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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 30, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).

Recent polling data has found that Americans’ religious affiliations have not greatly changed since 2020, appearing to stabilize following decades of substantial shifts.

Data collected by the polling firm Gallup surveyed 12,000 adults in the U.S. and found that from 2000 to 2020, the percentage of people with no religious affiliation spiked, while Protestant and Catholic populations declined.

In 2000, 57% of Americans identified as Protestant or nondenominational Christians. Over the following 20 years this group dropped more than 10 points to 46%. The Catholic population experienced a smaller yet still notable decline over the same time period, decreasing from 25% to 22%.

The largest change over the two decades was the increase in American adults who said they had no religious affiliation. In 2000, only 8% of those surveyed said they did not practice a religion, but in 2020 the number had jumped to 20%. 

Yet recent research from 2020 to 2024 revealed that American adults’ religious affiliations have become more stable, experiencing little to no change in numbers from year to year. 

In 2020, 22% of Americans identified as Catholic and in 2024 the population remained similar at 21%. The Protestant population also only slightly declined from 46% to 45%.

The study looked at people who practice “other religions” including those who consider themselves Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, or another religion and found that this group has only increased by 1 percentage point since 2020.

Following the large 12-point increase in nonreligious adults from 2000 to 2020, the group only increased by 2 points from 2020 to 2024. As of 2024, 22% of Americans, or 1 in 5, said they have no religious preference. 

Millennials are primarily responsible for the increase in adults with no religion, with 31% of them reporting they have no affiliation. This amount has almost doubled from 16% in the 2000 to 2004 survey.

The Silent Generation, baby boomers, and Generation X all had smaller 4- and 5-point increases during the same time period.

The most recent surveys further examined the smaller religious populations that make up the “other religions” group, which has remained consistent from 2000 to 2024 with only very slight fluctuation.

In the U.S., 2.2% of adults identify as Jewish, 1.5% as Latter-Day Saints or Mormon, and less than 1% each as Muslim, Buddhist, Orthodox Christian, or Hindu. 

Combined data from 2020 to 2024 revealed that 69% of American adults are Christian, 4.1% are a non-Christian denomination, and 21.4% said they have no affiliation. The other individuals did not answer or provided a response outside the options the survey listed.

Lima Newsroom, Apr 30, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who chaired the international commission investigating the authenticity of Medjugorje, has offered four criteria for the conclave that will elect Pope Francis’ successor.

In an article titled “Prayer for the Church of the Near Future,” published on the blog “Settimo Cielo” by veteran Italian Vatican expert Sandro Magister, Ruini — who at age 94 is too old to vote in the upcoming conclave — proposes four aspects of the life of the Church he would like to see as the Church moves forward in the next pontificate.

“I trust in a good and charitable Church, doctrinally secure, governed according to law, and deeply united internally. These are my prayer intentions, which I would like to see widely shared,” the cardinal explains.

Ruini was a close collaborator of St. John Paul II, heading the Italian Bishops’ Conference (1991–2007) and serving as vicar general of the Diocese of Rome (1991–2008).

In 2005, he participated in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2010 appointed him president of the Medjugorje Commission consisting of about 20 members, including bishops and cardinals. The commission presented its final report in 2014. In 2024, the Vatican approved the spiritual experience of Medjugorje without confirming its supernatural character.

1. A good and charitable Church

Ruini notes in his first point that “love made effective in our lives is in fact the supreme law of Christian witness and, therefore, of the Church. And this is what people, even today, most yearn for.”

“In our style of government all useless harshness, all pettiness, and dryness of heart must be eliminated,” he emphasizes.

2. A doctrinally secure Church

The Italian cardinal then notes that Pope Benedict XVI observed that “faith today is a flame that threatens to go out.”

Thus Ruini points out that “rekindling this flame is therefore another great priority of the Church. This requires much prayer, the ability to respond in a Christian manner to today’s intellectual challenges, but also the certainty of truth and the security of doctrine.”

“For too many years,” he warns, “we have been experiencing that if these are weakened, all of us, pastors and faithful, pay a heavy price.”

3. A Church governed according to law

For the Italian cardinal, “Benedict XVI’s pontificate was undermined by his poor capacity to govern, and this is a concern that is valid for all times, including the near future. Furthermore, we must not forget that this is about governing that very special reality that is the Church.”

“Here, as I said, the fundamental law is love: The style of government and the recourse to the law must be as compliant as possible with this law, which is very demanding for anyone.”

4. A united Church

Ruini states that “in recent years we have perceived some threats — which I do not wish to exaggerate — to the unity and communion of the Church.”

“To overcome them and bring to light what I like to call the ‘Catholic form’ of the Church, mutual charity is once again decisive, but it is also important to raise awareness that the Church, like every social body, has its rules, which no one can ignore with impunity.”

“At 94 years of age, silence is more appropriate than words. I hope, however, that these lines of mine are a small fruit of the love I have for the Church,” the cardinal says.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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