Number of US Catholics declines by 398,000
February 26, 2009
Between the beginning and the end of 2007, the number of Catholics in the United States declined by nearly 400,000 to 67.1 million, according to the newly published 2009 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. The Catholic Church remains the largest ecclesial community in the United States. The number of Southern Baptists-- the nation’s second largest, with 16.3 million members-- declined by 40,000. Rounding out the top ten are the United Methodist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church of God in Christ, the National Baptist Convention USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the National Baptist Convention of America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Assemblies of God. Of those ten, only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Assemblies of God reported increases.
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