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Church Trends in Latin America

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A PROLADES Study, Reflection & Discussion Document DRAFT COPY - NOT FOR PUBLICATION Church Trends in Latin America Compiled and Edited by Clifton L. Holland, Director of PROLADES Last revised on 21 December 2012 Produced by PROLADES Apartado 1525-2050, San Pedro, Costa Rica Telephone: 506-2283-8300; FAX 506-234-7682 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.prolades.com 2 CONTENTS Introduction: Defining the “full breadth of Christianity in Latin America” I. A General Overview of Religious Affiliation in Latin America and the Caribbean by Regions and Countries, 2010………………………………………………………………….. 5 II. The Western Catholic Liturgical Tradition……………………………………………………. 10 A. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………... 10 B. The period of Roman Catholic hegemony in Latin America, 1500-1900…………………………. 18 (1) The Holy Office of the Inquisition in the Americas…………………………………………… 18 (2) Religious Liberty in Latin America after Independence………………………………………. 26 (3) Concordats……………………………………………………………………………………. 32 C. The period of accelerated religious change in Latin America, 1800 to date……………………… 36 D. Defections from the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America since 1950; the changing religious marketplace………………………………………………………………... 41 (1) Defections to Protestantism…………………………………………………………………… 42 (2) Defections to Marginal Christian groups……………………………………………………... 60 (3) Defections to independent Western Catholic movements…………………………………….. 60 (4) Defections to non-Christian religions………………………………………………………… 61 (5) Defections to secular society (those with no religious affiliation, agnostics and atheists)……………………………………………………………………………………….. 65 E. Contemporary issues and problems facing the Roman Catholic Church………………………….. 65 III. Independent Western Catholic groups in Latin America…………………………………….. 75 A. Mexico……………………………………………………………………………………………… 76 B. Colombia……………………………………………………………………………………………. 77 C. Argentina……………………………………………………………………………………………. 78 IV. The Eastern Orthodox Liturgical Tradition…………………………………………………… 79 A. Mexico……………………………………………………………………………………………… 80 B. Guatemala…………………………………………………………………………………………... 81 C. Colombia………………………………………………………………………………………….... 81 D. Argentina………………………………………………………………………………………….... 82 3 V. The Protestant Movement Tradition……………………………………………………………. 83 A. Defining the Protestant Movement…………………………………………………………………. 83 B. Regional differences in Protestant population size and growth rates……………………………….. 84 C. Christianity and conflict in Latin America………………………………………………………….. 88 D. Recent research on Protestant desertion in the context of Central America……………………….. 94 VI. Marginal Christian Traditions…………………………………………………………………. 97 VII. A comparative analysis of Roman Catholic and Protestant social strength in Latin America…………………………………………………… 99 A. Church attendance………………………………………………………………………………….. 99 B. Christian education at primary and secondary school levels………………………………………. 102 C. Theological education……………………………………………………………………………… 110 D. Denominational trends in theological education……………………………………………………152 E. Theological trends in general………………………………………………………………………..153 F. Mission trends……………………………………………………………………………………….165 G. The ethnographic and socioeconomic background of Protestant adherents……………………….. 171 H. The importance of evaluating the distribution of Protestant churches at the national level by geographical regions……………………………………………………………………………..191 I. The educational level of Evangelical pastors……………………………………………………….. 198 J. Average church size of Protestant congregations / mega-church variables………………………….199 K. Church budgets and spending patterns of Protestant denominations……………………………….. 210 Summary and Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………212 Bibliography of Sources……………………………………………………………………………….216 4 Church Trends in Latin America Introduction: Defining the “full breadth of Christianity in Latin America” The first difficulty in discussing “Church Trends in Latin America” is the complex nature of Christianity in the Spanish and Portuguese countries of North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean region. I have attempted to give an overview of all known religious groups in each region and country in general and of the different component parts of Christianity in particular in (1) Toward a Classification System of Religious Groups in the Americas by Major Traditions and Denominational Families (latest edition, November 2012), which is available at: http://www.prolades.com/clas-eng.pdf ; and in (2) The PROLADES Encyclopedia of Religion in Latin America and the Caribbean (four volumes, about 1,300 pages) in two editions, one in English and the other in Spanish, which are now available on the Internet at: http://www.prolades.com/encyclopedia/encyclopedia-main-index.htm . Volume I of the latter is my religious classification document cited above, which provides an annotated outline of the various branches of Christianity: the Eastern Orthodox Liturgical Tradition, the Western Catholic Liturgical Tradition, the Protestant Movement Tradition, and the Marginal Christian Traditions. Three of my other recent publications provide a general overview of the component parts of the Protestant Movement among Hispanics in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico: (1) Historical Profiles of Protestant Denominations with Hispanic Ministry in the USA: http://www.hispanicchurchesusa.net/denominations/hsusa_historical_profiles_15August2012.pdf ; (2) Historical Profiles of Protestant Denominations with Hispanic Ministry in the Dominion of Canada: http://www.hispanicchurchesusa.net/AETH/Canada/historical_profiles_hispanic_denoms_canada.pdf ; and (3) Historical Profiles of Protestant Denominations in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico: http://www.hispanicchurchesusa.net/AETH/Puerto%20Rico/pri_historical_profiles_15august2012_final.p df Therefore, in the discussion to follow, I will attempt to differentiate between the various trends that exist within the major traditions of Christianity in the context of Latin America (including Hispanics in the USA and Canada) in order to provide a clearer explanation of this complex reality at the beginning of the 21 st century. I. A General Overview of Religious Affiliation in Latin America and the Caribbean by Regions and Countries, 2010 Since the late 1990s, my organization has conducted an annual review of census documents, public opinion polls, and other scientific studies regarding statistics on “religious affiliation” in each country of Latin America and the Caribbean. As soon as the Internet became available to us in Costa Rica, my home and base of operations since 1972, we have been able to more easily monitor this type of trend data throughout the Americas. By 2010, an enormous amount of information was available about religious groups and religious affiliation on the Internet, whereas in 2000 this kind of information was extremely limited. To my knowledge, PROLADES is the only organization that has provided a general overview of religious affiliation in each country and 5 region of the Americas via the Internet based on national censuses and public opinion polls for the period 1990-2010. This information is available on our website at www.prolades.com by regions and countries on our home page. The latest census and public opinion poll data for each region and country is available at: http://www.prolades.com/americas-tabla-encuestas-censos.htm We have produced an adapted version of this table for inclusion in this document (see below) without the non-Hispanic countries and territories of the Caribbean region. This document and the online version are continually undergoing revisions and updates as new information becomes available. However, I would like to clarify the terms used in this table. “Catholic” refers only to the official Roman Catholic Church in each country; “Protestant” only refers to those religious groups considered by PROLADES to fit our definition of belonging to the Protestant movement; “Other Religions” refers to all other religious groups in the country, including Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic-derived groups as well as any other religious group that considers itself to be “Christian,” which we have labeled Marginal Christian groups. For greater clarity about which groups are included within each of these major traditions, please consult the PROLADES classification code document mentioned earlier: Toward a Classification System of Religious Groups in the Americas by Major Traditions and Denominational Families (latest edition, November 2012), which is available at: http://www.prolades.com/clas-eng.pdf . Because the respective census documents and public opinion polls cited in this table do not necessarily use the same definitions for these same categories, we have made the necessary adjustments and calculations to adapt the statistics to conform to our definitions for the sake of clarity, consistency and comparative analysis. Therefore, the statistics used in our table may not be the same as those found in the respective official census documents and public opinion polls cited as our source documents in the “Source” and “Memo” columns of the table below. In addition, the statistics used in our table for each country and region may not be the same as those found in other publications that cite the official census or public opinion poll data for each country. Some of the publications often used by scholars and Christian leaders for statistical information on religious affiliation in Latin America may contain inaccurate reports and projections based
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