Religion: More Catholics

Roman Catholicism continues to gain faster than Protestantism in the U.S.. according to the Yearbook of American Churches for 1961, published this week by the National Council of Churches. Protestant-Catholic membership comparisons are notoriously approximate—Protestant bodies generally count only confirmed, active members, while the Roman Catholic Church counts all, who have been baptized. Catholics are up 3.4% from last year's report, with 40,871,302 members; Protestants are up 1.7%, with 62.534,502 members (in 226 bodies); total U.S.-church membership is up 2.4%, with 112,226,905. The number of Jews reportedby the Synagogue Council of America is unchanged: 5.500,000.