By Tyler Arnold
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 3, 2025 / 16:05 pm
The Catholic representation in the 119th Congress grew slightly from the previous Congress to just over 28% of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.
A small majority of the Catholics in both chambers of Congress are elected Democrats.
The number of Protestant Christians slightly decreased and make up just under 56% of the incoming Congress. About 1.1% of members of Congress are Orthodox Christians. In total, Christians account for about 85% of Congress.
The second-largest religious faith represented in Congress is the Jewish faith, which accounts for about 6% of the members of Congress. The third-largest faith represented is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), which accounts for 1.7% of Congress.
Members of all other religious faiths — including Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, humanists, and Universalist Unitarians — each account for less than 1% of Congress. Three members, who account for 0.6% of Congress, are not members of any religion and the religion of nearly 4% is unknown.
Slight growth for Catholics
The total number of Catholics in Congress increased by two members, from 148 in the 118th Congress to 150 in the 119th Congress. The percentage increased slightly from 27.7% to 28.2%. Catholics remain the largest Christian denomination represented in Congress.
According to Pew’s numbers, 126 members of the House and 24 Senators are Catholic. The majority of Catholics in both chambers are Democrats: 70 in the House and 13 in the Senate. There are 56 Catholic Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate.
There are 459 incumbent members of Congress who are returning with 129 of them belonging to the Catholic Church, which accounts for 28.1% of incumbents. There are 73 new members of Congress, 21 of whom are Catholic, which accounts for 28.8% of the freshmen.
According to Pew, about 20% of adults in the United States consider themselves Catholic, which means Catholics are overrepresented in Congress by more than eight percentage points.
Other Christian denominations
The number of Protestants in Congress decreased by eight members, from 303 members to 295 members. This brings their total representation down from 56.7% to 55.5%. However, this still makes Protestants overrepresented in Congress, according to Pew, which found that 40% of the American public identifies as a Protestant.
Baptists are the largest representation for Protestants in Congress, accounting for 75 members, which is 14.1% of the House and Senate. There are 26 Methodists and 26 Presbyterians, both of whom make up 4.9% of Congress. There are 22 members who are Anglican or Episcopalian and account for 4.1% of Congress.
There are 101 Protestants who are listed as “unspecified” or belonging to a denomination not listed in the survey, which accounts for 19% of Congress.
A majority of Protestants in both chambers are Republican: 146 in the House and 38 in the Senate. There are 91 Protestant Democrats in the House and 20 in the Senate.
The number of Orthodox Christians decreased from eight to six members, all of whom are in the House. Four are Republican and two are Democrat.
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Non-Christian representation in Congress
The number of Jewish members of Congress decreased from 33 to 32, which accounts for 6% of the House and the Senate. According to Pew, about 2% of the American population adheres to the Jewish faith. The large majority of Jewish members of Congress are Democrats: 20 in the House and nine in the Senate. There are three Jewish Republicans in the House and none in the Senate.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remained the same as the previous Congress with nine members. All Mormon members of Congress are Republican, six of whom are in the House and three of whom are in the Senate.
The number of Muslims in Congress increased from three to four, the number of Hindus increased from two to four, and the number of Buddhists increased from two to three. The number of Unitarian Universalists remained at three and the number of humanists remained at one.
Every Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist, and humanist member of Congress is a Democrat. Most are members of the House, except for one Buddhist who is in the Senate.
There are only three members of Congress who are unaffiliated with any religion, all of whom are in the House. Two are Democrat and one is Republican. This is the most underrepresented group in Congress, according to Pew, which found that 28% of Americans are not affiliated with a particular religion.
However, 21 members of Congress either refused to answer or their religion could not be determined by the researchers: 17 in the House and four in the Senate. All are Democrats, except for one who is a House Republican.
