The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a study on April 27, 2009, titled, Faith in Flux – Changes in Religious Affiliation in the US.
The report identifies several interesting statistics for Catholics in the US.
Childhood practices and commitment appear to be pivotal in influencing whether a person remains a member of their childhood faith. A total of 46% of current adult Catholics who were raised Catholic say that they had very strong faith as a child and 96% worshiped weekly as a child. In addition, 71% attended religious education as a child and 25% attended Catholic high school.
Examining the reasons why individuals chose to become former Catholics is also of interest. A total of 71% of former Catholics who have become Protestant cite that their spiritual needs were not being met as the reason for leaving. Nearly two thirds of former Catholics who are now “unaffiliated” cite that their reason for departure was that they stopped believing in Church teaching. About 60% named teachings on abortion and homosexuality. About 50% named teachings on birth control. And about 40% identified issues related to the Church’s treatment of women. Interestingly, about 71% of former Catholics say that they “just gradually drifted away from [their] religion.”
Currently, 10% of American adults are former Catholics. In general, the population that has grown the most is that of “unaffiliated” individuals. This group, however, is very diverse. Catholicism has lost the most members to this group. However, Catholicism also has a 68% retention rate of childhood members which is equal to or higher than other faith traditions.
Interestingly, the changes are often made at a young age. Approximately 48% of former Catholics who are now unaffiliated made that choice before they were 18 years old. An additional 30% became former Catholics between age 18 and 23. These statistics indicate the importance of not ignoring your youth and young adults within the Catholic community. If we do ignore them, there is a good chance that they may choose to no longer be Catholic.
Posted by APWeb 
