When Pope Gregory the Great sent St Augustine
to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597 CE, it was intended that the
envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered
as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most
hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archepiscopal see was
founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's
religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury
has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official
residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop
of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in
London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir
Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south
of the river. However, as in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London
is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant demoninations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist.
London is the most important centre of Islam in the UK United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well known Islamic landmark on the edge of Regent's Park. London also has a large Hindu population. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is remarkable as the largest Hindu temple outside of India. Over two thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre.