The study, which will be published in the new year, covered 37,000 churches. According to the data obtained, an average of 861,000 people now regularly attend masses, while the number of Anglican churchgoers is only 852,000. This statistic is explained by the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa; they are the ones filling the previously empty pews in Catholic parishes.
The emerging trend is just one of the changes that have taken place in the attitude of UK residents to religion in the 21st century. There is a sharp increase in Pentecostal churches. They have already outnumbered Methodist churches, which are the largest Christian denomination in Britain.
In the struggle for the flock, the Anglican Church has introduced new forms of preaching the Gospel: chaplains in nightclubs, floating churches (barges are being converted for this purpose) and even internet congregations.
Theologian Alister McGrath, professor of historical theology at Oxford University, believes that the data collected by the organization Christian Research should be seen as a call to action for the Anglican Church. 'In defense of Anglicanism as the official religion, its adherents point to its significance in history, the importance of cultural memory, and the fact that the majority nominally adhere to Anglicanism,' McGrath explains. 'But at the same time, an obvious problem arises: what will happen if the state church becomes a minority church?'
The Catholic Church has also experienced a serious decline in the number of its congregations. However, thanks to the EU enlargement in 2004, its ranks were replenished by hundreds of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians. In 1991, 1.3 million people attended masses, meaning attendance had fallen by 40% compared to 1963. But thanks to immigrants from Catholic countries, the number of parishioners is declining more slowly, and over the past six years it has fallen by only 13%.
His Excellency Bishop of Portsmouth Christian Hollis notes that the Roman Catholic Church is becoming increasingly active in trying to bring back those who have left the church. However, he admitted that mass immigration has been a significant factor in the increase in the proportion of Catholics in Britain. 'For the first time in many years, Catholic parishioners have outnumbered Anglicans,' the bishop emphasized. 'We do not want people to think that we have "beaten" the Anglican Church. We have no jealousy whatsoever towards it as a church preaching the official state religion. But of course, these numbers are encouraging. They show that the Catholic Church has emerged from the shadows and gained great importance for British society.'
According to Danny Sriskandarajah, head of the migration, equality and citizenship department at the Institute for Public Policy Research, attendance at Catholic churches will not remain high for long. 'We see that the number of people from Eastern Europe is decreasing, many of them have returned home. The increase in the number of adherents of Catholicism is important, but it is most likely a temporary phenomenon,' he believes. 'I doubt that the situation will remain the same in the next 10 years.'
Translation by Gzt.ru