Why has Pentecostalism grown so dramatically in Latin America?
Tens of millions of Latin Americans have left the Roman Catholic Church in recent decades and embraced Pentecostal Christianity.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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 the apostles and other early followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and suddenly “began to speak in […]
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 […]
Publics across the globe see the threat of religious and ethnic violence as a growing threat to the world’s future, with concern especially strong in the Middle East.
Nearly 40% of the world’s Catholics live in Latin America, but many people in the region have converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, while some have left organized religion altogether.
Media Contact: Katherine Ritchey, Communications Manager 202-419-4372, kritchey@pewresearch.org Washington, Nov. 13, 2014 — Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics – nearly 40% of the world’s total Catholic population. Yet identification with Catholicism has declined throughout the region, according to a major new Pew Research Center survey that examines religious affiliations, beliefs […]