111th Congress reflects greater religious diversity in the U.S.

On Tuesday, when the 111th Congress is sworn in, about 30% of its membership will be Catholic, according to a recent analysis by Congressional Quarterly and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The shift reflects greater religious diversity both across the nation and on Capitol Hill.

"We see much more acceptance of religious groups that have in the past . . . suffered some prejudice," said David Masci, a senior research fellow at the Pew Forum and coauthor of the report.

Catholics, at just less than 24% of the U.S. population, have gained more congressional seats since 1961 than any other religious affiliation, the report found. At 1.7% of the population each, Jews and Mormons make up 8.4% and 2.6% of Congress, respectively.

When Kennedy was elected, Protestants accounted for most of Congress -- 74.1%. Though their numbers have declined, they still form a majority at 54.7%, slightly higher than their 51.3% of the population.

Since the 87th Congress was seated in 1961, many major Protestant denominations have slipped in numbers, including Methodists, at 10.7% now and 18.2% then; Presbyterians, at 8.1% compared to 13.7%; and Episcopalians, who dropped to 7.1% from 12.4%. But when compared to the population, these three denominations still are overrepresented on Capitol Hill.

Yet other Protestant denominations are underrepresented: Baptists make up 17.2% of Americans but 12.4% of the House and Senate. Pentecostalists are 4.4% of the population but 0.4% of congressional lawmakers.

Slightly underrepresented are Buddhists and Muslims: Two of each were first elected to the 110th Congress and return next term. The study can be found at pewforum.org.

Though the religious makeup of the new Congress generally reflects that of the nation, the report found that members of Congress are much more likely than the overall public to claim a religious affiliation.

Only five members of the incoming Congress -- about 1% -- declined to specify their beliefs for the survey. But because of how the question was worded, it was unclear whether the lawmakers were atheist or agnostic or simply didn't want to answer the question.