Have you ever wondered – which are the most Catholic states in the US? Of course you have, it is only natural for every human on this planet to be curious about the religion in some way. It doesn’t matter if we were raised as Catholics, Protestants or even atheist – it is in our nature to question everything. That’s how philosophy and religion were developed in the first place – thanks to our ability to wonder, ask the right questions and try to find our answers. That’s why there are so many religions in the world – we are not all satisfied with the same answers. Do you know what religion is most popular in the world? According to CIA World Factbook, religion that is most widely practiced is Christianity – 31,50% of the population are Christian, of which Roman Catholic 16,85%, Protestant 6,15%, Orthodox 3,96%. And the rest of the list of widely practiced religions in the world goes like this: Muslim 23,20%, Hindu 13,8%, Buddhist 6,77%, Sikh 0,35%, Jewish 0,22%, Baha’i 0,11%, other religions 10,95%, non-religious 9,66 and atheists 2,01%. These estimates were made in 2010.
So, it is evident that there are many Catholics in the entire world – but we are curious to find out how many exactly; and also, how does the US ranks among the other countries in the world by the percentage of the Catholics. Do those most Catholic states in the US make a difference? Apparently they do because the US is among 5 countries in the world with the largest number of Catholics. More precisely the US is in 4th place behind the Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines; in 5th place is Italy. And it is estimated in 2013, that there are around 1,254 billion Catholics in the entire world. The largest percentage, exactly 42,3%, of them is in the Latin America, which means that there are living around 483 billion Catholics.
Gallup survey has provided us with the information about the percentage of Catholics per state, which helped us create this list below. According to Gallup, the east coast has most Catholic states, whereas on the south are the ones least Catholic.
Be aware of the fact that the number of Catholics or followers of any religion doesn’t necessarily say that much about truly keeping the faith. A lot of people declare themselves as followers of one religion or another, just for the purpose of the survey, but among them there are people who never go to church or pray. We are not trying to say that every one of them is not a true believer, but just that they are not “active in their faith”. If you are curious to find out which are the most religious countries and to see if the US is one of them, check out our list of The 10 Most Religious Countries in the World Keeping the Faith. Also don’t forget to check out our article about the 10 most beautiful states in the US.
Whether you go to church or not, you have to admit that churches are great treasure not only in the spiritual and religious but also in the artistic sense. Cathedrals can be of such a beauty; they can cause admiration even in true atheists. Thanks to Christianity, there are 193 Catholic cathedrals in the US. How many are there in your state? You have to find out for yourself because the time has come to present you the list of 10 most Catholic states in the US:
10. Pennsylvania
29% of the population is Catholic.
9. Illinois
30% of the population is Catholic.
8. Wisconsin
32% of the population is Catholic.
7. California
32% of the population is Catholic.
6. New Mexico
33% of the population is Catholic.
5. New York
37% of the population is Catholic.
4. Connecticut
40% of the population is Catholic.
3. Massachusetts
41% of the population is Catholic.
2. New Jersey
44% of the population is Catholic.
And the most Catholic state in the US is Rhode Island!
54% of the population is Catholic.
Did you know which is the most catholic state in the US, or was this the new information for you? We hope that you have learnt something new from this list!
