Diarmaid MacCulloch: evaluation

Transcript context

…But in England, it’s not high, right? In England, its numbers have gone down because you no longer need to have it as a means of becoming respectable. We’re a much more varied culture than we were even when I was a boy. It was a very white and rather boring culture then. It is now exhilaratingly multicultural. Yes, Islam is part of that, and so is Hinduism. There are more Hindus in the UK than there are Muslims. They’re not so prominent, I think. And there are plenty of Sikhs. We have become a multi-faith country. At the center of it is still the Church of England, and the Church of Rome has done reasonably well in recent years because it’s constantly being replenished from outside the country by immigration. The great thing about the Church of England is that it has this now rather unusual mission to the entire nation. My dad was proud of being able to talk to anybody in his parish, whether they came to church or not. The Church of England is that one body within the nation which exists to minister to those beyond its walls and not those who come. That seems to be a rather precious thing to have. It is also appreciated by the other faiths. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs are pleased that there is an established church at the center of our country, because it is a symbol of the importance, the seriousness of religion. It’s a happy set of relationships. I look again to our parish churches, all the thousands of them, and our cathedrals. Our cathedrals are an enormous success story at the present day. Attendance to cathedrals is rising. Numbers through the door. Visitors beyond congregations are increasing. They have a mission to educate, to inspire through traditional liturgy, which is absolutely flourishing. It has financial problems, but it is in no way in a state of decay. So, I’m rather more sanguine about the Church of England than you might be. But I see numbers published that say 5 percent of Englishmen go to church. If you just pulled white native-born Englishmen: “Do you believe in the Trinity?” How many millions would say yes compared to the number of Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims that would profess a loyalty to their religions? Is it, in terms of actual belief, now a minority religion in England?…

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