p. 24 | Relative Per Cent of Crime in Catholic and Protestant Churches

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 9, 1914

Relative Per Cent of Crime in Catholic and Protestant Churches

SOME very interesting statistics have recently been published by the statistical department of the Prussian government, dealing with the criminality found among the various religious denominations of that kingdom. The result of this comparison, according to the Northwestern Christian Advocate of February 25, is shown by the following figures:—

“The enumerators of these estimates have taken the entire population, excluding the very young and the very aged. They found that out of every 100,000 Protestant inhabitants in Prussia, 1,094 persons belonging to the Protestant church were convicted for various crimes and offenses, against 1,443 out of the same number of Roman Catholics. This is the average number spread over the entire kingdom. . .

“In order to complete the picture, we must add the number of criminals among the members of other Protestant denominations outside of the state church, among Methodists, Baptists, etc. Among these the number is only 561 per 100,000. The Jews occupy a middle position, somewhat worse than the Protestants, but far better than the Catholics, 1,128 per 100,000. Now we cannot draw too hasty conclusions from these figures, and conclude perhaps from them that Protestantism makes better citizens than Catholicism. But when, as here, the figures are spread over such a large and varied area, we are surely justified in thinking that these facts point in that direction. Such facts also are destructive to the claim of the Roman Catholic Church that its adherents enjoy a more favorable position in regard to crime than the adherents of Protestantism.”