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Massachusetts's Church - the Religion of the People

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Religion has always been a large part of the culture of the people of Massachusetts. In fact, the colonies originally settled in Massachusetts were formed for largely religious reasons. At that time, Massachusetts was filled with steadfast Puritans. However, Protestantism now comprises less than a third of the claimed religions of the state's population. Still, those same Protestants do continue to play a large role in the finance, business, art, education, and cultural preservation of the state.

The largest religious grouping in Massachusetts is now Catholic, due to the high levels of migrations from Ireland, Italy, Puerto Rico, and other primarily Catholic areas. Those who directly descended from the Puritans now belong to several denominations; two with notable presences are the Congregational/United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Church. Both of these are known for their ardent defense of social justice, civil rights, and political issues like slavery, women's rights and the right to gay marriage. As of 2001, the people of Massachusetts identified their religions as this:

• Christian - 79%
o Catholic - 47%
o Protestant - 31%
 Congregational/United Church of Christ - 4%
 Baptist - 4%
 Episcopal - 3%
 Methodist - 2%
 Pentecostal - 2%
 Other Protestant or general Protestant - 16%
 Latter-day Saint 1%
o Other Christian - 1%
• Jewish - 2%
• Unitarian - 1%
• Other Religions - 1%
• Non-Religious - 17%

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