Majority of U.S. Catholics Express Favorable View of Pope Francis
Most U.S. Catholics view Francis favorably and say he represents change in the church. Majorities also support allowing Catholics to use birth control and priests to marry.
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Modeling the Future of Religion in America
Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
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India’s Sex Ratio at Birth Begins To Normalize
India’s artificially wide ratio of baby boys to baby girls – which arose in the 1970s from the use of prenatal diagnostic technology to facilitate sex-selective abortions – now appears to be narrowing. Son bias has declined sharply among Sikhs, while Christians continue to have a natural balance of sons and daughters.
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Majority of Public Disapproves of Supreme Court’s Decision To Overturn Roe v. Wade
Opinion on the legality of abortion has changed little since before the court’s decision, with 62% now saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
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America’s Abortion Quandary
A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but many are open to restrictions; many opponents of legal abortion say it should be legal in some circumstances.
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A closer look at changing restrictions on religion
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Black Catholics in America
Most Black Catholic churchgoers are racial minorities in their congregations, unlike White and Hispanic Catholics – and Black Protestants
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How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society
Indians accept women as political leaders, but many favor traditional gender roles in family life.
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Americans’ Trust in Scientists, Other Groups Declines
Trust in scientists and medical scientists has fallen below pre-pandemic levels, with 29% of U.S. adults saying they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. This is down from 40% in November 2020 and 35% in January 2019, before COVID-19 emerged. Other prominent groups – including the military, police officers and public school principals – have also seen their ratings decline.
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About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated
Self-identified Christians make up 63% of the U.S. population in 2021, down from 75% a decade ago.
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Few Americans Blame God or Say Faith Has Been Shaken Amid Pandemic, Other Tragedies
In the new survey, the Center attempted for the first time to pose some of these philosophical questions to a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, finding that Americans largely blame random chance – along with people’s own actions and the way society is structured – for human suffering, while relatively few believers blame God or voice doubts about the existence of God for this reason.
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Key Findings From the Global Religious Futures Project
The Global Religious Futures (GRF) project is jointly funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and The John Templeton Foundation. Here are some big-picture findings from the GRF, together with context from other Pew Research Center studies.
Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation
Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be “truly Indian.”
Faith Among Black Americans
Today, most Black adults say they rely on prayer to help make major decisions, and view opposing racism as essential to their religious faith.
America’s Changing Religious Landscape
The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the share of Americans who do not identify with any organized religion is growing. These changes affect all regions in the country and many demographic groups.
Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center