English cathedrals have not fully recovered from Covid-19

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Data on the number of visitors and worshippers in England’s Anglican Cathedrals, shows numbers are 58 per cent below the pre-pandemic 2019 total.

Attendance is higher than the lockdown year of 2020, but has still not fully recovered from the Covid pandemic. A total of 15,800 people were reported at cathedral services in 2021, this is 22 per cent more than the equivalent figure from 2020, but still down on 2019. On the positive side, 94 per cent of cathedrals are continuing to offer online services and there were 230 weddings in 2021, only marginally lower than 2019.

But of concern is that volunteering has decreased by a further 21 per cent from the 2020 figure.

The Dean of Canterbury, David Monteith, who chairs the College of Deans, said cathedrals were resilient and would continue to support communities, providing a place of worship, prayer and sanctuary.