Cornish people: Encyclopedia II - Cornish people - Religion

Cornish people - Religion

Traditionally, the Cornish have been nonconformists, in religion. Celtic Christianity was a feature of Cornwall and many Cornish saints are commemorated in legends, churches and place names.

Thousands of Cornish people died in the Prayer Book Rebellion in the 1540s when the law required that a new English language version of the Book of Common Prayer be used; attempts to revert to the Latin version, or to translate the text into Cornish, were suppressed.

In contrast to the Welsh language, the churches failed to produce a translation of the Bible into the local language, and this has been seen by some as a crucial factor in the demise of the language. The Bible was translated into Cornish in 2004.

The Methodism of John Wesley also proved to be very popular with the working classes in Cornwall in the 18th century. Methodist chapels became important social centres, with male voice choirs and other church-affiliated groups playing a central role in the social lives of working class Cornishmen. Methodism still plays a large part in the religious life of Cornwall today, although Cornwall has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.

In 2003, a campaign group was formed called Fry an Spyrys (free the spirit in Cornish) [18]. It is dedicated to disestablishing the Church of England in Cornwall (organised as the Diocese of Truro, headed by the Bishop of Truro), and to forming an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion — a Church of Cornwall. Its chairman is Dr Garry Tregidga of the Institute of Cornish Studies. The Anglican Church was disestablished in Wales to form the Church in Wales in 1920 and in Ireland to form the Church of Ireland in 1869.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Religion", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki