U.S. Ranks 3rd in Number of Catholics

The United States has the world’s third-largest Catholic population, behind Brazil and Mexico, according to the 1999 Catholic Almanac. It edges out two large and traditionally Catholic nations, the Philippines and Italy.

The almanac, published by Our Sunday Visitor Inc., puts U.S. Catholic Church membership at just over 61.5 million, or 22.7% of the national population. The states with the biggest Catholic populations are California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania.