For the first time in history, England and Wales have been minority Christian countries is presently the case, with less than half of the population identifying as Christian, and a large increase in the number of people who don’t profess any religion.
According to the most recent census data, taken in 2021 and published this year, 46.2% of the English and Welsh population say they are Christian, a decline of 13.1 percentage points since the last census in 2011. Even so, Christian remained the most common response to the religion question.
“No religion” was the second most common response, increasing by 12 percentage points to 37.2% since 2011.
London was the most religious city, mainly because of its diversity, while the least religious places were all in Wales – Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Rhonda Cynon Taf. In England, the least religious places were Brighton and Hove, Norwich and Bristol. All six places were majority “no religion”
For example, 4,632 state schools in England are run by the C of E. Anglican bishops sit and vote in the House of Lords (the only other country that reserves seats in its legislature for clerics is Iran). A significant share of public broadcasting is devoted to Christian programmes. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, will preside over next year’s coronation of King Charles III.
Source: The Guardian