Almost a third of American Catholics are migrants, according to study

A study of the PEW Research Center (PRC) reveals that 29% of the Catholics in the United States are migrants and 14% are children of migrants, which shows the influence that migration has had on the growth of the population that declares itself Catholic.

The report It was published on March 4 And the Religious Landscape Study of US adultswhich took place from July 17, 2023 to March 4, 2024 with 36,908 participants.

According to the Census officeThe United States has 340 million inhabitants, of which about 62 million They declare Catholics, a little more than 18% of the population.

From the Catholics universe, the PRC study indicates that 54% are white, 36% Hispanics, 4% Asians and 2% black.

In the case of Hispanic Catholics, there has been a 3% increase Regarding 2013 and 7% in relation to 2007.

The study also indicates that 58% of Hispanic Catholics were born outside the United States and 22% were born within the country of at least one migrant father.

“In contrast, 83% of white Catholics come from families that have been in the United States for three or more,” says the PRC.

The Pew Research Center published its study weeks after the start of the mass deportations of undocumented immigrants by the Donald Trump government. This policy would mainly affect Latin American migrants, representing 70% of the 11 million undocumented A 2024 report of the PRC itself.

But there are no precise data of how many of the potential deportees would be Catholics, because according to Mark López, of the PRC, last year’s report “is based on data from a federal government survey”, which has no questions about religion.

However, it does contain “information about the countries of origin of those undocumented people.” “For example, 4.1 million of undocumented people are from Mexico, 2.1 million are from Central America, and one million are from South America,” said Aci Press.

The religious practices and political positions of Hispanic Catholics

The report indicates that 26% of Hispanic Catholics attend Mass one or more times a week, 12% do it once a month and 62% attend a few times a year.

Likewise, 55% say they pray daily, 30% do it monthly or weekly and 15% almost does not praise or never do.

However, for 47% of Hispanic Catholics religion is very important, 39% say it is a bit important and for 13% it is not at all.

On abortion, 39% are against practice, 15% say it should be illegal in all cases and 24% that should be in most cases.

In contrast, 60% of Hispanic Catholics are in favor of abortion, 33% say it should be legal in most cases and 27% in all cases.

As for political positions, the PRC report shows that “56% of Hispanic Catholics registered as voters say that they identify or inclined to the Democratic Party, compared to 39% that favors the Republican Party.”

This, despite the fact that the Democratic party supports policies contrary to Catholic doctrine, such as abortion, euthanasia and gender ideology. However, López said that “during the elections, the issues of the economy arose as more important for Latin voters.”