With its newest additions, the College of Cardinals will have 128 voting members, 42% of whom are European, down from 52% in 2013.
In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices – continued to climb, reaching an all-time high since Pew Research Center began tracking these trends in 2007.
Pope Francis made news recently by voicing his support for same-sex civil unions. The statement struck observers as a shift for the Vatican.
A median of 45% across 34 surveyed countries say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. However, public opinion on this question, as well as the role of God, prayer and religion varies by country, region and economic development.
Household size and composition often vary by religious affiliation, data from 130 countries and territories reveals. Muslims and Hindus have larger households than Christians and religious “nones,” influenced in part by regional norms.
Giving a share of one’s income to the church has been a part of European tradition for centuries. Today, several countries continue to collect a “church tax” on behalf of officially recognized religious organizations, in some cases levying the tax on all registered members.
The global Muslim population is more concentrated in Islam’s main population centers than the global Christian population is for Christianity.
Germany has seen a dramatic shift away from Protestantism – one that has greatly outpaced a decline in the share of Germans who are Catholic.
Ukraine is an overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian nation, and 46% of Orthodox Ukrainians look to the Ukrainian national church leaders as the highest Orthodoxy authority.
While Slovakia is majority Catholic, around seven-in-ten Czechs are religiously unaffiliated – the highest share of unaffiliated adults in 34 European countries surveyed.