The growth of Catholicism

On Monday the BBC Local radio stream looked at the issue of Catholicism in 2007 and how the increase in migration has led to an explosion in the catholic faith Britain. There are over 40 different languages spoken in some catholic congregations yet in this seminar we could only identify nine different ways to say hello!

Claire Ward from the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE) spoke about the conflict between having a denomination that was growing rapidly yet was struggling in some areas because of the last of community.

"Other denominations are better at discipleship, so it's not just the priests job, there are not enough lay people within the catholic church realising their potential." she said.

She went on to say that Britain has the highest number of priests per head but our country is used to the luxury of having too many and that's why it may seem like they are struggling.

Catholics and the BBC

To reach out and evangelise the Catholic church will be working with the BBC to produce a series later in the year called 'Come home for Christmas' a series of videos and audio featuring people who have returned to the catholic faith. Claire also encouraged broadcasters with sources and contacts for future news stories.