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__NOTOC__{{Infobox_Contents | topic_name ==Synopsis== The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the [[New England]] region of the northeastern [[United States]]. Its major city is [[Boston]]. It was initially founded by [[Puritans]] but today Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population. Around half the population is [[Roman Catholic]] because of immigration from [[Ireland]], [[Quebec]], [[Italy]], [[Portugal]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. In recent years there has been a strong advocacy of [[gay marriage]] in this state.| subtopics ==Contents== {{topics}}* {{region_churches}}
{{returnto}} [[USA]]
Undo revision 664375 by Bob Larson (Talk)
* {{region_denominations}}
* [[Towns in Massachusetts Index]] - Major centres: [[Boston]]
* {{region_radio}}
* {{region_bible_college}}
* {{region_schools}}| opinion_pieces = {{opinionsshort_opinions}}| {{quotes}} ==Main article==
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the [[New England]] region of the northeastern [[United States]]. Its major city is [[Boston]]. It was initially founded by [[Puritans]] but today Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population. Around half the population is [[Roman Catholic]] because of immigration from [[Ireland]], [[Quebec]], [[Italy]], [[Portugal]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. In recent years there has been a strong advocacy of [[gay marriage]] in this state.
===History===
===Religion===
Given that Massachusetts was founded and settled by Puritans in the 17th century there has historically been a large [[Protestant]] population, especially of the Congregational and United Church of Christ churches. Both of these denominations.
Today Protestants make up less than a quarter of the population and [[Roman Catholicism]] predominate because of immigration from [[Ireland]], [[Italy]] and other countries with strong ties to Roman Catholicism. There are over 3 million Roman Catholics living in Massachusetts.
There is also a large Jewish population which came to the area in the early twentienth century, and now almost 300,000 Jews live in Massachusetts.
A number of religious off-shoots from Christianity have roots in Massachusetts. These include Christian Science, whose founder made [[Boston]] the world headquarters for the religion. The world headquarters of the Unitarian-Universalist Church is also located in Boston.
The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts, according to a 2001 survey, are shown in the table below<ref> "American Religious Identification Survey". Exhibit 15. The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Website: [http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm]</ref>
* Christian – 69%
** Catholic – 44%
** Protestant – 22%
*** Baptist – 4%
*** Congregational/United Church of Christ – 3%
*** Episcopal – 3%
*** Methodist – 2%
*** Pentecostal – 2%
*** Other Protestant or general Protestant – 8%
* Jewish – 2%
* Other Religions – 6%
* Non-Religious – 16%
* Refused to answer – 7%
===References===
{{reflist}}
{{stub}}
==Quotes==
==Links==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts Wikipedia - Massachusetts]
{{returnto}} [[Christianity]] -> [[Places]] -> [[Americas]] -> [[USA]]
[[Category:United States of America]]
