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Britain is now a post-Christian country, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams of Oystermouth, has declared.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Lord Williams said Britain is no longer a nation of believers.
While the country is not populated exclusively by atheists, the former archbishop warns that the era of regular and widespread worship is over.
His stark assessment comes after David Cameron ignited a national debate over the place of religion in British public life.
The Prime Minister urged Christians to be “more evangelical” about their faith and claimed that Britain should be a more confidently Christian country.
His remarks, in the run-up to Easter, provoked a furious response from atheist and secular groups.
A succession of senior politicians gave their views, culminating in Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England.
In the interview, Lord Williams accepted that Britain’s “cultural memory” was “quite strongly Christian”.
“But [Britain is] post-Christian in the sense that habitual practice for most of the population is not taken for granted,” he said.
“A Christian nation can sound like a nation of committed believers, and we are not that.”
The former archbishop continued: “It’s a matter of defining terms. A Christian country as a nation of believers? No.”
“A Christian country in the sense of still being very much saturated by this vision of the world and shaped by it? Yes.”
Lord Williams suggested that there may be “a further shrinkage of awareness and commitment” as a result of a lack of knowledge about Britain’s Christian legacy among younger generations, under the age of 45.
More than half the people surveyed in a poll for the Telegraph regarded Britain as a Christian country.
But the poll also revealed that almost two-thirds of practising Christians appear to be frightened of speaking out about their beliefs.
Lady Warsi, the senior Conservative peer and the minister for faith, said “Christianity is part of the landscape of this country and always will be”.
She suggested that large numbers of immigrants from Christian backgrounds were leading to a religious revival in Britain.
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