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Michael J. O’LoughlinNovember 16, 2012

Catholics comprise 30% of the new Congress according to a new report published by Pew today:

The newly elected, 113th Congress includes the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, the first Hindu to serve in either chamber and the first member of Congress to describe her religion as “none,” continuing a gradual increase in religious diversity that mirrors trends in the country as a whole. While Congress remains majority Protestant, the institution is far less so today than it was 50 years ago, when nearly three-quarters of the members belonged to Protestant denominations.

CongressCatholics have seen the biggest gains among the 530 seats in the new Congress that have been decided as of Nov. 16. So far, Catholics have picked up five seats, for a total of 161, raising their share to just over 30%.1 The biggest decline is among Jews, who have been elected to 32 seats (6%), seven fewer than in the 112th Congress, where Jews held 39 seats (7%).2 Mormons continue to hold 15 seats (about 3%), the same as in the previous Congress.

Read the full report here.

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
ed gleason
11 years 4 months ago
One thing we can all be proud of as Americans, is that there were no attacks on Romney's Mormonism in the election, that I noted. Bodes well for the future elections.
John Norton
11 years 4 months ago
Ed is right that there were no attacks on Romney's Mormonism in the election but Obama's political opponents did attack his professed Christianity.  

The faith attack just didn't work.

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