Emma Ayers | June 17, 2025
(The Washington Times) — Catholicism continues to cast a long shadow across American life, with 47% of U.S. adults saying they have some connection to the Church, according to a newly released Pew Research Center survey.
While 1 in 5 Americans identify as Catholic by religion, many more report looser associations.
It found that 9% consider themselves “cultural Catholics,” meaning they feel ethnically or familially Catholic despite identifying with another religion or none at all.
Another 9% say they were raised Catholic but no longer identify with the faith in any way. A further 9% are tied to the Church through a Catholic spouse, parent, or occasional Mass attendance.
And despite the Church’s broad footprint, only 13% of practicing Catholics say they pray daily, attend weekly Mass, and go to confession at least once a year — a trio of devotions the survey used to define high observance.
At the other end of the spectrum, 13% of Catholics say they rarely or never do any of the three.
Most (74%) fall somewhere in between, participating in some practices but not all with regularity.
The data come from a nationally representative Pew survey conducted in early February, among 9,544 U.S. adults, including 1,787 Catholics.
Participants were drawn from Pew’s American Trends Panel, an online group recruited through random sampling of U.S. households. Results were weighted to match national demographics by age, race, gender, and education level.
Belief in “a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” emerged as the strongest marker of Catholic identity, with 69% of Catholics calling it essential.
That figure rose to 91% among those who attend Mass weekly. Half of all Catholics also pointed to devotion to the Virgin Mary as core to their faith, and 46% named receiving the Eucharist.
Among those who attend weekly Mass, 83% say the Eucharist is essential — compared to just 32% among less frequent churchgoers.
The report also sheds light on Catholic converts, who make up roughly 1.5% of U.S. adults. Converts tend to be more devout than cradle Catholics, with 38% attending weekly Mass compared to 28% of lifelong Catholics. Many converts — 49% — said they joined the Church for marriage or partnership reasons.
Hispanic Americans remain among the most closely tied to Catholicism: 40% identify as Catholic, and another 15% as cultural Catholics. Devotional practices are particularly strong in this group, with more than half saying they wear or carry religious items monthly.
Even so, the Church continues to see significant attrition: 43% of Americans raised Catholic no longer identify as such.
The most common reason is a mismatch between personal values and Church teachings. Others cited disinterest in religion, or fallout from the Church’s sex abuse scandals.
The survey found that 62% of Catholics view abuse cases as an ongoing concern. Still, most — 68% — say abuse is no more common among Catholic clergy than in other faith groups.
