Measures

Pew report finds Christians are often largest group in the world’s most religiously diverse places #Catholic The Pew Research Center released a report examining the most and least religiously diverse countries and territories across the globe.The Feb. 12 report found that the United States is not among the 10 most religiously diverse countries in the world, but when examining only the 10 most populous nations, the U.S. ranks first in religious diversity.The report, “Religious Diversity Around the World,” describes levels of religious diversity in 201 countries and territories. It measures how evenly each country’s population is distributed among seven groups including Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of all other religions, and people with no religious affiliation.The research is part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world.Most of the analysis is from Pew’s Religious Diversity Index (RDI). Pew calculated the religious diversity of 201 areas that together are home to 99.98% of the world’s population based on the size of seven religious groups to give them scores for religious diversity. In the world’s most religiously diverse places, Christians are often the largest group, a Feb. 12, 2026, Pew Research Center report finds. | Credit: Courtesy of Pew Research Center Overall, religious diversity levels around the world did not substantially change  between 2010 and 2020, as the religious composition of most countries remained fairly stable, the report said. The research found that while some places around the world have diverse populations of religious groups, it is more common for nations to primarily consist of a single religious group.In 194 countries and territories, 50% or more of the population falls into one religious category, the report said. This includes 43 places where at least 95% of the population is in the same religious group. These places are predominantly Muslim (25), Christian (17), or Buddhist (1).Most religiously diverse countriesThe research found that Singapore is the most religiously diverse country overall, while the United States ranks 32nd.In the world’s most religiously diverse places, Christians are often the largest group. Out of the 10 most religiously diverse counties overall, half have a majority Christian population, the report said.Singapore is the world’s most religiously diverse country as of 2020, with Buddhists (31%) as the largest religious group, the report said. Its population also includes substantial shares of religiously unaffiliated people (20%), Christians (19%), Muslims (16%), Hindus (5%), and adherents of all other religions (9%), the report said.Most of the other places in the top 10 are in the Asia-Pacific region or sub-Saharan Africa region including Suriname, Taiwan, South Korea, Mauritius, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Benin, Australia, and France. A Pew Research Center report Feb. 12, 2026, identifies 10 countries where 90% of the population falls most evenly into a pair of religious categories. | Credit: Courtesy of Pew Research Center France is the only European country in the top 10 list. Its population is largely Christian (46%) and religiously unaffiliated (43%). In Suriname, another country in the top 10, about half of its residents (53%) are Christians and the rest are mainly Hindus (22%), Muslims (13%), and religiously unaffiliated people (8%). Christians are also the largest groups in Togo (57%), Benin (53%), and Australia (47%), which all fall in the top 10 most diverse places, the report said.Least religiously diverse countriesThe Middle East-North Africa region was found to be the least diverse of the regions Pew studied, with a population that is 94% Muslim. This region includes five of the world’s 10 least religiously diverse countries and territories.Eight of the least religiously diverse places have populations that are almost entirely Muslim, including Tunisia, Iraq, Western Sahara, Morocco, Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Yemen, which all have a Muslim population of more than 99%, the report said.The other two countries with the least diverse scores were found to have very high majorities of Christians including Moldova and Timor-Lester, which both have populations made up of 99.5% of Christians.U.S. ranks high for religious diversity among largest nationsThe United States is not among the 10 most religiously diverse countries in the world, ranking 32nd overall. However, the U.S. is the most religiously diverse nation among the most populous countries, each of which has a population of at least 120 million. It is followed by Nigeria, Russia, India, and Brazil, the report said.Christians make up an estimated 64% of the U.S. population as of 2020, while religiously unaffiliated people account for about 30%, the report said. The remaining 6% are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and people who practice other religions, the report said.The research showed the growth of religiously unaffiliated people and the decline of the Christian majority by 14% in the U.S. yielded an increase in the country’s religious diversity between 2010 and 2020.Nigeria is the second-most religiously diverse of the largely populated countries and is among the nations where 90% of the population is fairly evenly divided between two religious categories, the report said. The most populous religious groups in Nigeria are Muslims (56%) and Christians (43%), the report said.Out of the other nine countries where most of the population falls most into a pair of religious categories, seven include Christianity among the two religious groups. Eritrea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Uruguay, Estonia, Chad, Ivory Coast, and Ethiopia, all include Christianity and one other group as their top religious groups as of 2020, the report said.Pakistan was found to be the least religiously diverse among the most populous countries, with Muslims making up a high majority (97%) of its residents.
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Pew report finds Christians are often largest group in the world’s most religiously diverse places #Catholic The Pew Research Center released a report examining the most and least religiously diverse countries and territories across the globe.The Feb. 12 report found that the United States is not among the 10 most religiously diverse countries in the world, but when examining only the 10 most populous nations, the U.S. ranks first in religious diversity.The report, “Religious Diversity Around the World,” describes levels of religious diversity in 201 countries and territories. It measures how evenly each country’s population is distributed among seven groups including Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of all other religions, and people with no religious affiliation.The research is part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world.Most of the analysis is from Pew’s Religious Diversity Index (RDI). Pew calculated the religious diversity of 201 areas that together are home to 99.98% of the world’s population based on the size of seven religious groups to give them scores for religious diversity. In the world’s most religiously diverse places, Christians are often the largest group, a Feb. 12, 2026, Pew Research Center report finds. | Credit: Courtesy of Pew Research Center Overall, religious diversity levels around the world did not substantially change  between 2010 and 2020, as the religious composition of most countries remained fairly stable, the report said. The research found that while some places around the world have diverse populations of religious groups, it is more common for nations to primarily consist of a single religious group.In 194 countries and territories, 50% or more of the population falls into one religious category, the report said. This includes 43 places where at least 95% of the population is in the same religious group. These places are predominantly Muslim (25), Christian (17), or Buddhist (1).Most religiously diverse countriesThe research found that Singapore is the most religiously diverse country overall, while the United States ranks 32nd.In the world’s most religiously diverse places, Christians are often the largest group. Out of the 10 most religiously diverse counties overall, half have a majority Christian population, the report said.Singapore is the world’s most religiously diverse country as of 2020, with Buddhists (31%) as the largest religious group, the report said. Its population also includes substantial shares of religiously unaffiliated people (20%), Christians (19%), Muslims (16%), Hindus (5%), and adherents of all other religions (9%), the report said.Most of the other places in the top 10 are in the Asia-Pacific region or sub-Saharan Africa region including Suriname, Taiwan, South Korea, Mauritius, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Benin, Australia, and France. A Pew Research Center report Feb. 12, 2026, identifies 10 countries where 90% of the population falls most evenly into a pair of religious categories. | Credit: Courtesy of Pew Research Center France is the only European country in the top 10 list. Its population is largely Christian (46%) and religiously unaffiliated (43%). In Suriname, another country in the top 10, about half of its residents (53%) are Christians and the rest are mainly Hindus (22%), Muslims (13%), and religiously unaffiliated people (8%). Christians are also the largest groups in Togo (57%), Benin (53%), and Australia (47%), which all fall in the top 10 most diverse places, the report said.Least religiously diverse countriesThe Middle East-North Africa region was found to be the least diverse of the regions Pew studied, with a population that is 94% Muslim. This region includes five of the world’s 10 least religiously diverse countries and territories.Eight of the least religiously diverse places have populations that are almost entirely Muslim, including Tunisia, Iraq, Western Sahara, Morocco, Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Yemen, which all have a Muslim population of more than 99%, the report said.The other two countries with the least diverse scores were found to have very high majorities of Christians including Moldova and Timor-Lester, which both have populations made up of 99.5% of Christians.U.S. ranks high for religious diversity among largest nationsThe United States is not among the 10 most religiously diverse countries in the world, ranking 32nd overall. However, the U.S. is the most religiously diverse nation among the most populous countries, each of which has a population of at least 120 million. It is followed by Nigeria, Russia, India, and Brazil, the report said.Christians make up an estimated 64% of the U.S. population as of 2020, while religiously unaffiliated people account for about 30%, the report said. The remaining 6% are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and people who practice other religions, the report said.The research showed the growth of religiously unaffiliated people and the decline of the Christian majority by 14% in the U.S. yielded an increase in the country’s religious diversity between 2010 and 2020.Nigeria is the second-most religiously diverse of the largely populated countries and is among the nations where 90% of the population is fairly evenly divided between two religious categories, the report said. The most populous religious groups in Nigeria are Muslims (56%) and Christians (43%), the report said.Out of the other nine countries where most of the population falls most into a pair of religious categories, seven include Christianity among the two religious groups. Eritrea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Uruguay, Estonia, Chad, Ivory Coast, and Ethiopia, all include Christianity and one other group as their top religious groups as of 2020, the report said.Pakistan was found to be the least religiously diverse among the most populous countries, with Muslims making up a high majority (97%) of its residents.

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Among the most populous nations, the U.S. ranks first in religious diversity. Singapore is the most religiously diverse country overall, and the U.S. ranks 32nd.

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Pro-life movement has mixed reaction after Trump’s first year of second term #Catholic Participants in a pro-life rally hold signs in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, at a rally marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. | Credit: Joseph Portolano/EWTN News Jan 20, 2026 / 14:37 pm (CNA). Members of the pro-life movement have mixed thoughts on the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, noting many wins early into his presidency but a number of shortfalls as time has gone by.Some wins include defunding Planned Parenthood, walking back some of President Joe Biden’s initiatives, and removing foreign aid funding for organizations that promote abortion. However, a lack of action on chemical abortions and weakened rhetoric surrounding taxpayer-funded abortions are causing concern.A notable pro-life win was included in the tax overhaul bill signed by Trump in July, which cut off all Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide a large number of abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.Amid funding cuts, nearly 70 Planned Parenthood affiliates shut down. The administration also initially cut off Title X family planning grants from the abortion giant, but those have resumed.The president pardoned pro-life protesters convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and blocked foreign aid from supporting organizations that promote abortion. He rescinded several policies from the Biden administration, including one that paid Pentagon workers to travel for abortions. He also established strong conscience protections for pro-life doctors.“Right out the gate, we saw some progress on the pro-life issue,” Kelsey Pritchard, a spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), told EWTN.Yet, she cautioned: “We have also not seen progress in the one area that matters the most — and that’s on abortion drugs.”Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a study into the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone in September 2025, but so far no action has been taken to curtail the drug. Rather, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went in the opposite direction, approving a generic version of mifepristone later that same month.Pritchard said that move was “the opposite of what they should have done,” and referred to the generic mifepristone as “a new kill pill to increase the number of abortions that are done in this country.”She said Kennedy’s promised study has “absolutely been moving too slow” and added that there is no confirmation it even began or is taking place. SBA called for FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to be fired following allegations he was “slow-walking the report for political reasons,” she said.Trump has said abortion should be regulated by the states, but Pritchard warned “those [pro-life] laws can’t be in effect at all, really, when mail-order abortion happens with the abortion drugs.”“They’re allowing [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and [New York Gov.] Kathy Hochul and their blue state friends to completely nullify the pro-life laws in states like Texas and Florida,” she said.Joseph Meaney, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, similarly said “the delay in the promised review of the rushed process in which mifepristone was approved as an abortion drug by the FDA has frustrated pro-lifers.”“When the FDA approved a second generic version of mifepristone, … it highlighted the lack of progress in fighting the leading means of doing abortions in the [United States],” he said.Trump also began to waver on taxpayer-funded abortions early in 2026, asking Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment amid negotiations on extending health care subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Trump later unveiled “The Great Healthcare Plan” and said the White House intends to negotiate with Congress to ensure pro-life protections.Pritchard called taxpayer-funded abortion “a very basic red line” and said it’s “concerning to see Republicans back away from something so basic.”She warned Republicans to not take pro-life voters for granted in the upcoming midterms, saying “you’ll lose the elections and we won’t have the majority of Congress” without pro-life voters.“You must remain the pro-life party or you will lose the midterms if you decide to bow to the pro-death Democrat agenda,” Pritchard said.Meaney said there is “a widespread feeling that the second Trump administration has seemed to deprioritize issues important to the pro-life community,” adding he has “seen calls for pro-life groups to ‘flex their muscles’ and show that they cannot be taken for granted.”However, he said the shortfalls “should not obscure the fact that the Trump administration has rolled back the Biden-era pro-abortion measures internationally and domestically.”“It even achieved a temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood domestically in legislation,” he said. “The federal government no longer funds research on fetal tissues and defends the conscience rights of health care professionals and others robustly.”Trump also signed an executive order that directed departments and agencies to boost access to and reduce the cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Catholic Church opposes IVF, which results in the destruction of human embryos, ending human lives.
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Pro-life movement has mixed reaction after Trump’s first year of second term #Catholic Participants in a pro-life rally hold signs in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, at a rally marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. | Credit: Joseph Portolano/EWTN News Jan 20, 2026 / 14:37 pm (CNA). Members of the pro-life movement have mixed thoughts on the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, noting many wins early into his presidency but a number of shortfalls as time has gone by.Some wins include defunding Planned Parenthood, walking back some of President Joe Biden’s initiatives, and removing foreign aid funding for organizations that promote abortion. However, a lack of action on chemical abortions and weakened rhetoric surrounding taxpayer-funded abortions are causing concern.A notable pro-life win was included in the tax overhaul bill signed by Trump in July, which cut off all Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide a large number of abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.Amid funding cuts, nearly 70 Planned Parenthood affiliates shut down. The administration also initially cut off Title X family planning grants from the abortion giant, but those have resumed.The president pardoned pro-life protesters convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and blocked foreign aid from supporting organizations that promote abortion. He rescinded several policies from the Biden administration, including one that paid Pentagon workers to travel for abortions. He also established strong conscience protections for pro-life doctors.“Right out the gate, we saw some progress on the pro-life issue,” Kelsey Pritchard, a spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), told EWTN.Yet, she cautioned: “We have also not seen progress in the one area that matters the most — and that’s on abortion drugs.”Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a study into the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone in September 2025, but so far no action has been taken to curtail the drug. Rather, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went in the opposite direction, approving a generic version of mifepristone later that same month.Pritchard said that move was “the opposite of what they should have done,” and referred to the generic mifepristone as “a new kill pill to increase the number of abortions that are done in this country.”She said Kennedy’s promised study has “absolutely been moving too slow” and added that there is no confirmation it even began or is taking place. SBA called for FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to be fired following allegations he was “slow-walking the report for political reasons,” she said.Trump has said abortion should be regulated by the states, but Pritchard warned “those [pro-life] laws can’t be in effect at all, really, when mail-order abortion happens with the abortion drugs.”“They’re allowing [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and [New York Gov.] Kathy Hochul and their blue state friends to completely nullify the pro-life laws in states like Texas and Florida,” she said.Joseph Meaney, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, similarly said “the delay in the promised review of the rushed process in which mifepristone was approved as an abortion drug by the FDA has frustrated pro-lifers.”“When the FDA approved a second generic version of mifepristone, … it highlighted the lack of progress in fighting the leading means of doing abortions in the [United States],” he said.Trump also began to waver on taxpayer-funded abortions early in 2026, asking Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment amid negotiations on extending health care subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Trump later unveiled “The Great Healthcare Plan” and said the White House intends to negotiate with Congress to ensure pro-life protections.Pritchard called taxpayer-funded abortion “a very basic red line” and said it’s “concerning to see Republicans back away from something so basic.”She warned Republicans to not take pro-life voters for granted in the upcoming midterms, saying “you’ll lose the elections and we won’t have the majority of Congress” without pro-life voters.“You must remain the pro-life party or you will lose the midterms if you decide to bow to the pro-death Democrat agenda,” Pritchard said.Meaney said there is “a widespread feeling that the second Trump administration has seemed to deprioritize issues important to the pro-life community,” adding he has “seen calls for pro-life groups to ‘flex their muscles’ and show that they cannot be taken for granted.”However, he said the shortfalls “should not obscure the fact that the Trump administration has rolled back the Biden-era pro-abortion measures internationally and domestically.”“It even achieved a temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood domestically in legislation,” he said. “The federal government no longer funds research on fetal tissues and defends the conscience rights of health care professionals and others robustly.”Trump also signed an executive order that directed departments and agencies to boost access to and reduce the cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Catholic Church opposes IVF, which results in the destruction of human embryos, ending human lives.

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Participants in a pro-life rally hold signs in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, at a rally marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. | Credit: Joseph Portolano/EWTN News

Jan 20, 2026 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Members of the pro-life movement have mixed thoughts on the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, noting many wins early into his presidency but a number of shortfalls as time has gone by.

Some wins include defunding Planned Parenthood, walking back some of President Joe Biden’s initiatives, and removing foreign aid funding for organizations that promote abortion. However, a lack of action on chemical abortions and weakened rhetoric surrounding taxpayer-funded abortions are causing concern.

A notable pro-life win was included in the tax overhaul bill signed by Trump in July, which cut off all Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide a large number of abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.

Amid funding cuts, nearly 70 Planned Parenthood affiliates shut down. The administration also initially cut off Title X family planning grants from the abortion giant, but those have resumed.

The president pardoned pro-life protesters convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and blocked foreign aid from supporting organizations that promote abortion. He rescinded several policies from the Biden administration, including one that paid Pentagon workers to travel for abortions. He also established strong conscience protections for pro-life doctors.

“Right out the gate, we saw some progress on the pro-life issue,” Kelsey Pritchard, a spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), told EWTN.

Yet, she cautioned: “We have also not seen progress in the one area that matters the most — and that’s on abortion drugs.”

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a study into the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone in September 2025, but so far no action has been taken to curtail the drug. Rather, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went in the opposite direction, approving a generic version of mifepristone later that same month.

Pritchard said that move was “the opposite of what they should have done,” and referred to the generic mifepristone as “a new kill pill to increase the number of abortions that are done in this country.”

She said Kennedy’s promised study has “absolutely been moving too slow” and added that there is no confirmation it even began or is taking place. SBA called for FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to be fired following allegations he was “slow-walking the report for political reasons,” she said.

Trump has said abortion should be regulated by the states, but Pritchard warned “those [pro-life] laws can’t be in effect at all, really, when mail-order abortion happens with the abortion drugs.”

“They’re allowing [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and [New York Gov.] Kathy Hochul and their blue state friends to completely nullify the pro-life laws in states like Texas and Florida,” she said.

Joseph Meaney, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, similarly said “the delay in the promised review of the rushed process in which mifepristone was approved as an abortion drug by the FDA has frustrated pro-lifers.”

“When the FDA approved a second generic version of mifepristone, … it highlighted the lack of progress in fighting the leading means of doing abortions in the [United States],” he said.

Trump also began to waver on taxpayer-funded abortions early in 2026, asking Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment amid negotiations on extending health care subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Trump later unveiled “The Great Healthcare Plan” and said the White House intends to negotiate with Congress to ensure pro-life protections.

Pritchard called taxpayer-funded abortion “a very basic red line” and said it’s “concerning to see Republicans back away from something so basic.”

She warned Republicans to not take pro-life voters for granted in the upcoming midterms, saying “you’ll lose the elections and we won’t have the majority of Congress” without pro-life voters.

“You must remain the pro-life party or you will lose the midterms if you decide to bow to the pro-death Democrat agenda,” Pritchard said.

Meaney said there is “a widespread feeling that the second Trump administration has seemed to deprioritize issues important to the pro-life community,” adding he has “seen calls for pro-life groups to ‘flex their muscles’ and show that they cannot be taken for granted.”

However, he said the shortfalls “should not obscure the fact that the Trump administration has rolled back the Biden-era pro-abortion measures internationally and domestically.”

“It even achieved a temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood domestically in legislation,” he said. “The federal government no longer funds research on fetal tissues and defends the conscience rights of health care professionals and others robustly.”

Trump also signed an executive order that directed departments and agencies to boost access to and reduce the cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Catholic Church opposes IVF, which results in the destruction of human embryos, ending human lives.

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