ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a small strand of the development of Catholicism in Britain since the 1980s through an examination of the faith lives of migrants to the East End of London and the ways in which church affiliation can enable newcomers to negotiate the complex process of settling into a new neighbourhood, creating networks and reinforcing spiritual and material resources within a new context. It study seeks to illuminate the ways in which the Catholic church, as a global church with a longstanding history of ethnic diversity in Britain, is expanding, adapting and renewing a sense of its mission to the diverse immigrant communities that make up its large and growing urban congregations. The chapter explores two aspects of the devotional lives of present-day Catholics in Canning Town, namely the revival and adaptation of 'traditional' extra-liturgical practices and the involvement of the congregation in extra-parochial community based political and inter-faith activities.
