Nearly 500 years ago, St. Thomas More gave his life for a truth he refused to betray. He maintained that the Bishop of Rome — not the King of England — was the head of Christ’s Church on earth.
As we passed the 490th anniversary of his martyrdom last summer, it seems more than a coincidence that — for the first time in five centuries — Catholics now outnumber Anglicans by two to one in Great Britain.
A new study from the United Kingdom has found that among members of Gen Z in the U.K., Catholics now outnumber Anglicans 2 to 1 — part of a pattern observed across all age groups whereby participation in Catholicism has risen in recent years while Anglicanism has declined.
We can only imagine what St. Thomas More would say.
But perhaps he foresaw it.
“Time trieth truth,” he wrote. And now, nearly five centuries later, a growing number of young Britons are trying — and finding — truth in the Catholic Church.
A 200-year turnaround
British Catholicism’s resurgence didn’t happen overnight. For nearly 300 years after the English Reformation, Catholicism was outlawed, persecuted, and driven underground.
But Catholics take a long view of history, measuring time in millennia. And in the last two centuries, the tide began to turn.
One major factor has been immigration of Catholic communities, from the Irish in the 1800s to more recent waves from Poland, the Philippines, Brazil, and Nigeria. Many of these immigrants brought with them a strong and living faith, renewing local parishes and attracting others to the Church's vibrancy.
Another key influence came from the Oxford Movement in the 1830s, which sparked a wave of conversions among Anglican scholars and clergy. The most famous convert, St. John Henry Newman, scandalized Victorian England when he was received into the Catholic Church in 1845 — but today his writings, witness, and canonization continue to inspire young seekers.
“To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant,” Newman once wrote. His insight, like More’s, speaks to today’s generation, especially since Pope Leo XIV declared him a Doctor of the Church.
Most recently, on September 16, the world watched a truly historic moment. Katharine, Duchess of Kent — who was married to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin — was buried with the first Catholic funeral for a British royal in nearly 500 years. The ceremony, with the presence of the King, was a powerful reminder of how far England has come from the days when being Catholic was considered treason.
A Catholic revival?
Make no mistake: The Holy Spirit is moving in Britain.
While overall religious practice is declining in the U.K., Catholicism stands out as a Church not only holding steady — but even growing among the under-34s. Young people are being drawn to the faith’s clarity, tradition, and most of all, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
It’s not just the U.K.
A young priest from Norway reports a “spiritual awakening” in the Nordic countries. In France, the Catholic Church welcomed more than 10,384 adult catechumens at Easter this year — a 45% increase from the year before. The U.S. is experiencing its own “Midwest Catholic revival” with surging numbers of converts and the first pope from the region.
The religious landscape is shifting: As a British Christian once wrote, “Aslan is on the move.”
On September 24, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham — a traditional English devotion to Mary.
We ask her again:
Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for England.
St. Thomas More and St. John Henry Newman, pray for the whole Church.
Lord Jesus, thank you; continue your work of renewal.
