Editing Plymouth (section)

== Religion ==
[[File:Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Plymouth Cathedral|The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface (Stonehouse, Plymouth)]]]]
Plymouth has about 150 churches city-wide. The [[Plymouth Cathedral]] is Roman Catholic, and is located in [[Stonehouse, Plymouth|Stonehouse]]. It was opened in 1858, and consecrated in 1880.<ref name="worship">{{cite web |title=Places of worship |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship.htm |access-date=2 September 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council |archive-date=9 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609153748/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plymouth Cathedral 1858–2008: 150th Anniversary Celebrations |url=http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/index.php?q=node/494 |access-date=2 September 2008 |publisher=Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth |archive-date=2 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902085201/http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/index.php?q=node%2F494 |url-status=live }}</ref> The city's oldest church is [[Plymouth Minster]], also known as St Andrew's Church, ([[Anglican]]) located at the top of Royal Parade—it is the largest parish church in [[Devon]] and has been a site of gathering since AD&nbsp;800.<ref name="worship" /> The city also includes five [[Baptists|Baptist]] churches, over twenty [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] chapels, and thirteen [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] churches.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christian |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship/christian.htm |access-date=2 September 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council |archive-date=5 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905073142/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship/christian.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1831 the first [[Plymouth Brethren|Brethren]] assembly in England, a movement of conservative non-denominational Evangelical Christians, was established in the city, so that Brethren are often called Plymouth Brethren, although the movement did not begin locally.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 February 2004 |title=The Exclusive Brethren History |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/exclusivebrethren_2.shtml |access-date=13 July 2008 |publisher=The [[BBC]] |archive-date=7 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207202615/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/exclusivebrethren_2.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Plymouth has the first known reference to Jews in the [[South West England|South West]] from Sir [[Francis Drake]]'s voyages in 1577 to 1580, as his log mentioned "Moses the Jew" – a man from Plymouth.<ref name="worship" /> The [[Plymouth Synagogue]] is a [[Listed building|Listed Grade II* building]], built in 1762 and is the [[Oldest synagogues in the world|oldest]] [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] Synagogue in the [[English speaking world]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1130015|desc=Synagogue, Catherine Street, Plymouth|access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> There are also places of worship for [[Islam]], [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]], [[Buddhism]], [[Unitarianism]], Chinese beliefs and [[Humanism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Other faiths, religions and beliefs |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship/otherfaiths.htm |access-date=2 September 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council |archive-date=13 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013105230/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/placesofworship/otherfaiths.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

42.5% of the population described themselves in the 2021 census return as being at least nominally Christian and 1.3% as Muslim with all other religions represented by less than 0.5% each. The portion of people without a religion is 48.9%, 5.9% did not state their religious belief.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plymouth Demographics {{!}} Age, Ethnicity, Religion, Wellbeing |url=https://www.varbes.com/demographics/plymouth-demographics |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=Varbes |language=en-GB}}</ref> Since the 2001 Census, the number of Christians and Jews has decreased (−16% and −7% respectively), while all other religions have increased and non-religious people have almost doubled in number.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 November 2004 |title=Religion, 2001 |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6275200&c=plymouth&d=13&e=14&g=6390905&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1374090797031&enc=1&dsFamilyId=95 |access-date=17 July 2013 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |archive-date=23 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623065430/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6275200&c=plymouth&d=13&e=14&g=6390905&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1374090797031&enc=1&dsFamilyId=95 |url-status=live }}</ref>