In a recent report titled Faith on the Hill, Pew Research Center states that 468 out of 531 members of the United States’ new 117th Congress describe themselves as Christian.
The data collected from the CQ Roll Call explains in the report that “nearly nine-in-ten members of Congress identify as Christian (88 percent), compared with two-thirds of the general public (65 percent). Congress is both more heavily Protestant (55 percent vs. 43 percent) and more heavily Catholic (30 percent vs. 20 percent) than the U.S. adult population overall.” When the report was published, two Senate and two House seats were still vacant.
294 out of the 468 that identify as Christian specifically claim to be Protestant, which includes the denominations Baptist, Methodist, Anglican/Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Congregationalist, Pentecostal, Restorationist, Adventist, Reformed, and Pietist. In addition to the Protestants, there are 158 Catholic members, 9 Mormons, and 7 Orthodox Christians.
According to the report, 207 Democrats from the House and Senate identify as either Protestant or Catholic. Nearly 200 Republicans in the House alone identify this way. The report states that overall 99 percent of the Republicans in Congress identify as Christian.
The new Congress has three fewer members who identify as Christian than the 116th Congress had. Members in the 117th Congress who identify as Mormons are all Republicans. Those who are Muslims(3), Hindus(3), Unitarian Universalists(2), and Buddhists(2) are all Democrats, while eighteen other Democrats chose not to answer or answered “don’t know.”
The report shows a gradual decline of Protestants and Catholics since 1961, showing over 100 less Protestants since the 87th Congress of the 1960s.
