Catholics recorded among the lowest enthusiasm for passing their religion to their children of any Christian denomination in the survey.
An even lower 29% of white non-evangelical Protestants said it is extremely or very important for their children to share their religious beliefs.
White evangelicals were among the highest, with 70% responding that it is extremely or very important for their adult children to share their religious beliefs. In other words, white evangelical parents are twice as likely as their Catholic counterparts to strongly believe their children should share their views on religion.
The only group that registered significantly lower enthusiasm overall was the religiously unaffiliated category, those self-identifying as atheist, agnostic, or nothing. Only 8% of this group said having their children share their beliefs was either extremely or very important.
A crucial note to the study is that parents who attend services weekly or more were more than three times as likely to say having their children share their beliefs is important, 76% vs. 21%, Pew said.
Pew’s report follows a downward trend in Catholic Mass attendance in the United States. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate reported in January that just 17% of American Catholics attend Mass weekly or more, down from 24% in 2019.
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