The Catholic Church made England and only she can remake it anew

For us in England there is a particular resonance because of our history and religious culture. England is “Our Lady’s Dowry”, a little-known devotion even among Catholics

This post is written by our friend Edmund Matyjaszek.

The figures are remarkable: over 500 catechumens and candidates attended the rite of election at Westminster Cathedral this Lent; Southwark diocese had 450; increased numbers from dioceses around the country. The newly created Cardiff-Menevia doubled its numbers. But that is not just England and Wales, but Scotland and Ireland also. Indeed, further afield – Australia, France, USA - show the same pattern, increasing candidates and applicants. But it is their profile as well. Many in their twenties, and a higher percentage of young men.

Particularly notable is France that has witnessed adult baptisms more than doubling since 2015, when only 3,900 adults received the sacrament, compared to this year’s 10,391 — representing a 160% growth over the decade.

This has been confirmed by recent surveys that have received considerable publicity: one on the so-called “Gen Z“, or those born 1997 or afterwards, shows an increased interest not just in spirituality but in religion and in its practice. Sales of the Bible have risen 87% between 2019-2024. The Bible Society and the polling company YouGov found that 12% of the population attended a religious service each month up from 8% a few years ago. More telling, 47% were 18-25 years old. And of direct relevance to Catholics, of those aged 18-34 attending a service at least monthly, 41% were Catholic, 20% Church of England, 18% Pentecostal. They entitled their survey “The Quiet Revival”. Reports of Easter attendance this year showed a remarkable scene of full or overflowing services. What is going on?

For us in England there is a particular resonance because of our history and religious culture. The respected Vatican commentator Edward Pentin wrote a long article in February published in the NC Register of America but widely distributed asking the question of England: “Is the Catholic faith set for a revival?” His headline linked this to England being “Our Lady’s Dowry”, a little-known devotion even among Catholics intimately linked though it is to the National Shrine at Walsingham. The country was re-dedicated to Our Lady there only 5 years ago. But I would take this further as current circumstances and issues do and will bear on the churches in such a way as almost to compel as well as invite the Catholic Church to re-emerge not just as a “revived” congregation, but more - as the country’s National Church.

Why you might ask? The National Church is the established Church, the Church of England? But for those who either know the Church of England (CofE) or work closely with it and its members – indeed many of its members are in despair of its efficacy as the National Church – the divisions and splits with the CofE do not seem reparable. The scandals notwithstanding of safeguarding that have led – unique in the history of the office – to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is the division in its ranks from Synod to local parishes caused by sexual and gender issues that have fatally weakened the church. The same process has sadly done for the Methodists as a vibrant Christian force. Evangelical and overseas churches such as those represented by GAFCON’s Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans find the established church’s departure from scripture on these issues impossible to follow. Anyone who has worked in ecumenical campaigns such as I have done in education, contesting the malign gender & LGBT ideologies being foisted on children as young as 4 and 5 in schools against the wishes of their parents, know it is the Evangelical churches that along with Jews and Catholics – and indeed at times Muslims – that provide the backbone for the resistance to this fatal and distorting ideology, that has just received its first major defeat for years in the Supreme Court’s ruling on the biological nature of sex. It appears identity in this is what nature and God gives us, not just our choice.

It is clear that the ideologues of identity have a grip on the Church of England and its synod. Common ground – as once created by scripture – has gone. A house divided against itself in such a way cannot stand.

There is also the very pertinent constitutional issue. King Charles of course fully submitted to, indeed it seems embraced, the coronation services and the vows taken. It is not clear Prince William wishes to follow his father in this. Also, it appears he is committed to the LGBT cause whose espousal within the church has led to irremediable divisions. So if he does on his father’s death assume the role of Supreme Governor, it is not clear he will be a reconciling force. But all the signs are this is not a role that he is actually interested or invested in.

There is therefore a coming vacuum in terms of what can represent the nation as a whole in Christian terms, consonant with its history.

It is this that I think calls the Catholic Church to be prepared to take a national role and speak for the soul of the nation. The recent campaign against Assisted Dying or Suicide has shown that it can indeed play that role if it sets its mind to it.

But it is more than just current events: it is our own national story, and identity. As the attempted revision to the school curriculum and re-interpretation of our history, through a lens of a colonialist and racist past, may show, the issue of identity is a much debated and a fraught one, on the national level as well as a personal one. But there is one institution that has stood on both sides of that division; that has endured persecution and exclusion by the “Imperial British State” for centuries; that connects with the deep past of England and predates colonialism, empire and slavery and is itself - to use the modish phrase - replete with diversity and inclusive as no other comparable institution can be. See any communion queue at Sunday Mass: the grandsons and daughters of the Irish stand in line with Nigerian doctors and Indian care workers, Filipino nurses, French & Spanish bankers, Poles, Italians, South Americans, Koreans. This is becoming the case in provincial as well as metropolitan parishes. There are Tamil pilgrimages to Walsingham. Even Muslims go there I understand as Mary is venerated in their religion. If you are looking for God’s plenty in our time, to use Chaucer’s phrase, look no further than a busy, bustling Catholic congregation on a Sunday. If one needs a religious institution to mirror the diverse nature of modern Britain, it is there and manifest.

There is however a deeper reason the Catholic Church is profoundly and uniquely representative of our nation as a whole.