Religion in California

The largest religious denominations by number of adherents as a percentage of California's population in 2008 were the Catholic Church with 31 percent; Evangelical Protestants with 18 percent; and Mainline Protestants with 14 percent. Those unaffiliated with any religion represented 21 percent of the population.
The first priests to come to California were Roman Catholic missionaries from Spain. Roman Catholics founded 21 missions along the California coast, as well as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. California continues to have a large Roman Catholic population due to the large numbers of Mexicans and Central Americans living within its borders. California has twelve dioceses and two archdioceses, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the former being the largest archdiocese in the United States.
A Pew Research Center survey revealed that California is somewhat less religious than the rest of the US: 62 percent of Californians say they are "absolutely certain" of the belief in God, while in the nation 71 percent say so. The survey also revealed 48 percent of Californians say religion is "very important," compared to 56 percent nationally.


The state has the most Roman Catholics of any state, as well as large Protestant, non-religious, Jewish, and Muslim populations. California has the most Roman Catholics in the U.S., ahead of New York state. It also has the largest Mormon population outside of Utah. The state's second largest group next to Christianity is the non-religious, which consists of atheists and agnostics. It is one of the fastest growing groups in the state. The state also has a large American Jewish community, the largest in the western U.S., mainly concentrated in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and Palm Springs. It also has a rapidly-growing Islamic population with large Muslim communities in west Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Santa Clara County, and the Modesto area.


Most Roman Catholics in California are of Mexican, other Hispanic, Irish, and Italian ancestry. The population of Catholic Californians is rapidly growing due to the influx of Latin American immigrants. In the state, Catholicism is highly represented among non-Hispanic whites, but less represented among African Americans and non-Hispanic blacks. Protestantism is the majority Christian denomination in non-Hispanic black and white groups.


The largest Christian denominations in California in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 10,079,310; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 529,575; and the Southern Baptist Convention with 471,119. Jewish congregations had 994,000 adherents, or 3% of the Californian population.[18]


Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintō, Sikhism, and Taoism were introduced in part by Asian immigrants. At the end of the 20th century, 40% of all Buddhists in the U.S. were in Southern California. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has become unique in the Buddhist world as the only place where representative organizations of every major school of Buddhism can be found in a single urban center.[citation needed] The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California and the Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California are two of the largest Buddhist temples outside of Asia. The state also has a growing Hindu population.[citation needed]


As the twentieth century came to a close, forty percent of all Buddhists in America resided in Southern California. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has become unique in the Buddhist world as the only place where representative organizations of every major school of Buddhism can be found in a single urban center.[19][verification needed] The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California and Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California are two of the largest Buddhist temples in the Western Hemisphere.


With almost one million Jews, California has the highest number of Jews of any state except New York. Many of these Jews live in the West Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley regions of Los Angeles. At the present time, both of California's Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, are Jewish.


California also has the largest Muslim community in the United States, an estimated one percent of the population, mostly residing in Southern California. Approximately 100,000 Muslims reside in San Diego.


California has more members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Temples than any state except Utah. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have played important roles in the settlement of California throughout the state's history. For example, a group of a few hundred Mormon converts from the Northeastern United States and Europe arrived at what would become San Francisco in the 1840s aboard the ship Brooklyn, more than doubling the population of the small town. A group of Mormons also established the city of San Bernardino in Southern California in 1851. According to the LDS Church 2009 statistics, just over 750,000 Mormons reside in the state of California, attending almost 1400 congregations statewide.



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