3. Religion and church

There is a paradox about religion in Britain. On the hand this is officially a Christian country, where Church and state are linked. On the other, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs form quite a large part of the population and the British pride themselves in tolerance and adaptability. At the same time, many small religious groups and sects appear to be growing, while most young people have no religious beliefs at all.

The link between Church and state is something unique to Britain; no other Western country has anything quite like it. The Queen is not only the symbolic head of state, but she is also the head of the Church of England; British coins have a portrait of the monarch with the letters FD (from the Latin fidei defensor, Defender of the Faith). In most modern countries there is strict separation between the Government and religion. How did this strange situation come about in Britain?

It was partly the result of a historical accident. King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry again but the Pope would not agree. So, in the early 1530s, Henry broke away from Rome, and the Church of England became independent. It was still Catholic, but it then began to adopt many of the new Protestant ideas from Germany, such as man’s ability to speak to God without intercession of priests.

Under Queen Elizabeth I, the Church became officially Protestant, and the Roman Catholic Church was persecuted – they were forced to go to the Protestant church service, and much of their money was confiscated. Even today a Catholic may not become king or queen.

As a result, bishops of the Church of England are appointed by the Queen, even if she does not use her own judgment but always accepted the advice of those in the Church. The bishops sit in the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament – so, in theory at least, they are part of the government of the country. Prayers are said at the Opening of Parliament in November each year. Religious education is compulsory in schools, and one quarter of all primary schools are Church schools. All state schools are required by law to have a collective act of worship which is predominantly Christian.

Of course, organized Christianity is in decline in most countries. The Church of England is no exception. A hundred years ago about 60 per cent of the population went to church on a Sunday, and today the figure is less than 10 per cent. People used to know the Bible so well that their everyday language was full of quotations from it; British children at the beginning of the third millennium do not even know the simplest Bible stories. The Church itself has quietly given up talking about many of its own basic beliefs: the virgin birth, heaven and hell, the resurrection of the body.

The Church of England has tried to modernize itself in various ways. Vicars no longer condemn gay men or lesbians, or couples live together without being married. Rock music sometimes replaces the traditional organ-played hymns. And very significant, since 1994 women can become priests; this question caused serious division within the Church, and some members left and joined the Roman Catholics.

British people have not given up the Church together. There is still a sort of nostalgic respect for the music, the buildings and the ritual.

At Christmas, groups of people go out signing carols, and the churches fill up midnight mass on Christmas Eve. About half of all weddings still take place in church, and a quarter of all children are baptized. Almost all funerals have a Christian element, at least some prayers and hymns.

According to denomination the overwhelming majority of the residents of Britain belong to the Protestants, the rest forming the Catholic and Presbyterian minorities. Only 17% of the adult population of Britain belongs to one of the Christian churches, and this proportion continues to decline. There are regional variations with the marked tendency: the further from London, the greater the attendance. In England only 13% of the adult population is members of the church, in Wales – 23%, in Scotland – 37% and in Northern Ireland no fewer than 80%.

Today there is complete freedom of practice, regardless of religion or sect. but it was not always so. Until the mid – 19^th century those who did not belong to the Church of England, the official, “established”, or state church, were barred from some public offices. The state Church still plays a powerful role in national life in spite of the relatively small numbers of people who are its active members.

There are two state Churches in Britain: the Church of England or Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland.

England was converted to Christianity in 597 AD when Roman Pope sent St. Augustine with 40 monks to Britain to baptize King Ethlbert of Kent and so pave the way for the conversion of all England to Christianity. By the 8^th century England was a Christian country under the influence of the Roman Church.

The 40 Roman monks landed in Kent in Saxon town of Cantwara-byrig – “the borough of the men of Kent”, present Canterbury, which became the cradle of Christianity in Saxon England. Canterbury Cathedral, which was built in the same year and for 350 years was the destination of countless pilgrims, today is the Mother Church of Anglicans throughout the world.

In 1533 King Henry VIII, had broken away from Rome and declared himself head of the Church of England (the Protestant state Church). Ever since 1534 the monarch has been Head of the Church of England. No one may take the throne who is not a member of the Church of England, which includes a wide variety of Protestant belief. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most spiritual leader of the Church of England and is Primate of All England. He is the head of the Anglican Communion, composed of various independent churches which have grown out of the Church of England in various parts of the world.

There are other Christian Churches – the Free, or Nonconformist Churches. They are distinguished by having no bishops or episcopacy and they all admit both men and women to their ministry. The main ones among them are: the Methodist Union, the Baptist, the United Reformed Church and the Salvation Army. These all tend towards strong evangelicalism. In addition there are smaller groups and sects.

The Church of Scotland, unlike the Church of England, is subject neither to the Crown, nor to the Parliament, and takes pride in its independence from state authority, for which it fought in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Its churches are plain, there is no alter, only a table. The emphasis is on the pulpit, where the gospel is preached. The Church of Scotland is more democratic.

The Roman Catholic Church returned to Britain in 1850. The English Protestant prejudice that to be Catholic is to be “not quite English” has really disappeared in the recent years. Since 1850 the Roman Catholic Church has grown rapidly with about 5, 7 million members of whom 1,4 million are regular attendees. Its senior English cleric is the Archbishop of Westminster.

Among other religions the oldest is Judaism. The Jewish community counts 300000 members, of whom only 80000 are actual synagogue members. The Jewish community is aging and diminishing on account of assimilation and relatively low birth rate. The Jews are divided into different religious groups. The majorities, about 200000, is Orthodox and belong to the United Synagogues.

There are also recently established religious groups: Hindus (1 million), Buddhism, Muslims (1, 5 million) and Sikhs. There are over 1000 mosques and prayer centers, of which the most important the London Central Mosque at Regent’s Park. About 900000 Muslims regularly attend these mosques.

The Church of England has always been closely identified with the ruling establishment and authority. It is used to be known as “Tory Party at prayer”. And though it has been gradually distancing itself from the ruling establishment over the recent years, the Church of England remains overwhelming middle and upper class in its composition.

Most working class people in England and Wales belong to the Nonconformist, or “Free” Churches. Generally speaking, 45% of the British people are Anglican; 9% - Catholic; 4% - Presbyterian; 3% - Muslim; 2% - Methodist; 1% - Hindu, other and non-religious make 36%.