HUNTINGTON, Ind. (AP) The 63,683,030 Roman Catholics in the United States form the world's third-ranking Catholic population, the "Catholic Almanac" for 2002 reports.
That total is exceeded by Brazil (141.2 million) and Mexico (125.8 million). Other major Catholic nations, in order: the Philippines, Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Colombia. The worldwide Catholic population is 1,033,129,000.
Catholics make up 22.8 percent of the U.S. population, a slight increase from the previous year.
Rhode Island is the only state with a Catholic majority (63.1 percent). Other heavily Catholic states: Massachusetts (47.6 percent), New Jersey (44.4 percent), Connecticut (40.6 percent) and New York (39.7 percent).
The authoritative reference annual is published by Our Sunday Visitor.