Researcher finds a dramatic decline of Christianity in Europe

“O ye of little faith.”

It’s a message that appears several times in the Bible. It’s also a timely thought given a new report on religious trends among young adults in Europe.

It’s well known that many traditional denominations in the United States are seeing stagnating or shrinking membership, and more people are identifying as non-religious.

In Europe, the decline of Christianity is so stark that the author of the new report from St. Mary’s University in London was quoted as saying Christianity, “as a default, as a norm, is gone, and probably gone for good – or at least for the next 100 years.”

Among the findings:

• As many as 91 percent of those 16 to 29 years old in the Czech Republic declare no religious affiliation.

• Just 7 percent of young adults in the United Kingdom identify as Anglican, and 6 percent call themselves Muslim.

• Most young adults in a dozen European nations say they have no religion.

There are exceptions, with roughly half the same age group in Poland attending weekly mass.

The researcher, Stephen Bullivant, recently was in Chicago interviewing “nonverts” — people raised in a faith tradition but no longer belonging to one.

The Religion Roundup is also featured on WBBM Newsradio (780 AM and 105.9 FM) on Sundays at 6:22 a.m., 9:22 a.m. and 9:22 p.m. For more religion coverage, check out suntimes.com. Email tips and comments to Robert Herguth at rherguth@suntimes.com.