When the call to prayer rings out through the Baitun Nur Mosque at 1 p.m. every Friday afternoon in northeast Calgary, a congregation the size of a small Alberta town starts to arrive.
Source/Credit: CBC News
By Judy Aldous | October 04, 2016
Excerpts:
A new survey of Canadian values and identity conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) in partnership with CBC shows a growing schism in attitudes towards religion.
A majority of those surveyed say religion does not play a big role in their day-to-day lives, says Shachi Kurl, executive director of ARI.
But if you tease out the immigrants from within the survey sample, you get a different story.
"Newcomer communities are the ones filling churches again. They are the ones filling mosques and temples and really bringing a sense of religious communion back to Canada."
...
Reginald Bibby, who has spent years examining the role of religion in Canadian life as a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, says this trend is replicated in cities across Canada.
"Immigration's just a phenomenally important source as far as the vitality of religion in Canada," he said.
If the influence of immigration gets overlooked, Bibby says that's because not all churches are benefiting.
Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian churches, as well as mosques, are seeing big growth from immigration. But United and Anglican Churches are not.
Facing East in the West
When the call to prayer rings out through the Baitun Nur Mosque at 1 p.m. every Friday afternoon in northeast Calgary, a congregation the size of a small Alberta town starts to arrive.
By 2 p.m., of the 1,500 or so people kneeling for prayers, about half were born outside Canada, primarily in Pakistan.
Majeed Ahmad Tariq, a prominent member of the mosque and president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Calgary, says most of the growth in their congregation comes through immigration.
"Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world," says Tariq.
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Read original post here: Canada: Calgary houses of worship enjoy resurgence thanks to newcomers but not everyone benefits
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