Religious Groups Differ Widely in Their 2026 Midterm Preferences
White evangelical Protestants and White Catholics favor Republicans in the midterms, while other religious groups split or lean Democratic.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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High Court to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear oral arguments in a pair of potentially groundbreaking same-sex marriage cases.
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Israel and the U.S. are Home to More Than Four-Fifths of the World’s Jews
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Middle East from March 20-23. He will spend much of the time in Israel, home to 41% of the world’s Jews. Another 41% of the world’s Jewish population lives in the United States, according to Pew Research Center estimates.
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U.S. Catholics Happy with Selection of Pope Francis
In a new Pew Research Center poll, nearly three-quarters of U.S. Catholics say they are happy with the selection of Pope Francis. But they are divided over how big a change he represents for the church.
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Latin America’s Catholics in the Spotlight as Pope Francis is Installed
Latin America’s share of the global Catholic population has increased over the past century, according to Pew Research Center estimates, but the portion of the region’s population that is Catholic has declined.
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Conclave Elects Pope Francis
Pope Francis was elected on Wednesday as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio hails from Argentina and becomes the first Latin American pontiff. According to Pew Research Center data on the distribution of the world’s Catholic population, the largest share of the Catholic population (39%) lives in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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‘Strong’ Catholic Identity at a Four-Decade Low in U.S.
The percentage of U.S. Catholics with a strong identification with the Catholic Church was as low in 2012 as it has ever been in General Social Surveys. During the same period, the percentage of Protestants who consider themselves strong members of their faith has been rising.
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Resources on Catholicism and the Pope
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has a variety of resources on Catholicism and Pope Benedict XVI, including public opinion polls, research studies, event transcripts and interviews.
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U.S. Catholics See Sex Abuse as the Church’s Most Important Problem, Charity as Its Most Important Contribution
U.S. Catholics see the scandal over sex abuse by clergy as the most important problem facing the church today and charitable efforts to aid the poor, feed the hungry and heal the sick as the church’s most important contribution.
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Majority of U.S. Catholics Say Next Pope Should Allow Priests to Marry
About six-in-ten U.S. Catholics say it would be good if the next pope allows priests to marry.
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In 25-Country Survey, Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad
Across 25 countries, Americans are the most likely to see the morality and ethics of people in their country as somewhat or very bad.
Religious Diversity Around the World
Singapore is the world’s most religiously diverse country overall as of 2020, while Yemen is the least diverse. But the U.S. ranks first among nations with very large populations, followed by Nigeria and Russia.
Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off
The Christian share of the population, after years of decline, has been relatively stable since 2019. And the religiously unaffiliated population, after rising rapidly for decades, has leveled off – at least temporarily.
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.
