Increased Religious Diversity in 111th Congress

The incoming Congress is much more diverse than it was 50 years ago, a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found.

54.7 percent of the incoming Congress affiliates with a Protestant denomination, slightly more than the public as a whole. 74.1 percent of members of Congress identified as Protestants in 1961. Protestants now represent a plurality of Democratic lawmakers, and a majority of Republican members of Congress.

30.1 percent of the incoming Congress are Catholic, while 8.4 percent are Jewish–both overrepresented compared to the public as a whole.

Baptists make up the largest Protestant denomination represented in Congress, wth 12.4 percent of lawmakers affiliating with the religion.

Among the leadership in both houses, three members are Baptists–House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-W.V.)–and three are Catholics: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is Jewish, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is Methodist, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is Mormon, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) is Presbyterian.