Study: Immigrants keeping American Catholic Church afloat

From staff reports
12:07 PM EST, February 25, 2008


The infusion of newcomers, especially Spanish-speaking immigrants, has kept the American Catholic Church from joining other mainline denominations in dramatic decline, according to a study released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & American Life.

"While nearly one-in-three Americans (31%) were raised in the Cathlic faith, today fewer than one-in-four (24%) describe themselves as Catholic. These losses would have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of immigration," the report noted.

Pew's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which polled 35,000 American adults, also found that the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country, or barely 51 percent. However, the nation is still an overwhelmingly Christian nation, with 78.4 percent.