Churches in Louisiana

Religious Landscape of Louisiana

Louisiana is unique among American states for its deep Catholic roots, a legacy of its French and Spanish colonial heritage. The Catholic Church is the largest religious body in the southern half of the state, Acadiana and greater New Orleans, where Cajun and Creole Catholic culture permeates music, food, festivals, and daily life. St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, built in 1727, is the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States. North Louisiana, by contrast, is firmly Baptist country, sharing the religious culture of neighboring Mississippi, Arkansas, and East Texas. The Southern Baptist Convention operates over 1,700 congregations statewide, and North Louisiana parishes have some of the highest rates of Baptist affiliation in the nation. Historically Black Baptist and Pentecostal churches are integral to Louisiana's African American communities, which make up roughly 33% of the state's population. Assemblies of God and Church of God congregations are common throughout the state. Louisiana's adherence rate of about 57% is one of the highest in the nation, reflecting the combined strength of Catholic and Baptist traditions. This dual religious identity gives Louisiana a distinctive character found nowhere else in America.