9 facts about U.S. Catholics

(J. NORTEYP. TEVINGTON and G. A. SMITH. Pew Research Center).

Catholics are one of the largest religious groups in the United States, outnumbering any single Protestant denomination. The U.S. has more Catholics than all but three other countries – Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines – according to the Vatican’s Statistical Yearbook of the Church.

Here are nine key facts about the U.S. Catholic population.

1. Today, 20% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholics, according to our latest survey. This percentage has been generally stable since 2014. But it is slightly lower than in 2007, when 24% of U.S. adults identified as Catholic.

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