Close to half of the nation’s adults have a personal or family connection to Catholicism, but Mass attendance makes for significant differences in what Catholics say is essential to their identity.
In addition, the share of U.S. Catholics who are Hispanic is growing, a significant number of conversions to the faith are prompted by marriage, and clerical abuse — though still widely perceived as an ongoing issue — is more broadly viewed as also problematic among other religious leaders, not only Catholic.
On June 16, Pew Research Center released its latest findings on Catholic life in the U.S., drawing on two surveys for data: its 2023-2024 U.S. Religious Landscape Study and in particular its Feb. 3-9 survey of 9,544 U.S. adults that included 1,787 Catholics. The latter survey included several questions “designed specifically for Catholics,” said the report.
The report found that 47 percent of U.S. adults indicated some connection to Catholicism.
Of those, 20 percent identified themselves as Catholic, while 9 percent described themselves as cultural Catholics, who identify with the faith for reasons “aside from religion,” such as ethnic, cultural or family ties or background.
Another 9 percent stated they were former Catholics, having been raised Catholic but no longer identifying themselves with the faith or with its cultural associations, and 9 percent said they were “connected to Catholicism in other ways” — that is, without cultural or religious ties to the faith, but having a Catholic parent, spouse or partner, or answering yes when asked if they ever attend Mass.
Among U.S. Catholics, just 13 percent pray daily, attend Mass at least weekly and go to confession once a year, although 50 percent, 28 percent and 23 percent respectively observe those individual practices.
Conversely, 13 percent seldom or never pray, and seldom or never attend Mass, and never go to the sacrament of reconciliation, which the report termed confession.
“The largest share of Catholics (74 percent) fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum of observance,” stated the report. “They may pray. They may attend Mass. They may go to confession. But they don’t regularly do all three (pray daily, attend Mass weekly and go to confession annually).”
For many questions, the survey found “large differences between Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week and those who don’t.”
Most weekly Mass attendees (83 percent) cited receiving the Eucharist as an essential part of being Catholic, compared to 56 percent of those who attend once or twice a month, 31 percent who attend a few times a year, and 15 percent of those who never attend.
Half of the nation’s Catholics report receiving holy Communion most or all the time when they attend Mass, with 82 percent of weekly Massgoers receiving. Forty-three percent of those who attend a few times a year or seldom report receiving holy Communion. Pew noted the preferred method of reception is by hand, with 44 percent of all U.S. Catholics and 62 percent of those who attend Mass at least weekly indicating such, while 14 percent of the nation’s Catholics and 21 percent of at least weekly Massgoers saying they prefer to receive on the tongue.
Most Catholics (87 percent) have not attended Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, the older usage of the Roman rite commonly called the “traditional Latin Mass,” within the last five years, with 13 percent reporting they had attended at least once within the last five years and 2 percent saying they attend at least once per week.
Most Catholics (71 percent) regard their parish priests favorably, with 32 percent very favorable in their opinion.
A majority of Catholics surveyed (62 percent) said clerical abuse remains an ongoing problem; however, that number is down from 69 percent in 2019. A majority (68 percent) also said that sexual abuse and misconduct are equally prevalent among other religious leaders, aside from Catholics. That share marks an increase from 61 percent in 2019.
Pew also asked participants to weigh in on 14 items related to Catholic belief and practice as “essential,” “important but not essential” or “not an important part” of being Catholic.
Baptism was not listed among the options provided by Pew. However, the research center told OSV News that the survey list offered a final open-ended question, to which “a small percentage of respondents (less than 1 percent of Catholics by religion) mentioned sacraments in their open-ended response,” including baptism. In addition, said Pew, many responses to the question from cultural Catholics “mentioned receiving the Sacraments of Initiation as children, including Baptism.”
Of the Catholic identity options offered by Pew, the most widely endorsed one was “having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” with 69 percent of U.S. Catholic adults describing the practice as “essential” to their Catholic identity.
At the same time, the phrase itself is not specifically a Catholic one. Scholar Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, observed in a September 2017 journal article that the formulation, though extant in the 19th century, remains “relatively recent,” having been broadly popularized by Protestant U.S. evangelists such as Billy Graham from the 1940s onward.
Still, Gregory A. Smith, senior associate religion research director at Pew, told OSV News that the phrase “resonates with many Christians, including Catholics,” and that the view of it as critical is “especially common among Hispanic Catholics.”
Smith also pointed out that the phrase had figured in Pew’s 2015 survey of Catholics, where it also “topped the list,” with 68 percent of Catholics ranking it as essential to their religious identity. The previous survey also found that belief in Jesus’ actual resurrection from the dead — a question not repeated in the current survey — was cited by 67 percent.
Devotion to the Virgin Mary (50 percent), working to help the poor and needy (47 percent), and receiving the Eucharist (46 percent) were also listed by Pew. Forty percent listed getting married in the church as essential, while 33 percent pointed to the leadership of the pope and 32 percent stressed being part of the unbroken apostolic tradition — the latter of which tied with opposing abortion (32 percent).
Other markers of Catholic identity ranked as essential were taking care of the environment (31 percent), being part of a Catholic parish (30 percent), caring for immigrants (30 percent), celebrating feast days associated with national or ethnic heritage (26 percent), and opposing the death penalty (22 percent).
The least ranked marker was “going on pilgrimages,” which was cited as essential by only 9 percent.
Pew found that Hispanic Catholics represent 36 percent of all Catholic adults in the U.S., up from 29 percent in 2007, and are more likely than white Catholics to report participating in a variety of devotional practices such as wearing or carrying religious items (56 percent v. 39 percent), practicing devotion to Mary or a favorite saint (46 percent v. 31 percent), and praying the rosary (37 percent v. 22 percent).
Close to half of all Catholic converts (49 percent) said their decision was motivated by having a Catholic spouse or partner, or a desire to marry in the Catholic church.
Awareness of two major initiatives affecting the U.S. Catholic Church — the National Eucharistic Congress, specific to the nation, and the Synod and Synodality — was not found to be widespread, with about three in 10 U.S. Catholics saying they had heard at least a little about the congress, and 23 percent about the synod. Significant portions of weekly Massgoers were also unaware of both efforts, with 43 percent reporting they had not heard anything about the congress and 60 percent saying they had heard nothing about the synod.
Pew Research Center’s report on U.S. Catholic life can be accessed at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/16/47-of-us-adults-have-a-personal-or-family-connection-to-catholicism/
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