Pew Research surveyed 5,676 Catholics from seven countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and the United States.

Catholics in these countries overwhelmingly favour the Church permitting birth control. Support for contraception ranged from 86% in Argentina to 63% in Brazil, the largest Catholic-majority nation.

Across all seven countries, most respondents expressed their desire for the Church to be more flexible on this issue.

There was also significant support for the ordination of women - except in Mexico where only 47% were in favour.

In Argentina, support for female priests has surged from 51% in 2013-14 to 71% today.

Opposition to married priests

Catholics in Mexico showed resistance to changes in other areas, with a majority opposing the idea of allowing priests to marry. In contrast, other countries surveyed were more divided on the issue of priestly celibacy.

The survey highlights divisions among Catholics on several key issues, particularly regarding the Church's stance on same-sex marriage and allowing priests to marry.

In Colombia, the majority of Catholics do not support the recognition of same-sex marriages, and opinions on married priests vary widely across the region.

Religiosity plays a significant role in shaping these opinions. Catholics who pray daily or attend Mass regularly are less likely to support changes such as women's ordination or the recognition of same-sex marriages.

For example, only 38% of Mexican Catholics who attend Mass weekly support recognising gay and lesbian marriages, compared to 52% of Catholics who attend less frequently.

Age is another key factor influencing these views. Younger Catholics across Latin America are more likely to support progressive changes.

Pope Francis remains popular

Despite differing views on specific issues, Pope Francis remains popular among Catholics in Latin America and the US. However, his favourability ratings have dropped compared to the early years of his papacy.

In the US, 75% of Catholics view him favourably, down from 85% in 2014. His home country of Argentina saw the most significant drop, with 74% viewing him favourably today compared to 98% a decade ago.

Catholics who pray daily tend to view Pope Francis more favourably than those who pray less often. For instance, in Mexico, 40% of Catholics who pray daily have a very favourable view of the Pope, compared to 29% of other Catholics.

Overall, two-thirds of Catholics surveyed across the US and Latin America hold a favourable view of Pope Francis. Many see him as a figure of change, with a majority noting that his papacy represents a significant shift in the direction of the Church.

Sources

UCA News

Catholic Culture

Pew Research Center

By examining "adults and children who currently live outside their country of birth" in every country, the American research centre highlights the overrepresentation of Christians among migrants.

The study defined "migrants" as those living outside their country of birth from 1990 to 2020, regardless of when they left.

During this period, immigration increased significantly. "More than 280 million people, or 3.6% of the world's population, are international migrants," the PRC reported on August 19. Among the total number of migrants, 130 million were Christians in 2020, compared to 80 million Muslims.

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According to the data, neither Biden nor his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump, are viewed favourably by most Catholics surveyed, but Biden is the more unpopular of the two.

The findings were part of a presentation on "Religion and Politics Ahead of the US Elections" by Pew's associate director of research, Greg Smith, at the 2024 annual conference of the Religion News Association, which concluded over the weekend.

Included in the data provided by Smith, Pew's late February survey of 12,000 US adults found that only 35% of Catholics hold a favourable view of Biden, while 64% have an unfavourable view of the incumbent president.

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Faith in the world's second most populous country has been under constant suppression for 74 years.

The report, which delves into the challenging task of collecting data in a nation known for tight media control and atheistic indoctrination, paints a striking picture.

China appears, on the surface, to be "the least religious country in the world," according to Pew demographer Conrad Hackett.

Only 10% of Chinese identify with a religion, and merely 3% consider religion "very important" in their lives, starkly contrasting to 98% in Indonesia and 37% in the United States.

Pew faced government barriers in conducting field surveys, relying instead on data from government reports, Chinese universities, private polling firms and the Sweden-based World Values Survey.

The report acknowledges the complexities and limitations of these data sources, highlighting discrepancies such as the government's claim of 34,000 registered Buddhist temples compared to experts' count of 190,000.

Beneath the surface, Chinese society remains steeped in spiritual beliefs and superstitions. Rituals, incense-burning, fortune-telling, and belief in Buddha and Taoist deities persist, even among those not formally affiliated with a religion.

However, questions linger about whether believers are hesitant to discuss their faith under the ever-watchful eye of China's government.

Targeted harassment

Religious persecution has intensified since 2017, coinciding with President Xi Jinping's tenure.

Muslims in Xinjiang, Buddhists in Tibet, unregistered Protestants and Catholics, and the Falun Gong movement have faced targeted harassment. Despite this, China has experienced a significant Christian revival, largely attributed to unregistered Protestant "house churches."

Pew reports that China now boasts 109.65 million evangelical Protestants, with 64% in unregistered groups and 20 million Catholics, divided between unregistered churches and the government-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.

While the Christian community has grown substantially since the 1980s, Pew notes a plateau in registered Protestant churches during Xi's leadership, suggesting a potential underground surge. However, reliable data remains elusive due to recent repression.

Sources

Get Religion

YouTube

The survey, released on September 12, was conducted in 2022 across six South and Southeast Asian nations: Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

In countries with a Buddhist majority such as Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, over 90 per cent of the population firmly believe that their religion and nationality are intertwined.

For these individuals, being a part of their nation is closely linked to embracing Buddhism.

Similarly, in Muslim-majority nations like Indonesia and Malaysia, almost all respondents emphasise the importance of being Muslim as an integral aspect of their Indonesian or Malaysian identity.

Singapore an outlier

The only outlier in this trend is Singapore, where 56 per cent of respondents expressed that living amongst individuals of diverse religions, ethnicities and cultures enriches their country.

In the Buddhist-majority nations, more than 90 per cent of the populace regards Buddhism as "a religion of personal choice." Furthermore, a substantial majority (above 80 per cent) affirms that Buddhism is a cultural heritage, a family tradition and even "an ethnicity one is born into."

Buddhist communities also advocate for the incorporation of religious principles into national laws. A striking 96 per cent of Cambodians, where Buddhism is the national religion, favour establishing national laws rooted in Buddhist Dharma principles.

While a slightly lower percentage (80 per cent) extends support for religion-based national law in Sri Lanka, the figure drops to 56 per cent in Thailand.

Regarding religious leaders' involvement in politics, Cambodian Buddhists overwhelmingly believe that religious leaders should participate in elections (81 per cent). Conversely, in Sri Lanka, the support stands at 66 per cent; in Thailand, where the law prohibits religious figures from voting, it's a mere 54 per cent.

Sharia-based national laws supported

In Indonesia and Malaysia, over 80 per cent of the population views Islam as "a religion of personal choice." Moreover, more than 70 per cent consider Islam an integral part of their culture, family tradition and ethnic identity.

Notably, in Malaysia where Islam holds official status, 86 per cent of Muslims support implementing Islamic Sharia-based national laws.

The support for Sharia law is slightly lower in Indonesia, where Islam is one of five officially recognised religions, but still significant at 64 per cent.

In contrast to Buddhists, Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia actively support the participation of religious leaders in politics. Nearly 60 per cent believe religious leaders should publicly endorse political parties and engage in political protests.

In the religiously diverse landscape of Singapore, close to 90 per cent of adults believe that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Chinese traditional religions harmonise with the nation's culture and values, fostering a climate of inclusivity.

Singapore's adult population comprises:

• 31% Buddhists
• 20% with no religious affiliation
• 19% Christians
• 15% Muslim
• 15% Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists and adherents of Chinese traditional religions

The survey of religion and nationality conducted by the Pew Research Center was carried out from June 1 to September 4 2022 for the report titled "Buddhism, Islam and Religious Pluralism in South and Southeast Asia."

Sources

UCA News

Channel News Asia

A new Pew Research Center study offers a survey of 4,729 Americans telling us precisely why they do (or don't) attend religious services. Read more

This was confirmed by a survey study promoted by the US Pew Research Center on religious faith and practice in Western European countries.

The percentage of lapsed Christians is increasing and a look at the answers of the sample interviewed on abortion and same-sex marriage shows how much the culture in Europe has changed — and how unsurprising is the result of the recent Irish referendum on abortion.

The survey, conducted between April and August 2017 in 15 Western European countries, shows that 91% of the population is composed of baptized people, 81% of people who grew up as Christians, 71% of people who say they are currently Christians, with a 22% who attend religious services at least once a month.

In most cases, the adults interviewed consider themselves Christians, even if they rarely attend church.

The survey shows that non-practicing Christians (people who identify themselves as Christians, but participate in religious services only a few times a year) represent the largest share of the population in the region concerned.

In all countries except Italy, non-practicing Christians are more numerous than practicing Christians (i.e. those who participate in religious services at least once a month).

In the UK, for example, there are about three times as many lapsed, or non-practicing Christians (55%) as practicing Christians (18%), according to the definitions used in the survey.

Italy

40% of the population declares themselves to be practicing, another 40% declares themselves to be non-practicing Christians, 15% have no creed, while 5% follow other religions.

France

18% are practicing Christians, 46% are non-practicing, 28% have no creed, and 8% are of other religions.

Spain

21% are practicing Christians, 44% are non-practicing, 30% have no creed, 4% are of other religions.

While claiming not to believe in God "as described in the Bible," many non-practicing Christians tend to believe in some other higher power or spiritual strength.

In contrast, most practicing Christians claim to believe in the Biblical description of God.

And a clear majority of adults who do not recognize themselves in any religion do not believe in any kind of higher power or spiritual strength in the universe.

According to the study, Christian identity in Western Europe is associated with more negative opinions towards immigrants and religious minorities.

Overall, those who profess to be Christians, whether they attend the Church or not, are more likely than those who do not recognize themselves in any religion to express negative opinions towards immigrants, as well as towards Muslims and Jews.

The clear majority of non-practicing Christians, such as those who do not recognize themselves in any religion in Western Europe, are in favor of legal abortion and same-sex marriage.

Practicing Christians are more conservative on these issues, although within this segment there is substantial support (majoritarian in some countries) for legal abortion and same-sex marriage. Continue reading

• Image: The Art Story

These results come from a new demographic study carried out by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Christians, with 2.2 billion or 32 per cent, make up the largest group. Muslims, with 1.6 billion or 23 per cent, come next. Those who say they have no religious affiliation number 1.1 billion or 16 per cent.

"However, many of the religiously unaffiliated have some religious beliefs," the report said, including a belief in God or participation in religious observances.

The next largest groups are Hindus (1 billion people, 15 per cent), Buddhists (500 million, 7 per cent) and Jews (14 million people, 0.2 per cent).

More than 400 million people — 6 per cent — practise folk traditions from African, Chinese, Native American or Australian aboriginal cultures.

The study found that 157 countries have a majority Christian population, while 49 have a majority Muslim population. The five nations with the largest Christian populations are the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and the Philippines.

"Christianity has spread far from its historical origins and is geographically widespread," the study found, observing that 99 per cent of Christians live outside the region where the religion started.

While the median age worldwide is 28, the average Muslim is aged 23 and the average Christian is 30.

In six countries — the Czech Republic, North Korea, Estonia, Japan, Hong Kong and China — the religiously unaffiliated make up the majority of the population.

Sources:

Religion News Service

Catholic News Agency

The Global Religious Landscape (Pew Forum)

Image: Sojourners

The survey of 2,973 adults conducted this summer found people who say they are atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" grew by almost 5 percentage points since 2007, from 15.3 percent to 19.6 percent of the population.

The greatest shift toward "nothing in particular" apparently came from Protestants, who now make up 48 percent of the population, compared to 53 percent in 2007, the telephone study found.

"These are not necessarily nonbelievers," said Greg Smith, senior researcher for the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, at an Oct. 9 discussion on the study hosted by "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," a PBS TV show. "They're just not associated with any faith in particular."

The religiously unaffiliated tend to be younger than the general public, the survey showed, with 35 percent between ages 18 and 29, and 37 percent ages 30-49. Of the general public, about 22 percent are between 18 and 29, and 35 percent between 30 and 49.

Kim Lawton, managing editor for "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," said although the study shows that the vast majority of Americans still are affiliated with a faith, the report stands out for the rapid growth it shows in the unaffiliated segment. The program planned a three-week series on the study starting Oct. 12.

The study found declines since 2007 of 1 percent among those who say they are Catholic, 3 percent among white mainline churches, 2 percent among white evangelical churches and no change among black Protestants, Mormons or Orthodox. Those who said they identify with "another faith" grew over the five-year period, from 4 percent to 6 percent of the survey.

Only 2.4 percent of the unaffiliated category described themselves as atheist, and just 3.3 percent said they are agnostic. The majority in the category — 13.9 percent of the total survey — described themselves as nothing in particular.

Smith said the majority of those in the unaffiliated category say they believe in God and think of themselves as religious or spiritual. They are less likely to pray than the general public (58 percent pray daily and 21 percent do so weekly/monthly), but 42 percent of the unaffiliated category said they pray somewhat regularly (21 percent daily and 20 percent weekly/monthly).

Nor are the unaffiliated necessarily hostile toward religious institutions, Smith noted. But they're not searching for a religious home, either, he added. He said the growth in the number may in part be attributed to a societal change that has reduced the potential stigma of not belonging to any faith institution.

The survey report said that over the four-year study period, the self-reported level of attendance at religious services has changed relatively modestly, from 38 percent in 2007 to 37 percent in 2012 who say they attend services weekly. Twenty-seven percent in 2007 said they seldom or never attend services and 29 percent said so this year.

The study asked both the unaffiliated and those who said belong to a particular faith why they don't attend religious services more often. Among unaffiliated people, the most frequent answers related to disagreements with the church, such as: "don't agree with religion," "it's not necessary to attend church," or "my church isn't strict enough."

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Pew Forum
• USA Today
• New York Times (Blog)
• Image: New York Times