Latin America is home to

more than 425 million

catholics nearly 40% of
the worlds total
catholic population and
the roman catholic church
now has a Latin American
pope for the first time
in its history. Yet
identification with
catholicism has declined
throughout the region,
according to a major new
pew research center
survey that examines
religious affiliations,
beliefs and practices in
18 countries and one U.S.
territory puerto rico
across Latin America and
the caribbean. Historical
data suggest that for
most of the 20th century,
from 1900 through the
1960s, at least 90% of
Latin Americas
population was catholic
see history of religious
change. Today, the Pew
Research survey shows,
69% of adults across the
region identify as
catholic. In nearly every
country surveyed, the
catholic church has
experienced net losses
from religious switching,
as many Latin Americans
have joined evangelical
protestant churches or
rejected organized
religion altogether. For
example, roughly one-infour nicaraguans, one-infive brazilians and onein-seven venezuelans are
former catholics. Largely
a product of forced
migrations and the
dramatic encounter
between the old world and
the new world the best
documented caribbean
religions such as haitian
voodoo, rastafarianism,
cuban santeria, and the
spiritual baptists in
trinidad are prime
examples of creativity

Religious Traditions in Latin America

Overall, 84% of Latin
American adults report
that they were raised
catholic, 15 percentage
points more than
currently identify as
catholic. The pattern is
reversed among
Protestants and people
who do not identify with
any religion: While the
catholic church has lost
adherents through
religious switching, both
Protestant churches and
the religiously
unaffiliated population
in the region have gained
members. Just one-in-ten
Latin Americans 9% were
raised in Protestant
churches, but nearly onein-five 19% now describe
themselves as
protestants. And while
only 4% of Latin
Americans were raised
without a religious
affiliation, twice as
many 8% are unaffiliated
today. Many protestants
Were Raised as catholics
much of the movement away
from catholicism and
toward protestantism in
Latin America has
occurred in the span of a
single lifetime. Indeed,
in most of the countries
surveyed, at least a
third of current
Protestants were raised
in the catholic church,
and half or more say they
were baptized as
catholics. For example,
nearly three-quarters of
current protestants in
colombia were raised
catholic, and 84% say
they were baptized as
catholics.