Dear Editor, The findings of a current survey undertaken by British Social Attitudes shows that, in 2014, 48.5% of Britons say they are of ‘no religion’ – almost doubling the 25% statistic found in 2011.
According to an analysis of the survey by St Mary’s Catholic University in Twickenham, the Anglican church in Britain is losing 12 people for every new convert while the Catholic church is losing 10 people for each new convert.
Food for thought, then, and plenty of opportunity for panic in Christians churches. But surely the message from the papacy of Francis is, in times of crisis, keep calm and pray on.
The Christian church, whether it is under siege from Islamist terrorists, communist regimes or the liberals of this world (who confuse liberty with selfishness), should take some solace from history. Christians have endured difficult times before and nowhere in the Gospels do we read Christ saying that it’s easy to be a Christian.
This is certainly not the time to do nothing – burying our heads in the sand will not yield much – but more time praying and less time fretting seems like a good plan.
Yours etc.,
Declan Rankin,
Donnycarney, Dublin 9.