< Return to Largest Religious CommunitiesThe Largest Catholic CommunitiesThe Catholic Church is the world's largest religious body. The lists below indicate places that are "most Catholic" or places with large numbers of Catholics. The complete data sets that these "Top 10" lists are derived from are available in the main Adherents.com database under "C" for "Catholic." But because there are so many records for the Catholic Church it may be faster to look in the Adherents.com Location index if you're looking for a statistic for a particular country, state, or province. 
Catholics as a percentage of state populations. Click here or on map to see a larger version. Top 10 Nations with |
| Nation | Percent | Number of baptized Catholics |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 86.50% | 134,818,000 |
| Mexico | 95.30 | 86,305,000 |
| USA | 26.00 | ~61,000,000 |
| Philippines | 83.60 | 58,735,000 |
| Italy | 97.20% | 55,599,000 |
| France | 82.10 | 47,773,000 |
| Spain | 94.20 | 36,956,000 |
| Poland | 95.40 | 36,835,000 |
| Colombia | 91.90 | 32,260,000 |
| Argentina | 90.70 | 31,546,000 |
| Germany | 34.80 | 28,403,000 |
| Nation | Number of Catholics | Percent of population that are baptized Catholics |
|---|---|---|
| Vatican City | 850 | 100.00% |
| San Marino | 24,714 | 99.83 |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 6,000 | 99.36 |
| Wallis and Futuna Islands | 15,000 | 99.02 |
| Italy | 55,599,000 | 97.20 |
| Cape Verde | 390,000 | 96.00 |
| Poland | 36,835,000 | 95.40 |
| Mexico | 86,305,000 | 95.30 |
| Ireland | 3,372,500 | 95.00 |
| Guadeloupe | 391,000 | 95.00 |
| Spain | 36,956,000 | 94.20 |
| Luxembourg | 386,000 | 94.00 |
| Paraguay | 4,531,000 | 93.80 |
| Ecuador | 10,729,000 | 93.60 |
| El Salvador | 5,399,000 | 93.50 |
| Costa Rica | 3,009,000 | 93.00 |
| Honduras | 5,517,000 | 92.70 |
| Venezuela | 19,922,000 | 92.00 |
| Portugal | 9,948,000 | 92.00 |
| State | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 633,427 | 63.12% |
| Massachusetts | 2,961,359 | 49.22 |
| Connecticut | 1,374,747 | 41.82 |
| New Jersey | 3,189,315 | 41.26 |
| New York | 7,280,488 | 40.47 |
| Louisiana | 1,369,154 | 32.44 |
| Wisconsin | 1,554,278 | 31.77 |
| Illinois | 3,611,033 | 31.59 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,675,250 | 30.93 |
| New Mexico | 467,356 | 30.85 |
| State | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 7,280,488 | 40.47% |
| California | 7,142,067 | 24.00 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,675,250 | 30.93 |
| Illinois | 3,611,033 | 31.59 |
| Texas | 3,574,728 | 21.04 |
| New Jersey | 3,189,315 | 41.26 |
| Massachusetts | 2,961,359 | 49.22 |
| Michigan | 2,338,608 | 25.16 |
| Ohio | 2,141,777 | 19.75 |
| Florida | 1,598,457 | 12.35 |
| County | Number of Catholics | Number of Parishes | Percent of Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenedy, TX | 440 | 2 | 95.65% |
| Mora, NM | 4,370 | 20 | 94.86 |
| Reeves, TX | 20,207 | 6 | 94.63 |
| Guadalupe, NM | 4,149 | 19 | 91.43 |
| La Salle, TX | 5,815 | 2 | 86.41 |
| St. James, LA | 22,725 | 7 | 84.18 |
| Harding, NM | 1,011 | 6 | 81.16 |
| Starr, TX | 34,669 | 15 | 81.00 |
| Cameron, TX | 248,470 | 33 | 81.00 |
| Hidalgo, TX | 360,833 | 51 | 81.00 |
| Willacy, TX | 18,537 | 8 | 81.00 |
| Wade Hampton, AK | 4,692 | 12 | 79.55 |
| Plymouth, MA | 427,177 | 45 | 79.10 |
| Jim Hogg, TX | 4,637 | 6 | 78.10 |
| Jeff Davis, TX | 2,121 | 2 | 77.60 |
| Maverick, TX | 30,743 | 6 | 76.69 |
| Taos, NM | 20,379 | 29 | 75.81 |
| Webb, TX | 107,333 | 20 | 75.14 |
| St. Landry, LA | 78,578 | 35 | 74.57 |
| Vermilion, LA | 42,974 | 17 | 73.22 |
| St. Martin, LA | 36,728 | 13 | 72.54 |
| Kewaunee, WI | 18,022 | 16 | 72.38 |
| Pointe Coupee, LA | 22,098 | 8 | 71.49 |
| Franklin, MA | 60,205 | 19 | 71.47 |
| Greeley, NE | 3,236 | 5 | 71.26 |
| Providence, RI | 505,030 | 102 | 71.04 |
Catholic countries have lower suicide rates than Protestant ones and "even within Protestant countries those areas with Catholic populations [have] lower rates." It is worth noting that "the reduced suicide rate of Catholics relative to Protestants is independent of their minority status."
[Sources: Study by Emile Durkheim, cited in Robert Alun Jones. Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986. Pg. 82-114.; John Hood-Williams (Department of Social Science, University of Greenwich, London, UK). "Studying Suicide" in Health & Place (Vol. 2. No. 3; 1996), pg. 167-177.]
A national survey conducted by the Barna Research Group (Ventura, California), determined that in the U.S., Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest divorce rate among major Christian denominations. (Baptists had the highest divorce rate).
[Sources: Barna report online; Greg Garrison. "Survey: Baptists lead in divorces" in The Birmingham News, 30 Dec. 1999.]
"Catholic countries consume significantly more alcohol than Protestant (or neither religion dominant) countries."
[Source: Stanton Peele (Fellow, The Lindesmith Center, New York). "Utilizing Culture and Behaviour in Epidemiological Models of Alcohol Consumption and Consequences for Western Nations" in Alcohol & Alcoholism (vol. 32; 1997), pg. 51-64.]
More science fiction and fantasy writers belong to the Catholic Church than to any other religious body. Notable among these are G.K. Chesterton, Andrew Greeley, J.R.R. Tolkien, R.A. Lafferty, Anthony Boucher, Clifford Simak, Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Gene Wolfe. On a per capita basis, there are more practicing Catholics than practicing Protestants among mainstream sf/f writers. However, there are some specific religious bodies other than the Catholic Church which are better represented on a per capita basis. In the introduction to Sacred Visions, Andrew Greeley (the famed priest-sociologist-novelist) suggests Catholicism fits better with science fiction than Protestantism. The Jesuit priest/scientist is one of the most common types of religious characters in science fiction literature.
[Source: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Various Faiths.]
See Also:
- Largest Religious Groups in the U.S.A. - See how the Catholic Church compares in size to other major religious groups in the United States. (Includes some maps.)
- Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People - Catholicism is represented more than any other religion on this list.
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