U.S. — Vice President JD Vance will publish a memoir detailing his religious journey and conversion to Catholicism.
This conversion places Vance among the approximately 4 million U.S. adults who identify as Catholic converts. These individuals represent 1.5 percent of the current U.S. adult population of about 267 million. Converts account for 8 percent of all Catholics in the U.S., with the remaining 92 percent being individuals raised in the faith who continue to identify as Catholic.
Survey data indicates that for each adult who joins the Catholic Church after being raised in a different faith, more than eight individuals raised Catholic report no longer identifying with the faith. Most individuals who change religious affiliations report making the switch before age 30.
Of those who convert to Catholicism in the U.S., 59 percent report being raised Protestant. An additional 9 percent state they were raised in other Christian traditions. Four percent of U.S. Catholic converts report being raised in non-Christian religions, while 22 percent report having no religious affiliation during childhood.
Nearly half of Catholic converts cite a Catholic spouse or a desire to be married in the Catholic Church as their primary reason for joining. Converts demonstrate higher rates of religious practice in some areas; 38 percent report attending Mass at least weekly, compared with 28 percent of those raised Catholic. Additionally, 58 percent of Catholic converts report receiving Communion at every Mass they attend, versus 34 percent of Catholics raised in the faith. Survey data shows converts and lifelong Catholics report praying or going to confession at similar rates.