NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD FOR RELEASE NOV. 13, 2014 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT: Alan Cooperman, Director, Religion Research James Bell, Director, International Survey Research Neha Sahgal, Senior Researcher Katherine Ritchey, Communications Manager 202.419.4372 www.pewresearch.org RECOMMENDED CITATION: Pew Research Center, Nov. 13, 2014, “Religion in Latin America: Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region” 1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER About This Report This report examines religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in 18 countries and one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) across Latin America and the Caribbean. It is based on more than 30,000 face-to-face interviews, conducted between October 2013 and February 2014, in Spanish, Portuguese and Guarani. The survey was carried out as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Primary Researchers James Bell, Director, International Survey Research Neha Sahgal, Senior Researcher Research Alan Cooperman, Director, Religion Research Fatima Ghani, Research Analyst Steve Schwarzer, Research Methodologist Juan Carlos Donoso, Research Associate Phillip Connor, Research Associate Jessica Martinez, Research Associate Cary Funk, Associate Director, Research Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Research Associate Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa, Data Manager Greg Smith, Associate Director, Research Conrad Hackett, Demographer Anne Shi, Research Associate Elizabeth Sciupac, Research Analyst Besheer Mohamed, Research Associate Claire Gecewicz, Research Assistant Angelina Theodorou, Research Assistant Katie Simmons, Senior Researcher Kat Devlin, Research Analyst Jill Carle, Research Associate Editorial Sandra Stencel, Associate Director, Editorial Michael Lipka, Editor Aleksandra Sandstrom, Copy Editor Bill Webster, Information Graphics Designer Diana Yoo, Art Director Communications and Web Publishing Stacy Rosenberg, Digital Project Manager Katherine Ritchey, Communications Manager Ben Wormald, Associate Digital Producer Adam Nekola, Web Developer www.pewresearch.org 2 PEW RESEARCH CENTER About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. The center studies U.S. politics and policy views; media and journalism; internet and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes; and U.S. social and demo- graphic trends. All of the center’s reports are available at www.pewresearch.org. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Michael Dimock, President Elizabeth Mueller Gross, Vice President Robyn Tomlin, Chief Digital Officer Andrew Kohut, Founding Director Managing Directors James Bell, Director, International Survey Research Alan Cooperman, Director, Religion Research Claudia Deane, Director, Research Practices Carroll Doherty, Director, Political Research Scott Keeter, Director, Survey Research Vidya Krishnamurthy, Director, Communications Mark Hugo Lopez, Director, Hispanic Trends Research Amy Mitchell, Director, Journalism Research Kim Parker, Director, Social Trends Research Lee Rainie, Director, Internet, Science and Technology Research Richard Wike, Director, Global Attitudes Research © Pew Research Center 2014 www.pewresearch.org 3 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Table of Contents Overview 4 Chapter 1: Religious Switching 31 Chapter 2: Religious Commitment and Practice 40 Chapter 3: Religious Beliefs 51 Chapter 4: Pentecostalism 62 Chapter 5: Social Attitudes 69 Chapter 6: Views on the Economy and Poverty 87 Chapter 7: Views on Politics 95 Chapter 8: Religion and Science 99 Chapter 9: Views of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church 103 Chapter 10: Demographic Profile of Religious Groups 109 Appendix A: Methodology 116 Appendix B: Glossary 127 Appendix C: Topline 130 www.pewresearch.org 4 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Overview Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics – nearly 40% of the world’s 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 Shifting Religious Identity in Latin 20th century, from 1900 through the 1960s, at America least 90% of Latin America’s population was % of the region’s adult population raised in each Catholic. (See sidebar on historical estimates religious group vs. % currently identifying with each on page 26.) Today, the Pew Research survey group shows, 69% of adults across the region identify Raised Currently as Catholic. In nearly every country surveyed, the Catholic Church has experienced net losses 84 from religious switching, as many Latin 69 Americans have joined evangelical Protestant churches or rejected organized religion altogether. For example, roughly one-in-four Nicaraguans, one-in-five Brazilians and one- 19 9 8 in-seven Venezuelans are former Catholics. 4 Overall, 84% of Latin American adults report Catholic Protestant Unaffiliated that they were raised Catholic, 15 percentage QCHREL, QCURREL points more than currently identify as Results based on aggregated survey data from 18 countries and the Catholic. The pattern is reversed among U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, taking into account differences in the Protestants and people who do not identify population size of each country/territory. with any religion: While the Catholic Church PEW RESEARCH CENTER 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 one-in-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. www.pewresearch.org 5 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Much of the movement away from Catholicism and toward Many Protestants Were Protestantism in Latin America has occurred in the span of a Raised as Catholics single lifetime. Indeed, in most of the countries surveyed, at % of current Protestants who say least a third of current Protestants were raised in the Catholic they were raised Catholic Church, and half or more say they were baptized as Catholics. For example, nearly three-quarters of current Protestants in Colombia 74 Paraguay 68 Colombia were raised Catholic, and 84% say they were Peru 66 baptized as Catholics. Ecuador 62 Bolivia 60 Venezuela 56 The survey asked former Catholics who have converted to Argentina 55 Brazil 54 Protestantism about the reasons they did so. Of the eight Nicaragua 50 Dominican Rep. 48 possible explanations offered on the survey, the most U.S. Hispanics 47 frequently cited was that they were seeking a more personal Mexico 44 Costa Rica 40 connection with God. Many former Catholics also said they El Salvador 38 became Protestants because they wanted a different style of Puerto Rico 38 Uruguay 37 worship or a church that helps its members more. Chile 30 Honduras 26 Guatemala 23 Smaller percentages of converts to Protestantism also cite Panama 15 other factors – such as health or family problems (a regional QCURREL, QCHREL median of 20%) or marriage to a non-Catholic (median of 9%) PEW RESEARCH CENTER – as important reasons why they are no longer Catholic. Latin Americans’ Reasons for Leaving the Catholic Church Median % of converts from Catholicism to Protestantism who say … is an important reason they are no longer Catholic What is a Median? Most tables and charts in this report cite Seeking personal connection with God 81 country-level findings. But on some Enjoy style of worship at new church 69 questions, regional medians are reported Wanted greater emphasis on morality 60 to help readers see cross-national Found church that helps members more 59 patterns. The median is the middle Outreach by new church 58 number in a list of numbers sorted in Personal problems 20 ascending or descending order. In a Seeking better financial future 14 survey of 18 countries and Puerto Rico, Marriage to non-Catholic 9 the median result is 10th on a list of Q41a-h country-level findings ranked from Respondents were asked whether each of these items was an important highest to lowest. reason for leaving Catholicism. PEW RESEARCH CENTER www.pewresearch.org 6 PEW RESEARCH CENTER In addition, evangelization Protestants More Likely to Share Faith efforts by Protestant % who say they share their faith with others at least once a week churches seem to be having an impact: Across Latin America, more than half of those who have switched from the Catholic Church to Protestantism say their new church reached out to them (median of 58%). And the survey finds that Protestants in the region are much more likely than Catholics to report sharing their faith with people outside their own religious group. While the movement from Catholicism to Protestantism has occurred among people of all ages and