Exit from the Bible Belt: Atlanta's Catholic Population Approaches 1 Million (Savannah: sales, living)

[kirkwoodhipster]

In the Atlanta archdiocese the number of registered Catholics has risen to roughly 900,000 at the end of 2010 from 367,000 in 2005 - an increase fueled by Catholics moving here from other parts of the U.S.; Catholics arriving here from other countries; and newcomers to the church.

Year Catholic population
1980 - 80,567 (3.6% of the Metro)
1990 - 134,884 (4.6% of the Metro)
2000 - 320,330 (7.6% of the Metro)
2001 - 250,999
2002 - 321,978
2003 - 367,472
2004 - 371,139
2005 - 367,000
2006 - 368,100
2007 - 650,000
2008 - 650,000
2009 - 750,000
2010 - 900,000 (16% of the Metro)

I am not a Catholic, but I think it really speaks to Atlanta's cosmopolitan feel that evangelical protestants are no longer the only large Christian group. It really sets it apart from other Southern cities. However, Atlanta has always had a strong Catholic tradition - Scarlett O'Hara was a Catholic, and the Catholic priest of Immaculate Conception (a downtown church) convinced Sherman to spare the city's churches and hospitals.



In other religious diversity news: Atlanta has one of the nations largest Hindu populations, and is expceted to break into the top-10 for Jewish population.

[AlGreen]

I wonder if it has anything to do with a growing latino population. houston (another bible belt city) has a catholic pop. that sits just above 1 million, but i'm sure that's largely due to latino immigrants

[OrlFlaUsa]

I usually am not hanging around in the Atlanta forum this much but there have been some really great threads like this one started. My only question to those in the Atlanta area is if you know the Catholic population distribution within the Archdiocese since it is does make up almost 1/2 of the state and extends far beyond the Atlanta MSA & CSA. Basically I'm asking how many of those 900,000 are really in Atlanta? I feel like the majority would be from the Atlanta area due to what the above posts said, but I'd still like to see exactly how many there are inside and outside of Atlanta but within the Archdiocese:



However, the Diocese of Savannah covers more land and only serves 75,000 Catholics so I applaud Atlanta and think that the difference is staggering:



Maps courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is not copyrighted.

[FlyiMetro]

When discussing Atlanta, Only the metro should the measuring stick. Not the City Proper or Region Count, Just the Atlanta Metropolitan Area is what matters. Sometimes you see some posters using the Regional count instead of the Metro Area count as a way of caking the books. As far as catholics? Hey cool for them. I see many muslims here in Atlanta I say thats dope as well. More flavors more fire! Atlanta needs more people ignorant people dont understand or respect. Forces them to see how big the world actually is.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

When discussing Atlanta, Only the metro should the measuring stick. Not the City Proper or Region Count, Just the Atlanta Metropolitan Area is what matters.Sometimes you see some posters using the Regional count instead of the Metro Area count as a way of caking the books.

Explain?

[BringBackCobain]

That's remarkable growth. Makes me happy to see, as a Catholic person. A lot of the increase is from Hispanics. Atlanta also has one of the highest Vietnamese populations in the country, and they tend to be Catholic. I am guessing the white Southern Baptists aren't too happy with this though.

[BringBackCobain]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

When discussing Atlanta, Only the metro should the measuring stick. Not the City Proper or Region Count, Just the Atlanta Metropolitan Area is what matters. Sometimes you see some posters using the Regional count instead of the Metro Area count as a way of caking the books. As far as catholics? Hey cool for them. I see many muslims here in Atlanta I say thats dope as well. More flavors more fire! Atlanta needs more people ignorant people dont understand or respect. Forces them to see how big the world actually is.

Uh, no. Why would you want more Muslims? I'd welcome growth in the Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or Wiccan communities, but Muslims? No way. People seem to think Islam is just another religion that can be added to the multicultural smorgasbord, and that's simply not the case. Unlike the others, Islam is more than just a religion -- it's an ideology.

[chiatldal]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

Uh, no. Why would you want more Muslims? I'd welcome growth in the Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or Wiccan communities, but Muslims? No way. People seem to think Islam is just another religion that can be added to the multicultural smorgasbord, and that's simply not the case. Unlike the others, Islam is more than just a religion -- it's an ideology.

Do you know why the Klan burn crosses?
better
Curse of Ham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Better yet "spare the rod spoil the child" some parent literally believe that gives them permission to beat the living crap out of their kids. Christianity isn’t the problem people have different interpretation and these nut cases are the problem, people often do stupid stuff and blame it on there religion and I don’t care what religion it is Christianity, Islam or what ever. Islam don’t cause terrorist nut cases with ideology cause terrorism.

Christian terrorism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jewish religious terrorism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_God_(USA)
Christian Identity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Any reglion can be a ideology used by nut cases. Yes Islam is just religion like Christianity and etc.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Louisiana and Texas have had 30%+ Catholic populations for a while now so this doesn't set Atlanta apart from the rest of the south. However, being that Atlanta isn't near a border (Texas) and isn't a major port city (New Orleans) or had strong Spanish and French histories (both Texas and Louisiana) I suppose it's something.

I hope they bring Sunday sales with them when they move here (I say this as a former Catholic).

[slambango]

You can't trust the catholic church to accurately report their # of followers. They add & add, and almost never delete any names.

Heck I'm probably still on their books & I haven't been to a mass in 20+ years.