Only 25% of Britons said they had a favorable view of the Church of England

A third of UK residents have a negative attitude to the Church of England. This became known on February 5 according to the results of a poll conducted by YouGov.

"Although the majority of Anglicans still have a favorable view of the Church of England (54%), this has fallen by 12% over the past few months. A full third (32%) now have a strongly unfavorable view of the institution," the researchers reported.

It is noted that in the last few months alone, the Church has lost 7% of its support due to numerous abuse scandals.

In November 2024, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was forced to announce his resignation from his post after an investigation revealed that he failed to report serial violence at Christian summer camps to police. An investigation has also been launched into the same case, involving "up to 30 individuals", YouGov reported.

The Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalat, also stepped down from his post at the end of January 2025, although he denies all allegations against him.

"A YouGov poll in early November - just days before the Welby scandal broke - showed that only 32% of Britons view the Church of England favorably, and now a new poll shows that figure has fallen to just 25%," the pollsters reported.

The survey also showed that exactly half of Britons were in favor of the Church being separated from the state. At the same time, 23% believe it is necessary to preserve the current state of affairs and oppose secularization.

In December 2024, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, called for changes to the Church of England in his sermon. He made his statement amid criticism of the Church of England for its failure to address various abuse scandals.

Earlier, in November of the same year, it was reported that King Charles III of England back in 1998 called Orthodoxy the only denomination not burdened by political correctness.

In the summer of 2023, the Spanish Catholic Church said it had identified 728 abusers in its ranks. More than 80% of them were direct religious figures.