Catholics and Evangelicals Vie for No. 1 Religion in U.S.
Tom Toolen ("The Spiritual Herald," August 26, 2011)
Washington D.C., USA - Fierce competition—now developing among economically
hard-hit European, Latin American, African and Middle Eastern countries—
may soon decide which denomination will emerge as the number one religion in
America.
As of now, Catholics and Evangelicals are running neck-to-neck. Catholics
comprise 23.9 percent, whereas Evangelical Protestants have topped the list
of religions in recent years with a whopping 26.3 percent, replacing the
long-running Catholic lead.
However, due to the economic turmoil in Europe, the Evangelical foothold
here may soon slip. The majority of immigrants—both legal and illegal—come
from countries that are mostly Catholic. They include Ireland, Portugal,
Spain and even Italy. Many immigrants are expected to come from Greece,
although its people are mostly Greek Orthodox.
The exploding immigration in the nation is no longer only Catholic,
however, as many faiths, especially Evangelicals and Pentecostals, Muslims,
Hindus
and Buddhists, are increasing their presence throughout the nation, mostly
in cities and urban areas.
Catholicism lost its standing as the top religion because millions of Latin
Americans, who had been mostly Catholic, adopted the Pentecostal faith in
recent years. In addition, due to priest scandals and other political
problems, many Latinos, who are strongly religious, may continue to move away
from Catholicism.
Immigration experts point out that Europeans, especially the Irish, are
already here—many illegally. There are an estimated 50,000 Irish illegal
immigrants in the U.S., and 30,000 of them live in New York City, especially in
the Bronx, Queens and Upper Manhattan.
The Irish are not alone in increasing the number of Catholics in the United
States. New York City, which served as the entry point for the early
immigrants, continues to attract many diverse races from across the globe.
Not since the turn of the 20th century has there been such a large influx
of Catholics. During the 1920s, many of the same aforementioned European
groups—along with European Jews— flooded the United States, making
Catholicism the number one religion in America. Another reason for the
increased
numbers of Catholics is the church’s opposition to abortion and birth control.
Thus, Catholics have been known to produce children at a faster rate than
many other faiths.
Like the previous immigrants, the new wave is leaving their respective
countries because of the economic strife that has consumed Western Europe as
much as it has America. In fact, many European countries are slated to
default on their debt obligations. Many economists believe that it is no
longer a
question of whether they will default, but when it will happen. Spain and
Ireland are among the most troubled countries. Greece, which is on the
list, however, is not a Catholic country, but is Greek Orthodox.
“They are said to be coming from the nations where their ancestors did so
many decades ago,” said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion &
Public Life in Washington. “But most of the new immigrants are from Latin
America, Africa and Asia.”
“Only 10 percent of today’s immigrants come from Europe,” said Aaron
Terrazas, policy analyst at the Migration Institute, “so most of the new
arrivals are coming from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and South and Central
America.
“So if we look at other immigrant groups beyond Hispanics—essentially from
Korea—communities were coalesced around Protestant churches,” he said. “
Immigrants from South Asia and China tend to maintain their Hindu, Buddhist
and Muslim faiths.”
While the growing Hispanic immigration from Mexico and Central America
still is Catholic, a large number of them are Pentecostals, or are converting
to the religion.
So the rising number of European arrivals is going to challenge the
immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East for jobs and housing. And many
Europeans are willing to compete for the low-paying jobs that their long-ago
ancestors once performed upon arrival on these shores.
Because of their prior immigration and political connections, the Irish
especially have less trouble finding jobs, said Niall O’Dowd, chairman of the
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.
“The Irish have positive political identification and a lot of access to
both Democratic and Republican leaders,” he said. “Every group has its
strengths, but the key for immigrants is to have sympathetic politicians of
the
same ethnic background, as well as the backing of the local church.”
Despite the potential of large numbers of European Catholics coming to
America, their domination is not a slam-dunk. There are other groups that are
moving in, such as the Chinese and East Indians who may themselves turn the
tide.
A random survey by The Spiritual Herald reveals that the transition of new
immigrants changing old neighborhoods is taking place largely in urban
cities. For example, in the South Bronx, which has been a Puerto Rican
Catholic
stronghold for nearly a half century, there is a growing number of
Mexicans and even Bangladeshis, the latter of whom are Muslim. “But now they
are
battling other groups for space and power in areas they once controlled,”
said Terrazas. Many Puerto Ricans are now finding new neighborhoods in nearby
suburbs.
In so-called Spanish Harlem, Mexican Evangelicals are also beginning to
edge out Puerto Rican Catholics, who have been in that community since the
1950s.
“Urban areas like New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago are the places
where immigrants used to settle, but that too is changing,” said Terrazas. “
That was true a century ago and up until 1960, but it is not so much
anymore.”
Perhaps the most unusual situation is in Nassau County, an affluent
community east of New York City. There, the once dominant Catholic population
has
seen a strong increase of Muslims from various countries in the Middle East
and who are actively competing with Catholics.
Despite the friction between Christianity and Islam, Muslim immigrants
continue to come to America. There are an estimated three million Muslims in
the United States, and this number is expected to grow.
“Since the majority of immigrants to America are Hispanic,” noted Lugo, “
the overall population of the United States may remain Catholic. Immigration
is tilting the nation toward Catholicism. We will soon be a minority
Protestant country.”
But he added that Pentecostals are making inroads in Catholic growth too. “
Pentecostals and charismatic worship styles in American churches are
greatly favored by immigrants from the global south, which includes Central
and
South America,” he said.
Another major shift has been occurring for the past decade from the
millions of undocumented Hispanics who are becoming Pentecostal. For
centuries,
many of the Hispanics from Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and other South and
Central American countries have belonged to the Catholic faith.
The new immigration pattern reflects a remarkable change because, with the
exception of Jews, virtually all of the immigrants in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries were Catholics.
They included such ethnic groups as Irish, Italians, Polish and Germans.
These groups are largely responsible for making Catholicism the number one
religion in the United States.
According to Terrazas, immigrants are increasingly settling around the
country in the suburbs, and in some cases these “places do not have a lot of
experience with immigrants.”
As a result, immigrants are subject to groups that do not understand or
trust them as much as those in urban locales, so they grasp onto their
religious customs as a buffer which makes them slow to assimilate.
In addition, integration into American culture has taken on an increased
significance in this country, adding pressure for immigrants to assimilate.
“We don’t want anyone to lose their identity or forget where they come
from, but becoming American and contributing to their new country is of prime
importance,” said Ira Mehlman, national media director for the Federation
for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Despite popular thought, tension and difficult assimilation among immigrant
groups is not a new occurrence. During the great wave of the 1920s, the
Irish, Italians, Polish and Germans experienced a similar affair.
“People look at the great immigration wave and say ‘look how great
assimilation worked out,’” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA.
“What they don’t understand is that they didn’t do so well during the
great wave,” he continued. “They had the same kinds of problems that the
Hispanic groups have now—meaning lower incomes, urban slums, etc. When the
immigration was high during the great wave, immigrants suffered. Their lives
only got better when the great wave ended and the number of immigrants came
down.”
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