Cardiff, Wales - TODAY'S hectic lifestyles are prompting a return to the nation's pews.
New research has revealed that we are returning to religion with churches boasting packed congregations for Christmas and more than 80 per cent of us visiting a place of worship last year.
Research for the influential Opinion Research Bureau showed 86 per cent of adults in the UK had attended a place of worship in 2005.
And this was supported by record attendance at Christian services over the holidays.
Professor Sean Loughlin, of Cardiff University, who studied for the priesthood in Northern Ireland and spent six years in a monastery, said he believed it was today's hectic lifestyles and the terrorism events of the past year which have increased our "natural human need" for religion.
"Many of the events of 2005 have given people a feeling of insecurity.
"There's been global terrorism, war and bombings in London, and the world has been a much more insecure place since the events of September 11.
"The funeral of Pope John Paul II also left us with powerful images, and showed people, especially the baby boom generation, that religion is not as unimportant, as many of them had thought."
He said people would always have a need for religion, even if they did not understand it, adding, "There's a thirst for something more. People want to know there is more to life than a good job and getting drunk on a Friday night.
"A lot of the time both parents are working and they find it difficult to cope.
"People may just go along (to church) because they enjoy the music or the feeling of being in a place of worship.
"Even if they don't understand it, they are keeping in touch with a deeper dimension of themselves."
Professor of theology at Lampeter University Paul Badham said Wales is catching up with a global trend.
He said, "Religion has been on the increase in the rest of the world, and the only place it's been in decline is in Europe, but now things have started to change.
"Religious interest is always cyclical, and it has been said before, in the 19th century before the Revival, that there was no need for religion.
"People were proved wrong then as perhaps some have been again."
A spokesman for the Church in Wales welcomed what he said was a great deal of anecdotal evidence of huge Christmas congregations.
Commenting on the ORB research, he said, "This evidence seems to support the case that places of worship are still a focus for communities, as well as being of interest to visitors and pilgrims.
"This presents the churches with a real challenge during the coming year - the challenge of making our church buildings, as well as our congregations, real sign-posts of Christ's gospel."
In Cardiff about 50 people were happy to listen to services from outside one packed place of worship on Christmas Eve.
A spokesperson for Llandaff Cathedral said it was standing room only for the 800 who attended its service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
She added, "People are never turned away, and quite a few were listening to the service from outside the west door. It's never been quite like that."
The cathedral also had more than 1,200 people take part in communion - the highest figure for a decade.
Cathedrals in Bangor and St Davids also reported the largest crowds in years. The Very Rev Wyn Evans, Dean of St Davids Cathedral, said, "There were about 100 more people in midnight mass than there were last year.
"All cathedrals over the last five years have experienced more people coming for the big festivals like Christmas and Easter, but this year there was a significant jump in numbers."