A Christian Nation No More? Census Numbers Fuel Debate on Britain’s Identity, Christianity’s Future

Its king is the “defender of the faith” and the supreme governor of the Church of England. More than half of the church’s archbishops of the Church of England sit by right in the House of Lords. The national anthem is “God Save the King.”

The sun may never have set on the old British Empire, but the light of Christianity is dimming in modern Britain — and much of the rest of the Western world that was the Christian faith’s heartland for more than a millennium.

An analysis of the official 2021 census found that less than half the population of England and Wales identify as “Christian” for the first time in centuries. The news this week shocked the country and fueled a larger debate about the future of Europe’s bedrock faith.

In 2011, 33.3 million people in England and Wales told census takers that they were Christians. A decade later, the number dropped to 27.5 million — a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% to 46.2% of the population. Those saying they had “no religion” rose from 14.1 million, 25.2% of the population, to 22.2 million, 37.2% of the population. The share of Muslims grew from 4.9% in 2011 to 6.5% last year, and self-described Hindus rose slightly from 1.5% to 1.7% of the population. (Read more from “A Christian Nation No More? Census Numbers Fuel Debate on Britain’s Identity, Christianity’s Future” HERE)

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