Survey: Illinois Is One Of The Most Religiously Diverse States
UPDATED 05/02/12 10:47 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- New numbers are out concerning religious affiliation.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, the Religion Census counted congregations from storefront churches to megachurches.
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Illinois, the census found, is one of the most religiously diverse states, second only to Pennsylvania, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
Roman Catholics are the largest group, followed by independent evangelicals, and then Muslims.
Catholics are still the largest faith in all 50 states, but they have declined about 5 percent in numbers to about 60 million, Reuters reported.
In some areas, Catholic funerals are outnumbering Catholic births.
The census found Muslims are the fastest-growing religious group in the Chicago area, while the Assemblies of God Pentecostal denomination is the fastest-growing branch of the Christian faith, the Tribune reported.
Overall in the nation, Roman Catholics are the largest individual religious group, followed by Southern Baptists and independent evangelicals, who are in the top five in 48 of the 50 states, the Tribune reported.
The census says Mormons are the fastest-growing group in the nation as a whole, the Tribune reported. Mormons were up 45 percent to more than 6 million nationally, according to Reuters.
The census says Muslims now outnumber Jews in most of the Midwest and South, according to Reuters. Muslims went from 1 million in 2000 to 2.6 million and 2010.
