Louisiana - Culture - Religion

Religion

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 1,382,603; Southern Baptist Convention with 868,587; and the United Methodist Church with 160,153.

Like other Southern states, the population of Louisiana is also made up of numerous Protestant denominations, comprising 60% of the state's adult population. Protestants are concentrated in the northern and central parts of the state and in the northern tier of the Florida Parishes. Because of French and Spanish heritage, whose descendants are Cajun and French Creole, and later Irish, Italian, Portuguese and German immigrants, there is a majority Roman Catholic population, particularly in the southern part of the state.

Since French 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 French Creole Catholics. Because Catholics constitute a majority of Louisiana's population, Catholics have continued to be influential in state politics. As of 2008 both Senators and the Governor were Catholic. The high proportion and influence of the Catholic population makes Louisiana distinct among Southern states.

Current religious affiliations of the people of Louisiana:

• Christian: 90%
  • Protestant: 60%
    • Evangelical Protestant 31%
    • Historically black Protestant: 20%
    • Mainline Protestant 9%
  • Roman Catholic: 28%
  • Other Christian: 2%
    • Jehovah's Witnesses: 1%
• Other Religions: 2%
  • Islam: 1%
  • Buddhism: 1%
  • Judaism: less than 0.5%
• Non-religious (unaffiliated): 8%

Jewish communities exist in the state's larger cities, notably Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The most significant of these is the Jewish community of the New Orleans area, with a pre-Katrina population of about 12,000. The presence of a significant Jewish community well established by the early 20th century also made Louisiana unusual among Southern states, although South Carolina and Virginia also had influential populations in some of their major cities from the 18th and 19th centuries. Prominent Jews in Louisiana's political leadership have included Whig (later Democrat) Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), who represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate prior to the American Civil War and then became the Confederate Secretary of State; Democrat Adolph Meyer (1842–1908), Confederate Army officer who represented the state in the U.S. House from 1891 until his death in 1908; Republican Secretary of State Jay Dardenne (1954–), and Republican (Democrat prior to 2011) Attorney General Buddy Caldwell (1946–).