For more recent survey data about religion in Latin America, read our 2026 report “Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade.” Latin Americans have widely embraced Pope Francis – the first head of the Catholic Church elected from the New World. More than half of respondents in each of the countries surveyed express a favorable opinion […]
More than nine-in-ten members of the newly elected 114th Congress are Christian — a significantly higher share than is seen in the general population. However, many other major religious groups are represented in the body, including Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and the unaffiliated.
For more recent survey data about religion in Latin America, read our 2026 report “Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade.” Many Christians in Latin America identify with Pentecostalism and related movements. Pentecostals take their name from the biblical feast of Pentecost (originally the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which took place 50 days after Passover), when […]
Countries With the Most Extensive Government Restrictions on Religion Most countries in the world have some form of government restrictions on religion, but each year a few countries stand out as having particularly extensive restrictions. In 2013, 18 countries had a “very high” level of government restrictions, down from 24 countries in 2012. Most of […]
For more recent survey data about religion in Latin America, read our 2026 report “Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade.” The Pew Research survey of 18 Latin American countries and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico finds relatively few statistically significant differences between Catholics and Protestants when it comes to demographic characteristics, such as age, […]
For more recent survey data about religion in Latin America, read our 2026 report “Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade.” On the whole, Latin Americans embrace free-market principles. Majorities in most countries surveyed say that people are better off in a free-market economy. Yet majorities in half of the countries point to the gap between […]
For more recent survey data about religion in Latin America, read our 2026 report “Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade.” Overall, many Latin Americans see a basic tension between religion and science. Indeed, half or more in most countries surveyed think that faith and science generally are at odds with one another. Despite the general […]
Pope Francis, leader of the world’s nearly 1.1 billion Catholics, enjoys broad support across much of the world: a median of 60% across 43 nations have a favorable view of him. Only 11% see the pope unfavorably, and 28% give no rating.