Religion of London

When Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become “Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury.

Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England’s religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London’s two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London’s grandest church, the baroque St Paul’s Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. Important national and royal ceremonies are divided between St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey, a gothic church on the scale of a cathedral.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Many of London’s immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist.

London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well-known landmark on the edge of Regent’s Park, and there are many other mosques in the city. London also has the largest Hindu population outside of India.

Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. Hare Krishna monks are a common sight in the city centre and the Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of India, built in the traditional style. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two-thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre.