Grace Thompson
Catholicism is the world's largest Christian denomination, with around one billion followers, or one in every six people. In Britain, about one in twelve people, or 8% of the population, are Catholic. This amounts to roughly five million Catholics in the UK. This figure has remained stable over the last thirty years, while the Anglican percentage has declined from 44.5% in 1983 to 19% in 2014. The Catholic Church in Britain has seen its numbers boosted by immigration from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Ireland.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Percentage of Catholics in England and Wales in 2001 | 8% |
| Percentage of Catholics in England and Wales in 2009 | 9.6% |
| Percentage of Catholics in England and Wales in 2012-2014 | 8.3% |
| Percentage of Catholics in England and Wales who regularly attend mass | 25% |
| Percentage of Catholics in Scotland | 13% |
| Percentage of Catholics in London | 35% |
| Percentage of Catholics in the UK in 2002-2017 | 8% |
| Percentage of Catholics in the UK who attend church monthly | 42% |
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What You'll Learn
Catholic Church attendance in Britain
Catholicism is the biggest Christian denomination in the world, with about one billion followers, or one in every six people worldwide. In Britain, the picture is a little different. While Catholicism is the dominant form of Christianity in Western Europe, in Britain, the Church of England is the state church and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the national church of Scotland.
In Britain, about one in 12 people is Catholic, which is about 5 million people. According to the 2001 census, there were 41 million Christians in Great Britain, making up almost three-quarters of the population (72%). This included the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Church in Wales, Catholics, Protestants, and all other Christian denominations. The Catholic Church in England and Wales has five provinces: Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Southwark, and Westminster. There are 21 dioceses, which are divided into parishes.
The Catholic Church in Britain has seen a decline in attendance in recent years, although this has been less steep than that of the Anglican Church. Figures from the Catholic Directory suggest that about one million Catholics in England and Wales regularly attend Mass. In Scotland, attendance at Catholic services declined by 25% between 2000 and 2006. However, overall church attendance at Christmas has been steadily increasing in recent years, with a 2005 poll finding that 43% expected to attend a church service over the Christmas period, compared to 39% and 33% in 2003 and 2001, respectively.
In 2012, about 6% of the UK population regularly attended church, with an average age of 51. This is in contrast to 1980, when 11% attended church regularly, with an average age of 37. A similar trend has been found in Scotland, with data showing that 95,029 people attended Sunday Mass in Scotland in 2023, compared to 89,420 the previous year. Overall, 647,600 people attended Sunday Mass in Britain in 2023, compared to 592,428 in 2022.
The Catholic Church in Britain has seen a boost in numbers due to an influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa, with inner-city churches seeing a rise in attendance. However, rural congregations have been dwindling. The National Secular Society estimates that by 2050, only 101,700 Catholics will be attending church annually, compared to about one million at present.
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Catholic immigration to Britain
The Catholic Church was the dominant form of Western Christianity in Britain throughout the Middle Ages. However, the Anglican Church of England became the independent established church in England and Wales in 1534 following the English Reformation. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland, established in the 16th century, is the national church of Scotland.
The percentage of Catholics in Britain has increased over the years. In the 2001 UK census, Catholics in England and Wales were roughly 8% of the population. In 1901, they represented only 4.8% of the population. In 1981, 8.7% of the population of England and Wales were Catholic. In 2009, following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, thousands of Central Europeans (mainly heavily Catholic) Poles, Lithuanians, Slovaks, and Slovenes came to England. A poll found that 9.6% of England and Wales were Catholics in 2009. In the 2021 census, the total Christian population dropped to 46% (about 27.6 million people). In North West England, one in five are Catholic, a result of the high number of English recusants in Lancashire and large-scale Irish migration in the 19th century, particularly centered in Liverpool.
The Christian Research group, which studies trends in Christian faiths in Britain, says numbers have stabilized in recent years. They estimate that immigration has boosted the numbers of Catholics in the country. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa have contributed to the growth of the Catholic Church in Britain. While rural congregations have been dwindling, inner-city churches have seen numbers rise. According to the Catholic Directory, about one million Catholics in England and Wales regularly attend Mass. In 2007, the average attendance at Sunday Mass was 861,000, compared to 852,000 attending Anglican services.
In Scotland, about 13% of the population identified as Catholic in the 2022 census. In Northern Ireland, Christianity is the largest religion (79.7%) as of 2021.
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Catholic conversion rates in Britain
Catholicism has a long and complex history in Britain, dating back to the Middle Ages when it was the dominant form of Western Christianity. While the Church of England became the established church in England and Wales following the Reformation in 1534, Catholicism continued to have adherents in different parts of the country, particularly among recusants and in the north of England, but with a strong presence in Ireland.
Over time, various factors influenced the Catholic conversion rates in Britain. In the 19th century, Irish immigration contributed to the growth of Catholicism in Britain. Additionally, events like the Catholic emancipation and the Restoration of the English hierarchy expanded the Catholic population.
In more recent times, the Catholic Church in Britain has experienced fluctuations in its congregation sizes. Inner-city churches have witnessed an increase in numbers, possibly due to large-scale immigration from Eastern European countries like Poland and Lithuania, as well as from Africa. On the other hand, rural congregations have been declining. According to the 2001 census, Catholics in England and Wales comprised roughly 8% of the population, a notable increase from the 4.8% a century earlier in 1901.
Prominent conversions to Catholicism have also occurred throughout British history, with figures such as G. K. Chesterton and Augustus Pugin embracing the faith. These converts often faced prejudice from both Protestant and Catholic circles, as described by Pauline Adams in her work "English Catholic Converts and the Oxford Movement in Mid 19th Century Britain: The Cost of Conversion."
In 2019, Charles Moore, former editor of The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, shared his journey to Catholicism, which was influenced by the Church of England's decision to ordain women. More recently, parishes in London and southeast England have seen record numbers of people expected to become Catholics, with nearly 850 individuals on the cusp of entering the Church.
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Catholicism in London
Catholicism is the biggest Christian denomination in the world, with around one billion adherents, or about one in every six people worldwide. In Britain, about one in twelve people, or 8% of the population, are Catholic. This amounts to about five million Catholics in Britain. In England and Wales, the Catholic Church claims over four million members, with another 695,000 in Scotland.
In London, the Catholic faith is diverse and exciting. The city's size and variety lend themselves to a wide range of Catholic parishes and forms, from traditional Latin mass to Eastern rites and typical Novus Ordo. There are traditionalist parishes full of African migrants, a Maronite monastery, Polish parishes, and breathtaking oratories. London's large migrant population also makes it one of the more religious parts of the UK.
Some prominent Catholic places of worship in London include Westminster Cathedral, which is at the heart of Catholic faith in the city. Holy Mass is celebrated throughout the day, every day of the week, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available daily. Westminster Cathedral also boasts one of the world's greatest choirs, renowned for its polyphony and plainchant. The cathedral was completed in 1903 and is home to hundreds of beautiful mosaics and Stations of the Cross by the English sculptor Eric Gill.
Another notable Catholic site in London is the Brompton Oratory, which is described as "English Catholicism trying to find its feet once it was legal, borrowing various reverent ideas and trying them out." Other Catholic churches in London include St Patrick's in Soho, St Bede's in Clapham Park, St Mary Magdalene in Wandsworth, and the Church of Our Lady & St Gregory's on Warwick Street in Soho.
For those seeking an active young Catholic community in London, Farm Street is a popular destination, although it is associated with Jesuits. There is also a group of young Catholics who hold dances in the Rosary Shrine (Dominicans) hall.
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Catholicism in Scotland
Catholicism has a long and complex history in Scotland. The Catholic Church was the dominant form of Western Christianity in Britain throughout the Middle Ages. However, in the 16th century, the Scottish Reformation led to the establishment of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland as the national church, separate from the Catholic Church. Despite this, Catholicism continued to have adherents in Scotland, particularly among descendants of Irish immigrants and Scottish Gaelic-speaking migrants from the Highlands and Islands.
In the 19th century, the laws against Catholics in Scotland were gradually relaxed. The Emancipation Act of 1829 granted civil and political liberty to Scottish Catholics, and the first convent of nuns since the Reformation was founded in Edinburgh in 1832. The number of Catholics in Glasgow alone grew from a few hundred to 24,000 during this century. In 1878, Pope Leo XIII re-established the Scottish hierarchy of bishops, officially ending Scotland's classification as a missionary country.
According to the 2011 census, 16% of Scots described themselves as Catholic, making it the second-largest religious group in the country after the Church of Scotland. However, attendance at Catholic services has declined in recent years, with a 19% drop between 1994 and 2002. The Covid-19 pandemic also negatively impacted Mass attendance. Nonetheless, there was a dramatic rise in attendance between 2022 and 2023.
The most recent 2022 census data reveals that 51% of Scots have no religion, while 13.3% identify as Catholic, making it the second-largest religious group in Scotland. The Catholic Church in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference and remains a significant part of the country's cultural and religious landscape.
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Frequently asked questions
About 8% of Britain is Catholic.
With a population of about 60 million, that equates to about 5 million Catholics in Britain.
Yes, the percentage of Catholics in Britain has been fairly stable over the last 30 years or so, but it has increased since the 1901 census when Catholics represented only 4.8% of the population.
In 2021, 46.5% of the population identified as Christian, 37.8% had no religion, 6% were Muslim, and 5.9% did not state a religion. Of the Christians, 47% were Anglican, 9.6% were Catholic, and 8.7% were other Christians.
London has a higher proportion of Catholics, who make up 35% of the city's Christians, compared to 33% who are Anglican.
