麻豆约拍

Rosa Hunt looks at the implications of censuses for people of faith.

The religion question is a relatively recent development in the census for Wales and England, but population censuses go back to ancient times. Some of the earliest references are to be found in the Bible, although within Jewish tradition there is deep suspicion towards the idea of counting individuals, as Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Orthodox rabbi Michoel Rose explain.

In Christian tradition the most famous census of all is the one connected with the Christmas story, and mentioned in Luke's Gospel - a census that some claim never happened. But according to Sabine Huebner, a professor of ancient history, there is compelling evidence that Luke may indeed be a reliable historian in this regard.

But what of Wales' relationship to the census? Sociologist David Voas awaits the publication of responses to the religion question next year. He anticipates the downward trend in Christianity continuing. But is this decline inevitably reflected in the experience of day-to-day ministry? Rosa talks to two ministers, Gareth Edwards and Sue Philips, working in what emerged to be the least Christian part of Wales at the last census, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly.