Editing New Orleans (section)

===Religion===
[[File:Stlouiscathedralnight.jpg|thumb|[[St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans|Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France]]]]
[[File:BethIsraelCarondeletFrontA.JPG|thumb|Beth Israel synagogue building on Carondelet Street]]
New Orleans' colonial history of French and Spanish settlement generated a strong [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] tradition. Catholic missions ministered to slaves and free people of color and established schools for them. In addition, many late 19th and early 20th century European immigrants, such as the Irish, some Germans, and Italians were Catholic. Within the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans]] (which includes not only the city but the surrounding parishes as well), 40% percent of the population was Roman Catholic since 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Orleans Archdiocese (Catholic-Hierarchy) |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dnewo.html#stats |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=February 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206103615/http://catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dnewo.html#stats |url-status=live }}</ref> Catholicism is reflected in French and Spanish cultural traditions, including its many [[parochial schools]], street names, architecture and festivals, including [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|Mardi Gras]]. Within the city and metropolitan area, [[Black Catholicism|Catholicism]] is also reflected in the Black and African cultural traditions with Gospel Mass.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parishes |url=https://nolacatholic.org/parishes-1 |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=Archdiocese of New Orleans |language=en |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211050530/https://nolacatholic.org/parishes-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> The statue of [[Our Lady of Prompt Succor]] is a notable symbol of the Catholic faith in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.

Influenced by the [[Bible Belt]]'s prominent [[Protestantism|Protestant]] population, New Orleans also has a sizable non-Catholic Christian demographic. Roughly the majority of Protestant Christians were [[Baptists|Baptist]], and the city proper's largest non-Catholic bodies were the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], the [[National Missionary Baptist Convention of America]], [[Nondenominational Christianity|non-denominationals]], the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptist Convention]], the [[United Methodist Church]], the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]], the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]], the [[National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc.|National Baptist Convention of America]], and the [[Church of God in Christ]] according to the [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] in 2020.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=Maps and data files for 2020 {{!}} U.S. Religion Census {{!}} Religious Statistics & Demographics |url=https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=U.S. Religion Census |publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115001940/https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |url-status=live }}</ref>

New Orleans displays a distinctive variety of [[Louisiana Voodoo]], due in part to [[syncretism]] with African and Afro-Caribbean Roman Catholic beliefs. The fame of voodoo practitioner [[Marie Laveau]] contributed to this, as did New Orleans' Caribbean cultural influences.<ref>New Orleans, "now under the flag of the United States, is still very much a Caribbean city...." {{cite web |title=The Pearl of the Antilles and the Crescent City: Historic Maps of the Caribbean in the Latin American Library Map Collections |website=Latin American Library, Tulane University |url=http://lal.tulane.edu/mapsexib2.html |access-date=January 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208220708/http://lal.tulane.edu/mapsexib2.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=December 8, 2006}}
</ref><ref>New Orleans is described as "a Caribbean city, an exuberant, semi-tropical city, perhaps the most hedonistic city in the United States". {{cite web |title=Apple's America |author=R.W. Apple Jr. |format=quoted on ePodunk.com |url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/allProp.php?localID=3502&tpropID=quote&sec=0 |access-date=January 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013161854/http://epodunk.com/cgi-bin/allProp.php?localID=3502&tpropID=quote&sec=0 |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="BostonGlobeNorthernmost">New Orleans "is often called the northernmost Caribbean city". {{cite news |first=John R. |last=Kemp |url=http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/books/books97/christopher_benfey.htm |title=When the painter met the Creoles |work=The Boston Globe |page=G3 |date=November 30, 1997 |access-date=January 4, 2007 |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112052826/http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/books/books97/christopher_benfey.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the tourism industry strongly associated Voodoo with the city, only a small number of people are serious adherents.
[[File:Dog Park at NOLA City Park - panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Popp Fountain in City Park, a meeting place for The Religious Order of Witchcraft]]
New Orleans was also home to the occultist [[Mary Oneida Toups]], who was nicknamed the "Witch Queen of New Orleans". Toups' coven, The Religious Order of Witchcraft, was the first coven to be officially recognized as a religious institution by the state of Louisiana.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-05 |title=The High Priestess of the French Quarter |url=https://64parishes.org/high-priestess-french-quarter |access-date=2020-11-18 |website=64 Parishes |language=en |archive-date=January 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125130305/https://64parishes.org/high-priestess-french-quarter |url-status=live }}</ref> They would meet at Popp Fountain in [[City Park (New Orleans)|City Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gonola.com/things-to-do-in-new-orleans/history/popps-fountain-in-city-park|title=GoNOLA Find: Popp's Fountain in City Park|date=July 5, 2014|website=GoNOLA.com|access-date=February 27, 2024|archive-date=June 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616213534/https://gonola.com/things-to-do-in-new-orleans/history/popps-fountain-in-city-park|url-status=live}}</ref>

Jewish settlers, primarily [[Sephardim]], settled in New Orleans from the early nineteenth century. Some migrated from the communities established in the colonial years in [[Charleston, South Carolina]] and [[Savannah, Georgia]]. The merchant [[Abraham Cohen Labatt]] helped found the first Jewish congregation in New Orleans in the 1830s, which became known as the [[Spanish and Portuguese Jews|Portuguese Jewish]] Nefutzot Yehudah congregation (he and some other members were [[Sephardic Jews]], whose ancestors had lived in Portugal and Spain). [[Ashkenazi Jews]] from eastern Europe immigrated in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

By the beginning of the 21st century, 10,000 [[Jew]]s lived in New Orleans. This number dropped to 7,000 after Hurricane Katrina, but rose again after efforts to incentivize the community's growth resulted in the arrival of about an additional 2,000 Jews.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jewish Community of New Orleans |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/new-orleans |website=Beit Hatfutsot Open Databases Project |publisher=The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot |access-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719114106/https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/new-orleans |url-status=dead}}</ref> New Orleans synagogues lost members, but most re-opened in their original locations. The exception was [[Congregation Beth Israel (New Orleans)|Congregation Beth Israel]], the oldest and most prominent [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] synagogue in the New Orleans region. Beth Israel's building in Lakeview was destroyed by flooding. After seven years of holding services in temporary quarters, the congregation consecrated a new synagogue on land purchased from the [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] Congregation Gates of Prayer in [[Metairie, Louisiana|Metairie]].<ref name="Beth_Israel_7_years">{{cite news |last1=Nolan |first1=Bruce |title=Congregation Beth Israel ends 7 years of Hurricane Katrina-induced wandering |url=http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/08/congregation_beth_israel_will.html |access-date=July 2, 2014 |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |date=August 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714222042/http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/08/congregation_beth_israel_will.html |archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref>

A visible religious minority,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Killion |first=Aubry |date=2019-03-15 |title=Members of the New Orleans Islamic community on high alert |url=https://www.wdsu.com/article/members-of-the-new-orleans-islamic-community-on-high-alert/26840939 |access-date=2020-10-28 |website=WDSU |language=en |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101033521/https://www.wdsu.com/article/members-of-the-new-orleans-islamic-community-on-high-alert/26840939 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Krewe: New Orleans' hidden community |url=https://www.vianolavie.org/2020/01/07/krewe-new-orleans-hidden-community/ |access-date=2020-10-28 |website=ViaNolaVie |language=en-us |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026212342/https://www.vianolavie.org/2020/01/07/krewe-new-orleans-hidden-community/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Muslims]] constituted 0.6% of the religious population as of 2019 according to [[Sperling's BestPlaces]].<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=New Orleans, Louisiana Religion |url=https://www.bestplaces.net/religion/city/louisiana/new_orleans |access-date=March 21, 2019 |website=bestplaces.net |archive-date=March 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321155839/https://www.bestplaces.net/religion/city/louisiana/new_orleans |url-status=live }}</ref> The Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020 estimated that there were 6,150 Muslims in the city proper. The Islamic demographic in New Orleans and its metropolitan area have been mainly made up of Middle Eastern immigrants and [[African-American Muslims|African Americans]].