New study shows mass exodus from Catholic Church in Latin America
November 13, 2014
While 84% of the people in Latin America say that they were raised as Catholics, only 69% identify themselves as Catholics today.
Protestant denominations in the region have grown substantially in recent decades, thanks in part to an influx of former Catholics. Today 19% of the Latin American population is Protestant, although only 9% of the people were raised as Protestants. There has also been a sharp increase in the number of people reporting no religious affiliation.
The Pew study found large numbers of people leaving the Catholic Church in every country in Latin America. In Nicaragua, one-fourth of the population was composed of former Catholics; in Brazil, one-fifth.
When asked whey they had changed their religious affiliation, most former Catholics said that Evangelical congregations gave them a stronger sense of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. On issues such as abortion and homosexuality, the former Catholics now worshipping in Evangelical congregations were more likely to support traditional Christian moral teachings than those still identifying themselves as Catholics.
Historically, Latin America has been an overwhelmingly Catholic region. In most countries, up until the current generation, Catholics accounted for at least 90% of the population. The region still accounts for more than 40% of the world’s Catholics.
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Posted by: Elan -
Nov. 13, 2014 9:32 PM ET USA
This article made me cry. I think the evangelicals are able to reap such success due to the appeal of personal experience and the lack of catechises. As a person of Mexican ancestry, I am deeply saddened because our Blessed Mother came to us and liberated us from the demon who held our people in bondage. She lead us to her Son and His Church. We were conquered, not by the Spanish, but by a Mother's love. "Que no estoy aqui yo que soy tu Madre?"
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Posted by: Bobalouie -
Nov. 13, 2014 9:03 PM ET USA
So the ex-Catholics are more catholic than the self-identified Catholics. Sounds familiar.
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Posted by: bruno.cicconi7491 -
Nov. 13, 2014 8:29 PM ET USA
I'm not surprised. There may be a lot of problems with Pentecostals, but they take religion serioulsy. "Crentes" ("believers", the derrogatory way many, including Catholics, use to refer to Pentecostals) are known to be a bit puritanical and unashamedly Christians - though they usually are no saints for they lack good models of sainthood. Without reducing all the exodus to this, I think that the ascension of Pentecostalism is the result of liberation theology and lukewarmness in the LA Church.
