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Do not fill this in! ===Religion=== {{bar box |title=Religion in Louisiana (2020)<ref name="PRRI2020">{{cite news|url=http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-LA|title=Public Religion Research Institute Study|newspaper=Public Religion Research Institute|date=2020|access-date=August 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221221714/http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-LA|archive-date=February 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |titlebar= |left1=Religion |right1=Percent |float=right |bars= {{bar percent|[[Protestant]]|Gold|53}} {{bar percent|[[Catholic]]|Red|22}} {{bar percent|Other Christian|DarkViolet|1.5}} {{bar percent|[[Irreligion|Unaffiliated]]|Black|19}} {{bar percent|Jewish|Blue|1}} {{bar percent|Other faith|green|4}} |caption=}} As an ethnically and culturally diverse state, pre-colonial, colonial and present-day Louisianians have adhered to a variety of religions and spiritual traditions; pre-colonial and colonial Louisianian peoples practiced various [[Native American religions]] alongside [[Christianity]] through the establishment of [[Spanish missions in Louisiana|Spanish]] and [[French colonization of the Americas|French missions]];<ref name=":8" /> and other faiths including [[Haitian Vodou]] and [[Louisiana Voodoo]] were introduced to the state and are practiced to the present day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voudou |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/voudou |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=64 Parishes |language=en}}</ref> In the colonial and present-day [[U.S. state]] of Louisiana, Christianity grew to become its predominant religion, representing 84% of the adult population in 2014 and 76.5% in 2020,<ref name=":6">{{cite web|title=Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics|url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/louisiana/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-10|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031065154/https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/louisiana/}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web|title=PRRI – American Values Atlas|url=http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-LA|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-19|website=Public Religion Research Institute|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221221714/http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-LA}}</ref> during two separate studies by the [[Pew Research Center]] and [[Public Religion Research Institute]]. [[File:Antioch Baptist Church Shreveport.JPG|thumb|[[Antioch Baptist Church (Shreveport, Louisiana)|Antioch Baptist Church]] in Shreveport]] Among its Christian population—and in common with other southern U.S. states—the majority, particularly in the north of the state, belong to various Protestant denominations. [[Protestantism]] was introduced to the state in the 1800s, with Baptists establishing two churches in 1812, followed by Methodists; Episcopalians first entered the state by 1805.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Terry L. |date=2019-07-01 |title=The Protestant Intrusion |url=https://countryroadsmagazine.com/api/content/47530850-9c35-11e9-a87a-12f1225286c6/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Country Roads Magazine |language=en-us}}</ref> Protestant Christians made up 57% of the state's adult population at the 2014 Pew Research Center study, and 53% at the 2020 Public Religion Research Institute's study. Protestants are concentrated in North Louisiana, Central Louisiana, and the northern tier of the Florida Parishes. Because of French and Spanish heritage, and their descendants the Creoles, and later Irish, Italian, Portuguese and German immigrants, southern Louisiana and Greater New Orleans are predominantly Catholic in contrast; according to the 2020 Public Religion Research Institute study, 22% of the adult population were Catholic.<ref name=":7" /> Since Creoles were the first settlers, planters and leaders of the territory, they have traditionally been well represented in politics; for instance, most of the early governors were Creole Catholics, instead of Protestants.<ref name=":8">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Louisiana}}</ref> As Catholics continue to constitute a significant fraction of Louisiana's population, they have continued to be influential in state politics. The high proportion and influence of the Catholic population makes Louisiana distinct among southern states.{{efn|Other Southern states have longstanding indigenous Catholic populations, and Florida's largely Catholic population of Cuban emigres has been influential since the 1960s. Yet, Louisiana is still unusual or exceptional in its extent of aboriginal Catholic settlement and influence. Among states in the [[Deep South]] (discounting [[Florida Panhandle|Florida's Panhandle]] and much of Texas) the historic role of Catholicism in Louisiana is unparalleled and unique. Among the states of the Union, Louisiana's unique use of the term ''parish'' (French {{lang|fr|la parouche}} or "{{lang|fr|la paroisse}}") for ''county'' is rooted in the pre-statehood role of Catholic church parishes in the administration of government.}} The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge|Diocese of Baton Rouge]], and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana|Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana]] are the largest Catholic jurisdictions in the state, located within the Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge, and Lafayette metropolitan statistical areas.[[File:St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans).jpg|thumb|[[St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)|Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis]] in New Orleans]] Louisiana was among the southern states with a significant Jewish population before the 20th century; Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia also had influential Jewish populations in some of their major cities from the 18th and 19th centuries. The earliest Jewish colonists were [[Sephardic Jews]] who immigrated to the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. Later in the 19th century, German Jews began to immigrate, followed by those from eastern Europe and the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jewish communities have been established in the state's larger cities, notably New Orleans and Baton Rouge.<ref>Isaacs, Ronald H. ''The Jewish Information Source Book: A Dictionary and Almanac'', Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1993. p. 202.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sinai Scholars Seek Students |url=http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/011210_sinai.cfm |agency=Tulane University |date=January 12, 2010 |quote=Registration is open for the spring session of the Sinai Scholars Society, Tulane chapter. The national organization provides funding for a course on Judaism each semester at more than 50 campuses nationwide. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712063709/http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/011210_sinai.cfm |archive-date=July 12, 2015 }}</ref> The most significant of these is the Jewish community of the New Orleans area. In 2000, before the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, its population was about 12,000. Dominant Jewish movements in the state include [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Reform Judaism]]; Reform Judaism was the largest Jewish tradition in the state according to the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, representing some 5,891 Jews.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=Maps and data files for 2020 {{!}} U.S. Religion Census {{!}} Religious Statistics & Demographics |url=https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=U.S. Religion Census |publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives}}</ref> Prominent Jews in Louisiana's political leadership have included Whig (later Democrat) [[Judah P. Benjamin]], who represented Louisiana in the [[U.S. Senate]] before the [[American Civil War]] and then became the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] secretary of state; Democrat-turned-Republican [[Michael Hahn]] who was elected as governor, serving 1864–1865 when Louisiana was occupied by the Union Army, and later elected in 1884 as a U.S. congressman;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.knowla.org/entry/940/ |title="Michael Hahn." ''KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana.'' Ed. David Johnson. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 27 Jul 2011. Web. Mar 2. 2016, accessed March 2, 2016 |access-date=March 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307131517/http://www.knowla.org/entry/940/ |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Democrat [[Adolph Meyer]], [[Confederate Army]] officer who represented the state in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from 1891 until his death in 1908; [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Secretary of State (U.S. state government)|secretary of state]] [[Jay Dardenne]], and Republican ([[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] before 2011) [[List of Attorneys General of Louisiana|attorney general]] [[Buddy Caldwell]]. Other non-Christian and non-Jewish religions with a continuous, historical presence in the state have been [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Hinduism]]. In the [[Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area]], Muslims made up an estimated 14% of Louisiana's total Muslim population as of 2014.<ref>{{cite web|date=June 8, 2014|title=A Look at Religion in Shreveport-Bossier City|url=https://www.shreveportnews.com/shreveport_news/look-religion-shreveport-bossier-city/468/|access-date=October 28, 2020|website=Shreveport News|archive-date=October 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026020646/https://www.shreveportnews.com/shreveport_news/look-religion-shreveport-bossier-city/468/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were 24,732 Muslims living in the state.<ref name=":22" /> The largest Islamic denominations in the major metropolises of Louisiana were [[Sunni Islam]], [[Non-denominational Muslim|non-denominational Islam]] and [[Quranism]], [[Shia Islam]], and the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mosques and Islamic schools in Eastern Louisiana, Louisiana – Salatomatic – your guide to mosques & Islamic schools|url=https://www.salatomatic.com/sub/wGRWFW3KGA?|access-date=2021-04-27|website=www.salatomatic.com|archive-date=April 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427162841/https://www.salatomatic.com/sub/wGRWFW3KGA|url-status=live}}</ref> Among Louisiana's irreligious community, 2% affiliated with [[atheism]] and 13% claimed no religion as of 2014; an estimated 10% of the state's population practiced nothing in particular at the 2014 study. According to the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, 19% were religiously unaffiliated.<ref name=":7" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page