Patricia Tevington

Most say Francis represents change in the church. And many say the church should allow priests to marry and let Catholics use birth control.

Catholics are one of the largest religious groups in the United States, outnumbering any single Protestant denomination.

Around six-in-ten U.S. atheists are men (64%). And seven-in-ten are ages 49 or younger, compared with about half of U.S. adults overall (52%).

28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religion.

Overall, 70% of U.S. adults describe themselves as spiritual in some way, including 22% who are spiritual but not religious. An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (83%) say they believe that people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body. And 81% say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it.

46% of Americans report that they’ve been visited by a dead family member in a dream, while 31% report having been visited by dead relatives in some other form.

Most U.S. adults are neutral toward several religious groups, though Americans tend to rate their own religious group positively. More than a third of Americans hold unfavorable views of multiple religious groups.

There has been a jump in the share of U.S. adults who see the Supreme Court as “friendly” toward religion.

But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.

More than eight-in-ten people who say the U.S. should be a Christian nation (86%) are themselves Christian.