The Church of England has fallen further out of favour both nationally and among Anglicans in recent months, new polling has suggested.
The Church has been plagued by scandal, with revelations of safeguarding failures which led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as calls for his temporary stand-in to quit.
Just a quarter of adults in England, Scotland and Wales polled by YouGov in February said they have a favourable view of the Church, down from 32% in November.
Almost half (49%) said they have an unfavourable view of the Church, a rise from 39% in previous polling.
The November survey was carried out the week before Justin Welby announced he was quitting over a damning report on failings to stop and hold to account serial abuser John Smyth.
The Makin Review found that Christian camp leader Smyth might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police five years before the barrister’s death.
Since then, there have also been calls from some quarters for Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who has assumed most of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s responsibilities until that role is filled, to stand down over separate alleged safeguarding failures.
Last week the Bishop of Liverpool, Dr John Perumbalath, quit following media coverage of allegations of sexual assault and harassment, which he denies.
Polling carried out earlier this week showed that, while more than half of Anglicans still hold a positive view of the Church of England (54%), this has fallen from 66% in November.
Almost a third (32%) of Anglicans have an unfavourable view of the institution, up from 21% in November.
On Tuesday, Philip North, the Bishop of Blackburn, said the Church has suffered “huge reputational damage” at a national level in recent times.
He described the Church at a local level as remaining “credible” and “still vibrant”, but said bishops have “some work to do to recover trust”.
– YouGov polled 2,223 adults in Great Britain on February 2 and 3.
