Religion

The largest religious group in England is Christianity, with the Church of England (Anglican) being the Established Church: the Church retains a representation in the UK Parliament and the British monarch is a member of the church as well as its Supreme Governor. The Church of England also retains the right to draft legislative measures (related to religious administration) through the General Synod, that can then be passed into law by Parliament. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is the second largest Christian Church with around 5 million members, mainly in England.

The largest Religious group in Scotland is also Christianity, though the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (known informally as the Kirk), is recognized as the national church. It is not subject to the state control and the British monarch is an ordinary member required to swear an oath to “defend the security” of the church upon his or her accession.

The Church in Wales became independent from the Church of

England in 1920, but remains in the Anglican Communion. Baptist Union of Wales, Methodism and the Presbyterian Church of Wales are present in Wales as well.

The main religious groups in Northern Ireland are organized on an all-Ireland basis. Though Protestants and Anglicans are in the overall majority, the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland is the largest single Church.

The British tradition of religious tolerance has been particularly

important since the 1950s, when immigrants began to introduce a great variety of religious beliefs. There are large and growing communities that practice Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. The largest number of Muslims came from Pakistan and Bangladesh, with sizable groups from India, Cyprus, the Arab world, Malaysia and parts of Africa. The large Sikh and Hindu communities originated in India. There are also many Buddhist groups.

Religion in the United Kingdom	Percent
Christianity	71.8%
None	15.1%
Non-stated	7.8%
Islam	2.8%
Religion in the United Kingdom	Percent
Hinduism	1.0%
Sikhism	0.6%
Judaism	0.5%
Buddhism	0.3%

From Encyclopedia Britannica

by Ulric M. Spencer and Peter Jon Kellner, 2004;

Britain Explored by Paul Harvey and Rhodri Jones, 2007,

(pages 6, 13)

Exercises

I. Pronounce the following words correctly.

Percentage, constituent, migrant, Jews, refugee, origin, supreme, Christian, Presbyterian, accession, basis, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Muslim, Malaysia, Buddhist.

II. Give the Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations.

Population density; resident; to avoid; poverty; refugee; substantial;

predominant spoken language; borrowings; to some extent; representa-tion; to subject; overall majority; religious tolerance; belief; sizable groups.