|
|
|
|
|
« Return
|
|
Census shows that most Brits still identify with Christianity
2003-035-4
2/18/2003
|
[Episcopal News Service]
Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of those surveyed in England and Wales still report that they belong to the Christian religion, despite falling church attendance. 'These figures prove as a lie claims that England is no longer a Christian country,' said Bishop Keith Sutton of Litchfield.
The finding emerged as a result of the 2001 national census, the first to ask the 52 million who participated about their religious affiliations. The results showed that 37.3 million declared their adherence to Christianity, even though less than 10 percent go to church weekly.
'It is a wake-up call to the churches when so many people identify as Christian but don't feel strongly enough to be part of a church,' said David Goodburn, general secretary of Churches Together in Britain.
The second-largest faith in England and Wales is Islam with about 3 percent, or 1.5 million people, identifying themselves as Muslim, followed by Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism.
Among the surprises from the survey, 390,000 identified themselves as followers of Jedi, inspired by the warriors from the Star Wars movies. An Internet campaign urged people to answer 'Jedi Knight' to the census question on religion. About 15 percent, or 7.7 million people, declared they had no religion and another 8 percent declined to answer the question.
'Churches haven't lost the ground they thought they had,' said Prof. Leslie Francis of the University of Wales in Bangor, chair of the interfaith group dealing with census authorities. 'Non-practicing Christianity has real implications for how people live their lives and churches shouldn't give the impression that, if you don't practice Christianity, you're not part of us.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
