---
title: "Jindal followed a rare path, from Hinduism to Catholicism"
description: "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a newly declared Republican candidate for president, is hoping to attract support from conservative evangelical Christian voters. Jindal himself is a Catholic, and, as the son of immigrants from Hindu-majority India, was raised in the Hindu faith."
date: "2015-06-24"
authors:
  - name: "Michael Lipka"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-lipka/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/06/24/jindal-followed-a-rare-path-from-hinduism-to-catholicism/"
categories:
  - "Catholicism"
  - "Election 2016"
  - "Hinduism"
  - "U.S. Elections & Voters"
---

# Jindal followed a rare path, from Hinduism to Catholicism

[![Wedding-Related Businesses, Same-Sex Weddings](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/03/FT_Businesses.SameSexWeddings.2015.03.30.png?w=121)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/03/FT_Businesses.SameSexWeddings.2015.03.30.png)

[![Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal leads guests in prayer last month at the Story County GOP breakfast at Oakwood Church in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/06/FT_15.06.24_jindal.jpg)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/06/24/jindal-followed-a-rare-path-from-hinduism-to-catholicism/ft_15-06-24_jindal/)
*Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal leads guests in prayer last month at the Story County GOP breakfast at Oakwood Church in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)*

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a newly declared Republican candidate for president, is [hoping to attract support](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/06/24/270949/jindals-bid-for-white-house-begins.html) from conservative evangelical Christian voters. [Jindal himself is a Catholic](http://www.religionnews.com/2015/06/24/5-faith-facts-bobby-jindal-evangelical-catholic/), and, as the son of immigrants from Hindu-majority India, was raised in the Hindu faith.

Jindal’s [personal religious journey](http://www.c-span.org/video/?326653-7/faith-freedom-coalition-governor-bobby-jindal) is a relatively rare one in the United States. In fact, four-in-five Americans raised as Hindus continue to identify as Hindus as adults (80%); no other major religious group has a higher [retention rate](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-2-religious-switching-and-intermarriage/#retention-of-childhood-members-hindus-muslims-and-jews-most-successful-at-retaining-adherents), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And *none* of the more than 35,000 Americans in the survey converted from Hinduism to Catholicism as Jindal did.

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2015/05/PR_15.05.12_RLS_chapter2-02.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-2-religious-switching-and-intermarriage/#retention-of-childhood-members-hindus-muslims-and-jews-most-successful-at-retaining-adherents)

A 2012 [Pew Research survey of Asian Americans](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/07/19/asian-americans-a-mosaic-of-faiths-overview/#religious-affiliation) found that, among Indian Americans, 18% are Christian, including 5% who are Catholics. Half (51%) of Indian Americans are Hindus. Overall, Hindus remain less than 1% of the U.S. adult population, although their ranks have grown somewhat in recent years.

Jindal and fellow GOP candidate Jeb Bush are Catholic converts in America at a time when there are [more than six times](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-2-religious-switching-and-intermarriage/#net-gains-and-losses-by-religious-tradition-unaffiliated-make-big-gains-catholics-suffer-major-losses) as many Catholic adults who have left the faith as there are people who have converted to Catholicism. Nearly 13% of Americans have left Catholicism after being raised Catholic, while just 2% have become Catholics after being raised in another faith (or no faith).