Closer ties with Christian Europe offers the best hope of arresting the decline of church attendance in Scotland, an expert on the history of religion claimed last night.
Professor Callum Brown, author of The Death of Christian Britain, said the freefall in church congregations was a "uniquely European" phenomenon not seen in America or other western countries and should be addressed as such. Speaking at a Saltire debate on the future of Christianity in Scotland, sponsored by The Herald, Professor Brown said: "Many church administrations have responded (to the decline) in a very defensive way.
"Churches tend to think of the decline as linked with the state of our national identity and are perhaps pinning their hopes of a revival on that. It would be much better to think in European models of revival and find a pattern which is much bigger than that found in Scotland."
The comments by Professor Brown follow a report by Christian Research earlier which predicted 7% of Scots would attend Sunday service by 2020.
Peter Kearney, the head of the Roman Catholic media office in Glasgow who shared the platform, said: "I think the future of Europe might hinge on whether it acknowledges its Christian heritage or not."