Surveys don't often allow for one
to say much about Americans who self-identify their race as Black, African
American, Afro-Caribbean, or African and who also self-identify their religion
as Catholic. It is all a problem of numbers and random selection. In a typical
survey of the U.S. adult population only 1,000 people are randomly selected and
interviewed. Of these, fewer than 10 respondents would be expected to self
identify as a Black Catholic-far too few to make any inferences whatsoever. Even
in a typical CARA Catholic Poll (CCP), in which the sample typically includes at
least 1,000 randomly selected adult Catholics, fewer than 50 of the respondents
would be expected to self-identify as Black or African American-still too few
for an acceptable level of sampling error for this sub-group.
To obtain even a somewhat reliable portrait of the
Black Catholic population in one survey requires a specially designed
over-sample of this group or a very, very large survey (which is often
financially prohibitive). Two of the latter have been done in recent years-The
Religious Landscape Survey by Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2007 and
the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) in 2008. The results
presented in this post are generated from the Pew survey data (in this survey an
unweighted total of 35,957 adults were interviewed of which 252 self-identified
as Black and Catholic; resulting in a margin of sampling error for this
sub-group of ±6.2 percentage points).
Of all adults in the Pew survey who self-identified
their race as Black in the United States, 8.2% also self-identified their
religion as Catholic (representing 4% of all adult Catholics in the U.S.).
Extrapolating the results to the total population in 2010, it can be estimated
that about 3.5 million U.S. residents self-identify as Black and Catholic (this
estimate includes adults and children).
So who are the adult Black Catholics in the United States today?
- 83% indicated that they were raised Catholic and 17% said they converted to Catholicism at some point after being raised in another faith
- 96% say their religion is "somewhat" or "very" important in their life (70%
"very" important only)
- 40% describe themselves as a "Charismatic" Catholic and 16% as a
"Pentecostal" Catholic
- 42% also self-identified their ethnicity as Hispanic compared to only 4% of
Black Protestants (the non-Hispanic Black Catholic population represents 2.5% of
the overall adult Catholic population)
- 36% are foreign-born (20% are non-citizens)
- 46% are married (including those married and currently separated) and 82% of
these Catholics have a Catholic spouse
- 65% describe their political views as "moderate" (33%) to "conservative"
(24%) or "very conservative" (8%)
- 39% have attended college
- 25% make $50,000 or more per year
- 30% are age 18 to 30 and 10% are age 65 and older
A significant number of African Americans were
raised Catholic and have subsequently left the faith. The "retention rate" for
Black Catholics is lower than for Catholics overall. This rate is the percentage
of those raised in the faith who are affiliated with that faith as an adult.
Overall, for Catholics in the U.S the retention rate is 68%. However, among
African Americans who are raised Catholic, only 57% remain Catholic as adults.
Thus, 43% African Americans raised Catholic are estimated to have changed faiths
at some point.
Where do these former Catholics go? Nearly
two-thirds (64%) affiliate with another Christian faith. Three in ten (30%)
either identify with "nothing in particular" (28%) or say they are agnostic (1%)
or atheists (1%). This result is also different from the overall pattern among
adult Catholics in the United States who are less likely to adopt another
Christian faith if they leave Catholicism and instead are slightly more likely
to identify with "nothing in particular." Thus, African Americans who have left
the Catholic faith are more likely than all former Catholics in general to
choose another Christian faith.
It is important to note that these results are only
based on 252 randomly selected individuals (N=851 when using the Pew weights).
There is a need for a sampling design that increases the number of interviews in
future studies for this sub-group of the Catholic population to ensure a more
reliable portrait is available. Also, both the Pew and ARIS studies are based on
questionnaires intended to be used by people of all faiths. Thus, there is
limited content that can speak to issues that are specific to Catholicism. At
the same time, these sources represent the best available data to study this
sub-group of Catholics.
For those interested in more information, the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Subcommittee on African
American Affairs (SCAAA), the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC), and
Xavier University's Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) have additional
information and resources regarding Black Catholics in the United States.
http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2010/06/portrait-of-black-catholics-in-united.html
CARA - Nineteen Sixty-four is a research blog for
the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown
University edited by Mark M. Gray. CARA is a non-profit research center that
conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. Founded in 1964,
CARA has three major dimensions to its mission: to increase the Catholic
Church's self understanding; to serve the applied research needs of Church
decision-makers; and to advance scholarly research on religion, particularly
Catholicism. Follow CARA on Twitter at: caracatholic.
