religions to compromise their faith just to fit into the secularists opinions of where religion should belong in society.
As an example, below is a link to a recent victory regarding the opening of a new and much needed Catholic school. Although it was the British Humanist Association which brought the case, it was done with much the same reasons cited by secularists:
bbc.co.uk/news/education-20368325
Incidentally, it is interesting to note that on the BBC web site, secularism is listed in the section on religions.
bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/secularism.shtml
When it comes to the old prejudices against Catholics in the UK, I cannot speak for Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales as they have their own unique concerns. In England what I have personally found is that those who raise their eyebrows at one’s declaration of being Catholic is that they often base their prejudices on a combination of vague historical mumblings about “Bloody Mary” (Queen Mary of the Tudor dynasty) and distaste based on urban myths (e.g. we worship the Blessed Virgin, pray to saints, get given a “get out of hell free” card when we go to confession, we hate homosexuals, and force women to have dozens of children to name a few). It just takes a willing heart and a bit of courage to speak up and say “Actually, that is not correct. What we believe is this…”
Because of the awfully inadequate teaching of history in schools over the last 25 years, most of the younger generation have no real clue as to why Catholics have their particular place in British history. As such I have found younger people more receptive to listening to the debunking of the urban myths.
Going onto the influx of Eastern Europeans, particularly Polish Catholics. In my diocese we have made them as welcome as any other newcomers, but their presence here is over-reported. Because Catholicism is world-wide we have a huge variety in the ethnicity and nationalities of fellow Catholics coming and going all the time. One word here also about the make-up of the Masses, we have a full range of ages too. Depending on where I am (at home or visiting) I attend Mass in any one of four churches and all of them have ages from new-borns to the venerable elderly.
What continually strikes me and (if such a feeling is permitted) makes me very proud of our Holy Mother Church is the serenity with which most of the people I come across display to the secularists. It is not displayed with either arrogance or with fear, but with a quiet certainty that we have been members of Christ’s Bride for 2’000 years, and will continue to be until He comes again. That does seem unshakeable and while we do get pot-shots taken at us all the time in the media, it really doesn’t have any effect on wider life of the Church. We are here, and will continue to be so, until Our Lord deems otherwise.
) Nobody ever points it out when a criminal is Anglican, Methodist, Hindu, Sikh or Jewish…but us Catholics and Muslims always get our beliefs mentioned when we commit dastardly crimes