Survey identifies Christian faithful in Europe

Survey identifies Christian faithful in Europe

PARIS — A new survey by the Pew Research Center suggests the future of the church in Europe is not as bleak as it might look.

The region has garnered headlines regarding its dwindling rates of attendance at religious services and rising numbers of churches shuttered or sold, but when Pew asked Western Europeans what they think about religion, the results suggest a more nuanced picture.

Of the 24,599 adults Pew surveyed in 15 countries, 64 percent still identify as Christians even if only 18 percent say they attend church at least once a month. At 46 percent of the total sample, nonpracticing Christians make up the largest single group in the survey, almost double the 24 percent of religiously unaffiliated — atheists, agnostics and “nones.”

About half of the nonpractitioners said they believe in a higher power or spiritual force and another quarter expressed belief in the God described in the Bible. Some 87 percent said they raise their children as Christians, not that far behind the 97 percent of churchgoers who do so. (RNS)