Catholics are seeing the greatest net losses of believers compared to other religions in the United States, a new survey by Pew Research Centre shows. Source: OSV News.
The data indicates that for every one person received into the Catholic Church, 8.4 individuals have left the faith, either altogether or for another worship tradition.
This increases the trend Pew found in 2014, when 6.5 Catholics left the faith for every person who entered.
Pew’s new survey also shows just 29 per cent of the nation’s Catholics attend religious services weekly or more often. Four in 10 Catholics attend religious services monthly or more.
In addition, support among US Catholics for legalised abortion, homosexuality and other stances at odds with Church teaching has increased over the past decade and a half.
On Wednesday, Pew Research released the results of its 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study. The RLS polled 36,908 American adults on a range of topics regarding religious belief and practice, as well as issues such as abortion, homosexuality, immigration and the role of government.
The survey was conducted in English and Spanish from July 2023 to March 2024, with participants sharing their thoughts online, via mail or phone.
Researchers noted that a multiyear decline in the number of US adults identifying as Christian – noted in Pew’s 2007 and 2014 RLS reports – has appeared to stabilise “at least temporarily” since 2019.
The rise in those who are religiously unaffiliated, or “nones,” has also levelled off for now, after “rising rapidly for decades”, Pew noted.
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Pew: US Christianity downturn leveling, but Catholics suffer ‘greatest net losses’ (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
