Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Before you read the report Test your religious knowledge by taking an interactive quiz. The short quiz includes some questions recently asked in the nationally representative survey that forms the basis of this report. After completing the quiz, you can see how you did in comparison with the general public and with people like yourself. […]
Based on religious affiliation (or lack thereof), the groups that display the highest levels of religious knowledge on this survey include Jews (who get an average of 18.7 out of 32 questions correct), self-described atheists (17.9) and self-described agnostics (17.0). Looked at another way, seven-in-ten Jewish respondents (69%) answer at least half of the questions […]
Over the decade from 2007 to 2017, government restrictions on religion – laws, policies and actions by state officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices – increased markedly around the world.
In recent years, the percentage of U.S. adults who say they regularly attend religious services has been declining, while the share of Americans who attend only a few times a year, seldom or never has been growing. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the main reason people regularly go to church, synagogue, mosque […]
Islam is the most common state religion, but many governments give privileges to Christianity.
To find a church or house of worship that is right for them, many Americans say they attend services with congregations they are considering and talk to current members, friends or colleagues about recommending a house of worship. By comparison, fewer people use the internet or make phone calls to prospective congregations. This may be […]
About half of U.S. adults have looked for a new religious congregation at some point in their lives, most commonly because they have moved.
Note: All terms are defined as they relate to Catholicism and the Catholic Church. Annulment A ruling by an ecclesiastical tribunal that a marriage once thought to be valid by the Catholic Church fell short of at least one of the essential elements required for marriage, and therefore was never valid. Communion The act through […]