The Associated Press reports today that “the U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile,” as Americans reevaluate the affiliations of their upbringing or abandon their faith altogether. According to a survey released by the Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life, the United States will soon lose its Protestant majority, at 51 percent and falling.

Major losses within Baptist and Methodist congregations have been accompanied by a surging non-denominational movement, and the study - which relied upon extensive interviews with more than 35,000 Americans - found 12 percent of Americans described their religious beliefs as “nothing in particular.”

“The Roman Catholic Church,” according to the AP, “has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping.” According to the study, “While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they’re Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics.”

At Aquinas, an estimated 52 percent of incoming freshmen identified themselves as Catholic, according to the 2007 Freshmen Profile.