Editing Worcester, Massachusetts (section)

===Religion===
[[File:Trinity Lutheran Church (Worcester, Massachusetts).jpg|thumb|Trinity Lutheran Church]]
According to the U.S. Religion Census 2020, most inhabitants of Worcester County report no religious affiliation. Following None, the largest reported religious denomination is Catholicism. The first Catholics came to Worcester in 1826. They were chiefly Irish immigrants brought to America by the builders of the Blackstone canal. As time went on and the number of Catholics increased, the community petitioned Bishop Fenwick to send them a priest. In response to this appeal, the bishop appointed the Reverend James Fitton to visit the Catholics of Worcester in 1834. A Catholic Mass was first offered in the city in an old stone building on Front Street. The foundation of Christ's Church, the first Catholic church in Worcester (now St. John's), was laid on July 6, 1834.<ref>F.P. Rice "The Worcester of 1898"</ref> The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester was canonically erected on January 14, 1950, by Pope Pius XII. Its territories were taken from the neighboring Diocese of Springfield. The fifth and current bishop is Robert Joseph McManus.<ref>[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester]]</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
! colspan="6" |Religious Adherence Worcester County 2020<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congregational Membership Reports {{!}} US Religion |url=https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?y=2020&t=0&c=25027 |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.thearda.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Congregational Membership Reports {{!}} US Religion |url=https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?y=2010&t=0&c=25027 |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.thearda.com}}</ref>
|-
!'''Religion'''
!'''Number of adherents (2020)'''
!'''Percentage (2020)'''
!'''Number of adherents (2010)'''
!'''Percentage (2010)'''
!Change from 2010 to 2020
|-
|Catholic
|         278,698
|32.3%
|         306,925
|38.4%
| -9%
|-
|Evangelical Protestant  Christian
|            39,282
|4.6%
|            37,511
|4.7%
|5%
|-
|Mainline Protestant Christian
|            29,886
|3.5%
|    43,326
|5.4%
| -31%
|-
|Orthodox Christian
|               9,689
|1.1%
|               7,935
|1.0%
|22%
|-
|Islam
|               6,184
|0.7%
|                    616
|0.1%
|904%
|-
|Jehovah's Witnesses
|               5,726
|0.7%
|
|0.0%
|n/a
|-
|Buddhism
|               4,080
|0.5%
|               7,051
|0.9%
| -42%
|-
|Judaism
|               3,269
|0.4%
|               4,068
|0.5%
| -20%
|-
|Hinduism
|               2,924
|0.3%
|               1,151
|0.1%
|154%
|-
|Latter-day Saints
|               2,856
|0.3%
|               2,772
|0.3%
|3%
|-
|Unitarian Universalist
|               2,325
|0.3%
|               3,068
|0.4%
| -24%
|-
|Black Protestant
|               1,172
|0.1%
|                    497
|0.1%
|136%
|-
|Baha'i
|                    205
|0.0%
|                    190
|0.0%
|8%
|-
|Zoroastrian
|
|
|                       15
|0.0%
| -100%
|-
|None
|         475,815
|55.2%
|         383,427
|48.0%
|24%
|}
The Unitarian-Universalist Church of Worcester was founded in 1841.
Worcester's Greek Orthodox Cathedral, St. Spyridon, was founded in 1924.

The [https://isgw.us/ Islamic Society of Greater Worcester] established Masjid Al-Arkham as the first mosque in Worcester with less than 50 congregants in 1979 at 57 Laurel Street in an abandoned church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HISTORY |url=https://www.wicmasjid.org/history |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=WIC MOSQUE |language=en}}</ref> As the congregation grew, the size of the original mosque no longer adequately met its needs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History – ISGW Mosque |url=https://isgw.us/about/our-history/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=isgw.us}}</ref> The community built the [[Worcester Mosque|Worcester Islamic Center, also known as the Worcester Mosque]], and moved there in 2005-07.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HISTORY |url=https://www.wicmasjid.org/history |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=WIC MOSQUE |language=en}}</ref> After a period of renovations, Masjid Al-Arkham was re-opened in 2008.

Worcester is home to three Buddhist Centers: [https://boundlessway.org/ Boundless Way Zen Temple], [https://www.facebook.com/people/Chua-Pho-Hien/100064260686600/ Chua Pho Hien], and [https://www.nebvmc.org/ New England Buddhist Vihara & Meditation Center]. 

The small [https://worcesterbahais.org/ Worcester Baha'i Community] has a long history, having been established in 1920.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Worcester County Bahá'í Community |url=https://worcesterbahais.org/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=The Worcester County Bahá'í Community |language=en}}</ref> Prior to this, in 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh and then leader of the Bahá'í Faith, visited the city and spoke at Clark University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Worcester County Bahá'í Community |url=https://worcesterbahais.org/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=The Worcester County Bahá'í Community |language=en}}</ref> 
[[File:Temple Emanuel Worcester 2012 2.JPG|left|thumb|[[Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)|Temple Emanuel Sinai]]]]
Worcester is home to a Jewish population who attend five [[Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)#Worcester West Side Synagogue history|synagogues]], including [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregation [[Temple Emanuel Sinai (Worcester, Massachusetts)|Temple Emanuel Sinai]], [[Congregation Beth Israel (Worcester, Massachusetts)|Congregation Beth Israel]], a [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[synagogue]] founded in 1924,<ref name="About us">[http://www.bethisraelworc.org/aboutus.htm About us] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512184511/http://www.bethisraelworc.org/aboutus.htm |date=May 12, 2009 }}, Synagogue website. Accessed July 17, 2008.</ref> and [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] Congregation Tifereth Israel – Sons of Jacob ([[Chabad]]), home of Yeshiva Achei Tmimim Academy. Beth Israel and its [[rabbi]] were the subject of the book ''And They Shall be My People: An American Rabbi and His Congregation'' by [[Paul Wilkes]].
[[File:Armenian Church of Our Savior, Worcester.jpg|thumb|right|Armenian Church of Our Savior]]
The first Armenian Church in the Western Hemisphere was built in Worcester in 1890 and consecrated on January 18, 1891, as "Soorp Purgich" (Holy Savior). The current sanctuary of the congregation, now known as [[Church of Our Savior, Worcester|Armenian Church of Our Savior]], was consecrated in 1952.<ref name="DigitalWPI">{{cite web |last1=McAfee |first1=Andrew Bryce |title=Digital History Display: A Legacy for The Worcester Armenian Community |url=https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1746&context=iqp-all |website=Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI |publisher=Worcester Polytechnic Institute |access-date=10 July 2020 |date=December 2015 |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713105517/https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1746&context=iqp-all |url-status=live }}</ref>

Worcester is home to America's largest community of [[Mandaeans]], numbering around 2,500. Most Mandaeans in Worcester arrived as refugees from instability in [[Religion in Iraq|Iraq]] during the early 21st century.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-10-06/these-iraqi-immigrants-worship-john-baptist-theyre-not-christians|title=These Iraqi immigrants revere John the Baptist, but they're not Christians|work=Public Radio International|access-date=December 15, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=November 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113170505/https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-10-06/these-iraqi-immigrants-worship-john-baptist-theyre-not-christians|url-status=live}}</ref>