Religion of australia

Religion

Religious Beliefs.
The constitution guarantees religious freedom, and while there is no official national religion, Australia generally is described as a Christian country.
Britishcolonists brought the Anglican belief system in 1788, and three-quarters of the population continues to identify with some form of Christianity, predominantly the Catholic and Anglican faiths.
Untilrecently almost all businesses closed for Christian religious holidays.
Extensive immigration has made Australia one of the most religiously diverse societies in the world. Almost all faiths arerepresented, with significant numbers of Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Hindus.
Many indigenous Australians have embraced Christianity, often as a result of their contact with missionaries and missions.Religious alternatives such as spiritualism and Theosophy have had a small but steady presence since the 1850s.
A growing set of beliefs is represented by the so-called New Age movement, whicharrived in the 1960s and evolved into the widespread alternative health and spirituality movement of the 1990s.
This has opened the way for an interest in paganism and other aspects of the occult among aminority of citizens.
Religious Practitioners.
There has been an increase in lay religious practitioners in the Christian churches in recent times as a result of decrease in the number of peopleentering the clergy.

Most religious institutions are hierarchical in structure. Religious specialists participate in pastoral care, parish administration, and fund-raising for missions.
Manyalso maintain a host of institutions that deal with education, aged care, family services, immigration, health, youth, and prisoner rehabilitation.
Rituals and Holy Places.
Every religiousdenomination has its own places of worship, and most expect their followers to attend religious services regularly.
There has been a decline in regular church attendance among the younger generation of...