A SURGE in numbers of adults in the United States who have joined the Roman Catholic Church means that they now exceed Episcopalians.
About four million people are represented in the analysis from the Pew Research Center: eight per cent of all RCs in the United States. This includes high-profile figures such as Vice-President J. D. Vance, who is shortly to release a book about how his faith evolved. He was received at the age of 35.
Adult converts make up one and a half per cent of the population, compared with the less than one per cent of the population who report that they are Episcopalian or Anglican — which equates to approximately 2.7 million people.
Pew’s analysis is drawn from its 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) and previous Pew reports.
The RLS found that about two-thirds had belonged to another Christian tradition. More than half (59 per cent) told Pew that they had been raised Protestant, and nine per cent had been raised in another tradition, such as Orthodox Christianity, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
About one in five (22 per cent) did not have any religious affiliation as a child. The most common reasons for becoming RC was marriage.
The surge was evident at Easter, when archdioceses reported statistics. The archdiocese of Detroit received 1,428 people, its highest number in 21 years. The archdiocese of Washington received 1,755, up from last year’s 1,566, which had already been the most in at least 15 years, according to archdiocesan records.
Nevertheless, for every adult who becomes Roman Catholic after being raised as something different, more than eight of those raised as RC no longer identify that way, Pew says.
Pew found that new RCs attended mass more regularly than “cradle” RCs born, and the number saying that they prayed daily and attended the Sacrament of Reconciliation was also slightly higher.
Most converts were white, and more likely to be born in the United States — and they were also more likely than cradle RCs to lean towards the Republicans in their voting habits. Sixty per cent identified with Republicans, compared with 53 per cent of lifelong RCs, the study found.