Sarah Mitchell
The Catholic Church has a long and complex history in the United Kingdom, dating back to the establishment of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. While it has faced discrimination and religious conflict over the centuries, Catholicism remains a significant religious presence in the UK today. In recent years, the Catholic Church in the UK has been shaped by immigration, social changes, and the Church's response to issues like the sexual abuse crisis. As of 2018, 19% of UK adults identify as Catholic, and the religion is especially prominent in London and among Gen Z.
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What You'll Learn
Catholic population growth in the UK
The Catholic Church has a long history in the United Kingdom, dating back to the 6th century when Pope Gregory I sent a Roman missionary to evangelise in the Kingdom of Kent. The Catholic population in the UK has fluctuated over the centuries, with significant growth and decline periods.
One of the earliest notable growth periods occurred in the 19th century, particularly during the Great Irish Famine. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Irish Catholics migrated to England, Scotland, and Wales, establishing communities in cities like London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow. This migration gave Catholicism in England and Wales a numerical boost and led to the establishment of new dioceses and bishops by the Pope in 1850.
In the 50 years between 1912 and 1962, the Catholic population in England and Wales more than doubled. It continued to rise until 1993 when it peaked at around 4.5 million. This growth coincided with an increase in the number of priests, which nearly doubled during the same period, peaking in 1965.
However, since 1993, there has been a decline in the Catholic population in England and Wales. Between 1993 and 2010, the Catholic population decreased by 10.9%, and the number of priests also decreased by 9.4%. This decline continued, and by 2011, the number of priests had fallen to its lowest level since 1937.
Despite this decline in attendance and the number of priests, the overall Catholic percentage of the total population in the UK has remained fairly stable over the last 30 years. According to estimates, around 8-9% of the UK population identifies as Catholic, with higher concentrations in certain areas like North West England and London.
In recent years, immigration from Eastern European countries, particularly Poland, has contributed to a significant increase in the Catholic population in the UK. This influx of Eastern European migrants has led to the establishment of Eastern Catholic Churches and communities serving these groups.
While it is difficult to predict future trends, some analysts speculate that the decline of the Church of England, the vibrancy of the Catholic community, and continued immigration could make Catholicism the largest religious body in Britain in the coming years.
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Catholic immigration to the UK
The Catholic Church in England and Wales has a long history, dating back to the 6th century when Pope Gregory I sent a Roman missionary, Augustine, to intensify the evangelization of the Kingdom of Kent, thus linking it to the Holy See in 597 AD. However, in 1534, King Henry VIII ended communion with Rome, and the Church of England became the independent established church in England and Wales. Despite this, Catholicism continued to have a presence in Britain, especially in Ireland and among recusants in the north of England.
One significant wave of Catholic immigration to the UK occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the Great Irish Famine. Hundreds of thousands of Irish migrants, many of them Catholic, crossed the channel to England, Scotland, Wales, and established communities in cities such as London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow. This influx of Irish Catholics gave Catholicism in Britain a numerical boost and led some to believe in a "second spring" of Catholicism across the country.
More recently, Eastern European migration, particularly from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Slovakia, has also contributed to the Catholic population in the UK. The accession of Poland to the European Union in 2004 resulted in large-scale Polish immigration, with up to 900,000 people arriving in the UK by 2017. However, the Polish Catholic Mission reports that only about 10% of these new immigrants attend church regularly.
According to a 2018 report, 19% of UK adults identify as Catholic, and the Catholic Church has become the best-attended Christian denomination in England, with an average attendance of 861,000 at Sunday Mass. In London, Catholics make up 35% of the city's Christians, outnumbering Anglicans, Pentecostals, and Orthodox Christians.
While the UK is becoming increasingly irreligious, with a decline in attendance across various Christian denominations, the Catholic Church in the UK continues to be shaped by immigration patterns and remains a significant religious presence in the country.
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Catholic social justice initiatives in the UK
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is a doctrine concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses social justice, oppression, the role of the state, wealth distribution, and more. In the United Kingdom, there are several Catholic social justice initiatives that strive to uphold these principles and create a more just and equitable society.
One example is the Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), a national team based in London that coordinates Catholic charitable activities. CSAN seeks to address various forms of misery and promote social justice in England and Wales. Their work includes providing community and specialist support for families and children, the elderly, homeless people, refugees, the disabled, and prisoners. CSAN's approach is distinctive in that it supports people who may have difficulty accessing help elsewhere, and it focuses on building the dignity and strengths of each person.
Another initiative is Catholics for Choice, which focuses on social justice issues such as workers' rights, protection from violence and abuse, immigration status, environmental protection, and access to education, healthcare, and childcare. They believe in the inherent dignity of all individuals and their ability to make conscience-based decisions about their bodies and lives. Catholics for Choice also recognizes the interconnections between racism and attacks on reproductive freedom, advocating for justice and liberation for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
In addition to these organizations, the Catholic Church in the UK also engages in volunteer work, advocacy campaigns, and initiatives that benefit marginalized communities. These efforts are guided by the principles of Catholic Social Justice, which emphasize solidarity, stewardship, advocacy, community service, educational initiatives, and policy analysis. Through these initiatives, Catholics in the UK strive to create a more compassionate and just society, contributing to positive social change.
Overall, Catholic social justice initiatives in the UK encompass a range of activities that aim to address social injustices, promote the common good, and uphold the dignity of every human person. By putting these principles into practice, Catholics in the UK are working towards building a more equitable and compassionate society.
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Catholic dioceses in the UK
The Catholic Church in the UK is organised into dioceses, which are administrative units under the supervision of a bishop. There are 22 dioceses in England and Wales, subdivided into five provinces. The Catholic Church in Scotland has eight dioceses, subdivided into two provinces. The Catholic dioceses in Northern Ireland are organised together with those in the Republic of Ireland.
The Diocese of Westminster is considered the mother church of English and Welsh Catholics, and the Archbishop of Westminster typically serves as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Other dioceses in England include those of Arundel and Brighton, Birmingham, Brentwood, Clifton, East Anglia, Hallam, Hexham and Newcastle, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Northampton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Salford, Shrewsbury, and Southwark.
The Diocese of Paisley is one of the eight dioceses in Scotland. The Catholic Church in Scotland also comprises two Latin ecclesiastical provinces, each headed by a Metropolitan archbishop, with six suffragan dioceses under their jurisdiction.
Historically, there were no Catholic dioceses in England and Wales following the English Reformation in the 16th century, during which Catholicism was outlawed. In 1850, Pope Pius IX re-established the Catholic Church diocesan hierarchy in England, though the names adopted for these dioceses differed from the medieval ones, which had become Anglican.
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Catholic conversion in the UK
The Catholic Church in the UK has experienced periods of prominent conversions over the years, and the country is now seeing a mini revival driven by a new generation of converts. While the average Briton is more likely than ever to be a non-believer, a recent YouGov survey of over 13,000 people found that 41% of churchgoers aged 18 to 35 in England and Wales identify as Catholic, with Catholics outnumbering Anglicans by more than two to one in this age group. This trend is particularly pronounced among young men. Overall, Catholics now make up 31% of all churchgoers, compared to 23% in a similar survey in 2018.
This trend is also reflected in London, where Catholics make up 35% of the city's Christians, compared to 33% for Anglicans, and Catholics are more likely to pray regularly than their co-religionists in the rest of the UK (56% vs 32%). The Catholic percentage of the total population in the UK has remained fairly stable over the last 30 years, while the Anglican percentage has declined from 44.5% in 1983 to 19.0% in 2014.
Historically, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has seen significant boosts in numbers due to migration from Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as more recent Eastern European migration, particularly from Poland. While the number of weekly mass attendees has fallen by nearly a third (30.7%) between 1993 and 2010, the Catholic population in the UK has been steadily growing. In the 50 years between 1912 and 1962, the Catholic population more than doubled, peaking at 4.53 million in 1993. As of 2018, 3.8 million persons identify as Catholics in England and Wales (8.3% of the adult population), and 6.2 million were raised Catholic (13.7%).
The process of converting to Catholicism in the UK involves the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), which is a process of initiation into the Catholic Community of Faith for people seeking Christian baptism in the Catholic Church or full Communion with the Catholic tradition. This process includes weekly meetings over the course of a year, where candidates explore the basics of the Catholic faith and reflect on them in light of their own life experiences. This is followed by a period of study of Scripture, doctrine, and traditions, as well as meeting with the community. Candidates for baptism are then initiated into the Church through the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil, where they are baptized, confirmed, and receive Holy Eucharist.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, there are Catholics in the UK.
According to a 2018 study, 8% of the UK population identifies as Catholic. This is around 3.8 million people.
Yes, the number of Catholics in the UK has changed over time. In 1912, the Catholic population in the UK was 2.265 million. This number more than doubled to 4.53 million in 1962. The Catholic population continued to rise until 1993, when it peaked at 4.53 million. Since then, the number of Catholics in the UK has been declining. However, recent reports suggest a resurgence in Catholic numbers, particularly among Gen Z and millennials.
The presence of Catholics in the UK can be attributed to various factors, including historical events and migration patterns. Historically, the Catholic Church in England included about 50,000 people from traditional Catholic families in the 19th century. The Irish migration during the Great Famine in the 1840s and 1850s also brought hundreds of thousands of Catholics to England, Scotland, and Wales, boosting the Catholic population. More recently, Eastern European migration, particularly from Poland and other Catholic countries, has contributed to the Catholic population in the UK.
