Two of the three cities Pope Francis will visit next month have some of the highest Catholic populations in the country.
New York and Philadelphia come in second and fifth, respectively, in a new list of the most Catholic cities in America. New York is 36% Catholic, and Philly is 33%.
Washington, D.C., comes in 20th, with only 19% of its population identifying as Catholic.
The top Catholic cities in the nation are Boston, New York and Pittsburgh, each of which boasts a 36% Catholic population. The others in the top 10 include Chicago (33%); Los Angeles (31%); Miami (31%); Las Vegas (27%); Minneapolis-St. Paul (27%), and Milwaukee (27%).
The revelation comes from the Public Religion Research Institute, which ranks the largest religious groups in 30 major U.S. metropolitan areas.
A press release from PRRI explained:
Earlier this year, we took a look at the
top three religious traditions that dominate the U.S. Now, using the metro areas variable of the
American Values Atlas (AVA), we turn to our country’s cities, where we find a similar trend: Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated dominate.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Catholicism is the top religious group—or tied for the top religious group—in 15 of the major metro areas.
- The religiously unaffiliated is the top “religious” group—or tied for the top religious group—in 10 of the major metro areas.
- And don’t forget about white evangelical Protestants, who take the top prize in six of the major metro areas.
- Atlanta is the only metro area that doesn’t have Catholics, the religiously unaffiliated, or white evangelical Protestants in the number one slot; that prize goes to black Protestants.
And today we celebrate...