Editing Pennsylvania (section)

===Religion===
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religious self-identification in Pennsylvania (April 2023 ''[[Franklin & Marshall College]]'' poll)<ref name="religion" />
| label1 = [[Irreligion in the United States|Unaffiliated]]
| value1 = 32
| color1 = White
| label2 = [[Protestantism in the United States|Protestantism]]
| value2 = 29
| color2 = DarkBlue
| label3 = [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholicism]] 
| value3 = 24
| color3 = Purple
| label4 = Other
| value4 = 14
| color4 = Teal}}

Of the original [[Thirteen Colonies]], Pennsylvania and [[Rhode Island]] had the most religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cip.cornell.edu/Dienst/UI/1.0/Summarize/psu.ph/1134140590 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220060046/http://cip.cornell.edu/Dienst/UI/1.0/Summarize/psu.ph/1134140590|url-status=dead |title=Religious diversity in Pennsylvania |archive-date=February 20, 2007}}</ref> [[Voltaire]], writing of [[William Penn]] in 1733, observed: "The new sovereign also enacted several wise and wholesome laws for his colony, which have remained invariably the same to this day. The chief is, to ill-treat no person on account of religion, and to consider as brethren all those who believe in one God."<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Voltaire |first=François-Marie ("Voltaire") |last=Arouet |title=Philosophic Letters |date=1733}} Republished in: {{cite book |title=The Works of Voltaire: A Contemporary Version |volume=XXXIX: Short Studies on English and American Topics |page=209 |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Morley |editor2-first=William F. |editor2-last=Fleming |editor3-first=Tobias |editor3-last=Smollett |date=1901 |location=New York |publisher=E. R. DuMont |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OdENAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA209 |access-date=August 4, 2015}}</ref> One result of this uncommon freedom was a wide religious [[Multiculturalism|diversity]], which continues to the present.

Pennsylvania's population in 2010 was 12,702,379; of these, 6,838,440 (53.8%) were estimated to belong to some sort of organized religion. According to the [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] (ARDA) at [[Pennsylvania State University]], the largest religious bodies in Pennsylvania by adherents were the [[Catholic Church]] with 3,503,028 adherents, the [[United Methodist Church]] with 591,734 members, and the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] with 501,974 members. Since 2014, among the state's religious population, 73% were [[Christianity|Christian]], according to [[Pew Research Center]].<ref name="Pew Religion and Politics">{{cite web
  | title = Religious composition of adults in Pennsylvania
  | website = Religious Landscape Study
  | publisher = The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
  | year = 2017
  | url = http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/pennsylvania/
  | access-date = October 5, 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171005201836/http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/pennsylvania/
  | archive-date = October 5, 2017
| url-status = live
  }}</ref> In 2020, the [[Public Religion Research Institute]] estimated 68% of the population identified with Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PRRI – American Values Atlas|url=http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-PA|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=ava.prri.org|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221221714/http://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-PA|url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2014, 47% of all Pennsylvanians identified as [[Protestantism in the United States|Protestants]], making [[Protestantism]] far and away the most prominent religious affiliation among Pennsylvanians. Among all self-identified Christians in the state, however, 24% identified as [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], the most of any Christian religious affiliation. In April 2023, a ''[[Franklin & Marshall College]]'' poll found that a plurality of Pennsylvania residents were [[Irreligion in the United States|unaffiliated]], with the rest predominately being [[Protestantism|Protestant]] or [[Catholic Church|Catholic]].<ref name="religion">{{Cite web |last=Yost |first=Berwood |date=April 13, 2023 |title=Poll Release: April 2023 |url=https://www.fandmpoll.org/franklin-marshall-college-poll-april-2023/ |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=Franklin & Marshall College Poll |language=en}}</ref>

Pennsylvania, especially the [[Greater Pittsburgh]] area, has one of the largest communities of [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] in the nation, the third-highest by percentage of population and the largest outright in membership as [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Christians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_1142p.asp|title=Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) States (2010)|author=Association of Religion Data Archives|date=2010|publisher=Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies|access-date=February 4, 2021|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813175310/https://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_1142p.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|American Presbyterian Church]], with about 250,000 members and 1,011 congregations, is the largest Presbyterian denomination, and the [[Presbyterian Church in America]] is also significant, with 112 congregations and approximately 23,000 adherents; the [[Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)|EPC]] has around 50 congregations, including the [[Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians|ECO]], according to 2010 estimates. The fourth-largest [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denomination, the [[United Church of Christ]], has 180,000 members and 627 congregations in the state. The [[American Baptist Churches USA]], also referred to as the Northern Baptist Convention is based in [[King of Prussia, Pennsylvania|King of Prussia]].

Pennsylvania was the center state of the [[Evangelical and Reformed Church|German Reformed]] denomination from the 1700s.<ref name="www.thearda.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/42/rcms2010_42_state_adh_2010.asp |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives &#124; State Membership Report |publisher=www.thearda.com |access-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721175940/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/42/rcms2010_42_state_adh_2010.asp |archive-date=July 21, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]] is one of the headquarters of the [[Moravian Church]] in the U.S. Pennsylvania also has a very large [[Amish]] population, second only to [[Ohio]] among U.S. states.<ref>{{cite web |author=Webb Design Inc. |url=http://www.visitamishcountry.com/ |title=Amish Country &#124; Ohio &#124; Visitor Information |publisher=Visitamishcountry.com |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220001106/http://www.visitamishcountry.com/ |archive-date=February 20, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2000, there was a total Amish population of 47,860 in Pennsylvania and an additional 146,416 [[Mennonite]]s and 91,200 [[Schwarzenau Brethren|Brethren]]. The total [[Anabaptism|Anabapist]] population including [[Bruderhof Communities|Bruderhof]] was 232,631, about two percent of the population.<ref>Donald B. Kraybill and C. Nelson Hostetter: ''Anabaptist World USA'', Scottdale, PA and Waterloo, Ontario, 2001, pages 200–201.</ref> While Pennsylvania owes its existence to [[Quakers]], and much of the historic character of Pennsylvania is ideologically rooted in the teachings of the [[Religious Society of Friends]] (as they are officially known), practicing Quakers are a small minority of about 10,000 adherents as of 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_1076c.asp |title=Friends General Conference States (2010)—QuickLists—The Association of Religion Data Archives |website=www.thearda.com|access-date=October 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029044341/http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_S_2010_2_1076c.asp |archive-date=October 29, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>