Many U.S. Catholics don't fully practice their faith. Could Pope Leo's papacy change that?
One in 5 Americans identify as Catholic, but a majority are relatively nonobservant, a new Pew Research Center report says: Though they might pray daily, attend church weekly or go to confession at least once a year, rarely do they do all three.
The findings, especially for White Catholics, "all reflect trends that have been developing for decades," said Nicholas Hayes-Mota, a social ethicist and public theologian at California's Santa Clara University. "In general, it seems that certain external observances of the faith, like confession and even increasingly Mass, are less central to many U.S. Catholics than they were in earlier generations."
The center’s findings, released June 16, are based mostly on a survey of 9,544 U.S. adults taken Feb. 3-9, before Pope Francis' hospitalization on Feb. 14 and well ahead of last month's selection of Pope Leo XIV as Francis' successor.
About 20% of Americans identify as Catholic, down from 24% in 2007, reflecting an overall decline in Christianity throughout the United States that has leveled off in recent years. In some places, the faith has found new footholds among young adults.
“Essentially, participation has been declining for a long time and has been much more steeply declining in the last decade or so,” said Melissa Wilde, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia who studies religious change. More than not participating, Catholics have been disaffiliating with the faith, she said; people raised Catholic are no longer raising their children in the church.
“There was a previous understanding that people disaffiliated in young adulthood but would come back to the church when they were married and raising children,” Wilde said. “That’s much less likely to occur now.”
Much of that, she said, has to do with politics: Research shows young people tend to be more liberal and representative of those disassociating with religion in general.
That's not the case everywhere. At St. Charles Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, the Rev. Donald J. Planty Jr. said attendance is higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, much of it driven by young adults in their 20s and 30s who form two-thirds of the 4,000-member congregation and are highly participatory.
Additionally, the church recently added 29 new converts to its registered membership, and the Diocese of Arlington has ordained 12 new priests in the past year − including two members of St. Charles.
“There's a lot of life in our diocese," said Planty, who has been pastor at the church for 11 years. "It’s young adults’ reaction to what the world offers. They’re looking for genuine worship. They’re looking for deeper, more intimate relationships."
The Pope Leo effect
According to the report, nearly half of Americans (47%) have a personal link to the Catholic faith. Equal percentages (9%) of survey respondents said they were either former Catholics, had Catholic connections such as a parent or spouse, or considered themselves “culturally” Catholic – in other words, not religiously but ethnically or because of their family background.
Whether the papacy of Pope Leo XIV, the church’s first North American pope, could contribute to a Catholic revival remains to be seen, though Wilde thinks it’s questionable.
Pope Leo XIV’s election indicates the church’s intent “to counter the rightward swing in the world, and in the U.S., by going with an American openly critical of Trump,” she said. Though such critiques might appeal to young people, they'll likely alienate conservatives, who Wilde said comprise a large portion of those who have both stuck with and converted to Catholicism.
“I don’t think it’s going to result in a great rejuvenation of the church,” she said. Rather than prompting an influx of Catholic newcomers, “I think what it will do is stem the tide away from the church significantly.”
Hayes-Mota, of Santa Clara, said Leo's effect will depend on what role the pontiff decides to play, how his pontificate is received in the United States and whether Catholic leaders here capitalize on that opportunity.
A snapshot of today's Catholics
Otherwise, Catholics continue to illustrate the patterns of past decades, with half of U.S. Catholics (50%) saying they pray daily, according to the Pew report. About a quarter said they attend Mass weekly (28%) or go to confession at least once a year (23%). Just 13% of Catholics do all three.
One in 5 (22%) Catholics said they seldom or never pray, and 2 in 5 (40%) seldom or never go to Mass. Nearly half (47%) hardly ever or never go to confession.
Asked to pick from a list of 14 qualities what was most essential to being Catholic, U.S. Catholics’ most common choice was “a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” (69%), devotion to the Virgin Mary (50%), working to help the poor and needy (47%) and receiving the Eucharist (46%).
Those shares were higher among Catholics who regularly attend church, who were also likelier to be involved in their parishes – for instance, attending prayer groups or volunteering as an usher – and to practice traditions such as praying the rosary.
"For a strong and often vocal minority of U.S. Catholics, both regular participation in the church's ritual life and knowledge and conformity to the fullness of Catholic doctrine remain very important, and they often express criticism of Catholics who, in their view, don't as faithfully or consistently practice their faith," Hayes-Mota said.
Four in 10 Hispanic Americans identify as Catholic, at least twice the rate for any other ethnic or racial group, and 18% describe themselves as former Catholics. Overall, 82% of Hispanic Americans said they have some link to Catholicism.
The survey found that Hispanic Catholics take part in devotional practices at above-average rates. More than half (56%) of Hispanic Catholics said they wear or carry religious items at least monthly, and more than a third (37%) pray the rosary at least once a month. A quarter (26%) said they light candles or incense for religious or spiritual reasons.
Young Catholics seek authenticity
More than 8 in 10 “cultural” Catholics said they seldom or never attend Mass, go to confession, pray the rosary or practice saintly devotions, prompting the question of what actually makes them Catholic. Nearly a third (32%) cited a Catholic background – for instance, being raised Catholic or having attended a Catholic school.
More than a quarter of cultural Catholics (27%) said they had family or social relationships with Catholics, and nearly a quarter (23%) said they shared Catholic beliefs or values.
About 1.5% of Americans are Catholic converts, the study found, and tend to be at least as religiously active as those raised Catholic who still identify that way.
Catholic converts tend to be at least as religiously active as “cradle Catholics” (adults who were raised Catholic and still identify as Catholic). About half of them (49%) cite their spouse or getting married as the reason for converting.
A significant portion (43%) of Americans raised Catholic said they had left the faith – at least in the religious sense. The greatest portion (18%) said the primary reason was their values no longer aligned with the church’s; meanwhile, 9% said they stopped believing in religion or God more broadly.
At St. Charles in Arlington, Planty said Leo's papacy can only help build on the momentum already underway.
"There's a desire for authentic relationships," he said. "Young adults aren’t looking for 'cool'; they’re looking for warm.”