The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-02-05
CATHOLICS SHOW GROWTH
CATHOLIC RECOVERY IN GREAT
BRITAIN SHOWN IN FIGURES
CENSUS STATIsTics-cATHoLic
RELIGIOUS MARRIAGES IN
CREASE WHILE PRoTEsTANTs'
DECLINE

Catholics in England and Wales
are as numerous now as they We're
perhaps in the days after the So
called Reformation, and the Church
is recovering some of the ground she
lost in both countries following that
great religious revolution Although
the proportion of Catholics to the to-
tai population is small, being some
thing like 2 to 40, for all that the
Catholic recovery has been notable.
The facts are strikingly presented
in the. official Catholic Directory,
which has just been issued with the
imprimatur of ecclesiastical authority
The total number of Catholics in the
kingdoms of England and Scotland
with the Principally of Wales is 2,
461 AIS, of which the proportions are:
England, 1,S45,954; Scotland, $4,000
and Wales 69,521. This gives for the
four Provinces of England and Wales
a united Catholic population of 1915,
ATS.
The Catholics possess splendid ca
thedrals, while schools and colleges
conducted by the religious orders rank
with any in the country. There is nc
Catholic university, but the Catholics
have returned to Oxford and Cam
bridge, where they have hostels OF
halls of study which are affiliated
with the universities, and from which
once again Catholics, both secular and
regular, may proceed to the highest
academic honors. Es
Evidences of Catholic Growth,
The power of the Church is best
shown in its increase, and from fig
ures supplied by the English and
Welsh dioceses the total number oil
conversions in the past year is. 10,
592. an excess of 1,190 over the pre-
vious year. Another significant thing
made clear by the official figures is
the fact that among Catholics alone Of
all the religious bodies of Great Brit
ain have religious marriages shown
notable increase. The adherents OF
the Church of England outnumber the
Catholics enormously, while members
of the various other Protestant sects
and other denominations run into mil
liens; yet all of these, the report Of
the Registrar-General discloses, have
recorded a steady decline in religious
marriages.
The CATHOLIC Church registers ar
increase, with 21,751 marriages cele
brated in Catholic churches. This is
1873 above the total noted in the off
cial report of last year. Children's
baptisms for the last twelve months
number 58,092, which is 3,775 more
than in the year before.
Advance in Education
In education the Church has made
great strides even in the space of {
year. There are now 4S4 Catholic
establishments for higher education
with some 22,49S pupils, while $50,
| 03l children are taught in the 1,204
parochial schools for elementary edll
cation.
The Tudor monarchs who took il
hand the task of breaking the power
of the Catholic Church in Great Brit
ain directed their wrath particularly
against the religious orders, with {
momentary success that is shown ii
the innumerable ruins of abbeys ant
religious houses with which the coun
try is dotted. But for all that the re
ligious orders have come back, anG
are stronger than they, We're even be
fore the Reformation.