“The picture painted by the BBC in its survey on religious faith is too catastrophic. 67% of people in the UK say they believe in God or in some superior power and 75% say they have prayed at least once in their life”. The comment on the last survey by British state television on the situation of religious faith in Great Britain is that of Citra Abbott, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. The BBC survey was conducted among a sample of 10,000 people in ten different countries in the world and concluded that the UK is the most atheist country. Great Britain in fact came bottom of the league table of religious faith. According to the spokesperson, “It’s true that faith in the UK no longer follows the traditional forms, church attendance or belonging to a particular religious community, but this does not mean it is disappearing”. The fact that “people think of God at least some times in their life is very significant; it’s the first step of opening towards the Creator. According to Abbot, “various forms of spirituality and religion now exist in Great Britain, some of them far removed from Christianity”. “It’s a sign she says that people are trying to give a meaning to their own life and this search ought to lead to God”. “Many who have a strong faith today may have gone through periods in which they did not believe. But no one can maintain that they are less believing than those who have never lost their faith”. At the top of the league table of religious faith compiled by the BBC is Nigeria where 98% of those interviewed maintain they have always believed in God; Indonesia is second with 97% of believers. In Great Britain, at the bottom of the table, only 46% said that they had always believed in God. The UK came penultimate also in terms of church attendance, with only a fifth of the population practising their religion with any regularity.
