But by the same token, Black Americans are more religious than the American public as a whole. Higher percentages of Blacks believe in God or a higher power, say evil spirits can do harm, hold that religion is very important to them, pray to their ancestors to protect them from harm, say that opposing racism is essential to their faith, and believe that Black Muslim organizations have contributed to help Blacks move toward racial equality. "What's interesting here is Black Catholics, compared to Black Protestants, by a whole host of measures, they're less religious," said Besheer Mohamed, a Pew senior researcher who helped guide the study from start to finish over nearly three years. "They're less likely to say religion is important to them, less likely to attend religious services, for a whole host of (reasons) -- with a couple of exceptions -- Black Catholics look less religious than Black Protestants."