Editing Maryland (section)

===Religion===
[[File:BasilicaExterior.jpg|thumb|[[Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary|Baltimore Basilica]], the first [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[cathedral]] built in the U.S.]]
{{Bar box
|title = Religion in Maryland (2014)<ref name="Pew Religion and Politics">{{cite web
| title = Religious composition of adults in Maryland
| website = Religious Landscape Study
| publisher = The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
| year = 2017
| url = http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/maryland/
| access-date = October 5, 2017
| archive-date = October 10, 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171010134619/http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/maryland/
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|width =
|barwidth=
|left1=Religion
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Protestant]]|purple|52}}
{{Bar percent|[[Irreligion|None]]|black|23}}
{{Bar percent|[[Catholic]]|Dodgerblue|15}}
{{Bar percent|[[Judaism|Jewish]]|blue|3}}
{{Bar percent|Other faiths|gray|2}}
{{Bar percent|[[Buddhism|Buddhist]]|yellow|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Hinduism|Hindu]]|orange|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Islam]]|green|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Mormonism|Mormon]]|red|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Christian]]|cyan|1}}
}}

Maryland has been historically prominent to [[Catholic Church in the United States|American Catholic tradition]] because the English [[colony of Maryland]] was intended by [[George Calvert]] as a haven for English Catholics. Baltimore was the seat of the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789), and [[Emmitsburg]] was the home and burial place of the first American-born citizen to be [[canonized]], [[St. Elizabeth Ann Seton]]. [[Georgetown University]], the first Catholic University, was founded in 1789 in what was then part of Maryland; it became a part of the District of Columbia when it was created in the 1790s. The [[Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary]] in Baltimore was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and the [[Archbishop of Baltimore]] is, albeit without formal primacy, the United States' quasi-[[primate (bishop)|primate]],{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} and often a cardinal. Among the immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries from eastern and southern Europe were many Catholics.

Despite its historic relevance to the Catholic Church in the United States, the percentage of Catholics in the state of Maryland is below the national average of 20%. Demographically, both Protestants and those identifying with no religion are more numerous than Catholics.

According to the [[Pew Research Center]] in 2014, 69 percent of Maryland's population identifies themselves as [[Christians|Christian]]. Nearly 52% of the adult population are [[Protestants]].{{efn|Including [[Evangelical Protestants]] (18%), [[Mainline Protestants]] (18%), and Historically{{explain|reason=in what sense "historically"? This is a contemporary statistic|date=May 2022}} [[Black Protestant]]s (16%)<ref name="Pew Religion and Politics" />}} Following Protestantism, [[Catholicism]] is the second largest religious affiliation, comprising 15% percent of the population.<ref name="Pew Religion and Politics" /><ref name="www.thearda.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/24/rcms2010_24_state_adh_2010.asp |publisher=The Association of Religion Data Archives |title=State Membership Report |website=www.thearda.com |access-date=November 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230739/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/24/rcms2010_24_state_adh_2010.asp |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Amish]]/[[Mennonite]] communities are found in [[St. Mary's County, Maryland|St. Mary's]], [[Garrett County, Maryland|Garrett]], and [[Cecil County, Maryland|Cecil]] counties.<ref name=amishamerica>{{cite web |title=Maryland Amish |date=March 2011 |publisher=Amish America |url=http://amishamerica.com/maryland-amish/ |access-date=October 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231054348/http://amishamerica.com/maryland-amish |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Judaism]] is the largest non-Christian religion in Maryland, with 241,000 adherents, or four percent of the total population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0077.xls |title=Table 77. Christian Church Adherents and Jewish Population States: 2008 |access-date=October 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327063838/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0077.xls |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |format=Excel |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[American Jews|Jews]] are numerous throughout [[Montgomery County, Maryland|Montgomery County]] and in [[Pikesville, Maryland|Pikesville]] and [[Owings Mills]] northwest of Baltimore. An estimated 81,500 Jewish Americans live in Montgomery County, constituting approximately 10% of the total population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.shalomdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DCJewishCommTechApp.pdf |title=2017 Greater Washington Jewish Community Demographic Study |publisher=[[Jewish Federations of North America|Jewish Federation of Greater Washington]] |access-date=February 28, 2019 |archive-date=February 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228192016/https://www.shalomdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DCJewishCommTechApp.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]]'s world headquarters and [[Ahmadiyya]] Muslims' national headquarters are located in [[Silver Spring, Maryland|Silver Spring]], just outside [[Washington, D.C.]]

Per the [[Public Religion Research Institute]] in 2020, 61 percent of Maryland's population identified with Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PRRI – American Values Atlas |url=https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-MD |access-date=September 17, 2022 |website=ava.prri.org |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404161714/https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-MD |url-status=live }}</ref> Protestantism and Roman Catholicism continued to dominate the Christian landscape, and the Jewish community remained at 3% of the total religious population. Of the unaffiliated, the PRRI study determined their increase to 28% of the population.