Is Latin America really losing its Catholic Identity?

Latin America Is Losing Its Catholic Identity
NOV. 13, 2014
Michael Paulson

These are heady days for Roman Catholics in Latin America. For the first time, one of their own is serving as pope, providing a visible reminder of the importance the region plays in the global church.

But after a century in which nearly all Latin Americans identified as Catholic, the church’s claim on the region is lessening.

A sweeping new survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, finds that 69 percent of Latin American adults say they are Catholic, down from an estimated 90 percent for much of the 20th century. The decline appears to have accelerated recently: Eight-four percent of those surveyed said they were raised Catholic, meaning there has been a 15-percentage-point drop-off in one generation.


 A mass in July in El Pedregal, a small town along the Guatemala-Mexico border. A survey found that 69 percent of Latin American adults said they were Catholic, down from an estimated 90 percent for much of the 20th century.  Credit Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Latin America “in most people’s minds is synonymous with Catholicism, but the strong association has eroded,” said Neha Sahgal, a senior researcher at Pew. “And it’s a consistent trend across the region — it’s not just a Central American phenomenon.”

Latin America remains home to an estimated 40 percent of the planet’s Catholic population. But the survey finds that 19 percent of Latin Americans now describe themselves as Protestants. And Protestant churches in Latin America are filled with former Catholics — in Colombia, 84 percent of Protestants say they were baptized as Catholics.

Latin Americans who converted from Catholicism to Protestantism most often said they did so because they were seeking a more personal connection with God.

The change has political and religious implications. According to the survey, Protestants in Latin America are more religious and more conservative than Catholics: The Protestants pray more, go to services more often and are more likely to tithe. They are also more strongly opposed to same-sex marriage.

more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/upshot/latin-america-is-losing-its-catholic-identity.html


Short Answer:
No.

Long Answer: