--- title: "Pope Francis to visit the three Baltic countries – only one of which is majority Catholic" description: "Pope Francis begins a four-day trip this weekend to the Baltic states, the first papal visit to these countries in 25 years. While the Baltic countries have a substantial Christian population, only Lithuania and Latvia have large numbers of Catholics." date: "2018-09-21" authors: - name: "Jonathan Evans" job_title: "Senior Researcher" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jonathan-evans/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/09/21/pope-francis-to-visit-the-three-baltic-countries-only-one-of-which-is-majority-catholic/" --- # Pope Francis to visit the three Baltic countries – only one of which is majority Catholic [![Older Republicans point to professors' political, social views in classroom as a major reason for their negative view of higher education system](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/FT_18.07.26_HigherEd_older-republicans.png?w=248)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/FT_18.07.26_HigherEd_older-republicans.png) ![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FT_18.09.21_popeBaltics_featured.jpg?w=640) *Pope Francis will visit the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia Sept. 22-25. The Hill of Crosses, above, is a destination for Catholic pilgrims in Lithuania, which has the largest share of Catholics among the three nations. (RenataAphotography via Getty Images)* Pope Francis begins a [four-day trip](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-baltic/pope-francis-to-visit-baltic-states-in-september-idUSKCN1GL1LB) this weekend to the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – the first papal visit to these countries in 25 years. While the Baltic countries have a substantial Christian population, only Lithuania and Latvia have large numbers of Catholics, according to a [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/) conducted in 2015 and 2016. Furthermore, the Catholics in these two nations are less religious than Catholics in neighboring countries, such as Poland. ![Most Lithuanians are Catholics](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FT_18.09.21_popeBaltics_affiliation640px.png?w=641) Lithuania is overwhelmingly Christian (93%), and three-quarters of its adults identify as Catholic. The adult population of Latvia also is mostly Christian (77%), but the share of Catholics in the country is smaller (23%). Substantial portions of Latvia’s population are Orthodox Christians (31%) or Lutherans (19%). By contrast, about half of Estonians identify as Christian (51%), and only 1% of the country’s adults say they are Catholic. As with Latvia, numerous Estonians are Orthodox (25%) or Lutheran (20%). Most other Estonians (45%) – and about one-in-five Latvians (21%) – are religiously unaffiliated (those who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”). ![Most Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe have a favorable opinion of Pope Francis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FT_18.09.21_popeBaltics_favorability420px.png?w=420) By some measures, Catholics in the Baltic states are less religious than Catholics in neighboring countries. For instance, among Catholics, the regional median for attending church at least weekly is 25%, but only 7% of Catholics in Latvia and 10% in Lithuania say they do this. (The survey sample of Estonian Catholics was not large enough to adequately measure their opinions.) By comparison, 45% of Polish Catholics say they attend church weekly or more. Substantial numbers of Catholics in Latvia and Lithuania have expressed a favorable opinion of Pope Francis (69% and 74%, respectively). However, in other countries in the region that have large Catholic populations, Catholics generally have a more favorable view of the pontiff (median of 83%). That being said, most other Latvian and Lithuanian Catholics do not necessarily have a negative view of the pope; they simply do not have a stated opinion about Francis. (Data in this post about Pope Francis and the Catholic Church's policies were collected [in 2015 and 2016](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/), before [recently publicized reports](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45500072) of [sexual abuse](https://www.dw.com/en/pope-vows-no-more-sexual-abuse-cover-ups/a-45148564) in the Catholic Church.) ![Many Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe say priests should be allowed to get married](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FT_18.09.21_popeBaltics_marriage420px.png?w=420) Finally, many Baltic Catholics are open to some change in the church. Most Lithuanian and Latvian Catholics think the Catholic Church should alter the current prohibition on priests marrying (65% and 73%, respectively). This is similar to many of the other Catholic populations in the region (median of 63%). Latvian and Lithuanian Catholics are less supportive of allowing women to become priests (44% and 36%, respectively) than they are of permitting priests to marry. Again, this is similar to the views of other Catholics in the region (median of 41%).