Latin People in america have commonly embraced Pope Francis, the Jesuit that is argentine-born bishop to lead the Catholic Church after Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013. Favorable views associated with the new pontiff prevail over the region, with two-thirds or higher of this populace in many nations expressing a confident viewpoint of Pope Francis as soon as the survey ended up being conducted in belated 2013 and early 2014.

Latin catholics that are american specially excited about Pope Francis, with clear majorities throughout the area rating him favorably. Certainly, in 14 regarding the nations surveyed, at minimum half of Catholics state they will have a tremendously favorable viewpoint of Francis.

Former Catholics, in comparison, are ambivalent in regards to the pope that is new. Clearly negative views of Pope Francis are reasonably uncommon among this team, but so can be overwhelmingly reactions that are positive except in Francis’ home country of Argentina. The jury is still out for many former catholics. In many places surveyed, a 3rd or higher of ex-Catholics either provide no viewpoint on Francis or volunteer it is too quickly to evaluate him.

The study additionally asked perhaps the election of Pope Francis signals a significant modification, a small modification or no modification after all when it comes to Catholic Church. Half or maybe more of Catholics in 16 regarding the nations polled see the choice of this previous Argentine bishop as being a major modification. Previous Catholics are less specific; just in Argentina do up to half (53%) understand brand brand new pope as representing a change that is major. As with all the pope’s overall favorability, substantial percentages of previous Catholics state it really is too quickly to share with whether Francis represents much modification.

No matter their assessments of whether modification is happening, numerous Catholics think some of these church’s teachings should really be revised. A median of 66% of Catholics say the church should allow Catholics to use artificial means of birth control, and in Chile, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay, roughly eight-in-ten Catholics favor a change in church teaching on contraception for instance, across Latin America. Into the U.S., 72% of Hispanic Catholics think the Catholic Church should let the utilization of contraceptives.

There is also significant help among Latin American Catholics (a regional median of 60%) for ending the church’s prohibition on divorce or separation. Once once once Again, Catholics in Chile (82%), Uruguay (78%) and Argentina (77%) are one of the most prone to sound help for modification.

Catholics in Latin America are far more split with regards to alterations in the priesthood. Over the nations polled, a median of 48per cent of Catholics think priests ought to be permitted to marry. a comparable share (local median of 42%) state the church should allow ladies to be ordained as priests. for each problem, many Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. benefit changing the Catholic Church’s conventional jobs: 59% state priests should really be permitted to marry, and 55% think ladies should really be qualified to provide within the priesthood.

Reputation For Religious Change

In 1910, a calculated 94% of Latin Us citizens had been Catholic, and just about 1% had been Protestant. But Catholics started decreasing being a share of neden daha fazlasını öğrenmiyorsun this region’s population in the 1970s, relating to Brazilian and Mexican census information and historic quotes through the World Religion Database.

at the time of 2014, this new Pew Research Center study discovers that 69% of Latin Us americans identify as Catholic, while 19% belong to Protestant churches and 8% are consistently unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or no specific faith). The rest of the 4% include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Spiritists and adherents of Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian or religions that are indigenous such as for example Umbanda and Candomble. (start to see the glossary.)

Scholars of faith in Latin America provide a few feasible sociological explanations for the increase of Protestantism, and specially its Pentecostal variation. One concept posits that Pentecostalism’s compatibility with native religions enhanced its appeal among Latin People in america. By emphasizing contact that is personal the divine through faith recovery, talking in tongues and prophesying, Pentecostalism draws people who share an affinity with native religions that traditionally incorporate opinions and methods connected with direct interaction utilizing the “spirit globe.”

Another possible explanation highlights the practical reasons why Pentecostalism might have gained an after in the area. Pentecostals frequently stress upward social and financial flexibility and thrift. Consequently, supporters of Pentecostalism could begin to see the faith as more conducive to prosperity that is economic. 6 historic estimates for specific Latin US nations underscore that the shift far from Catholicism is really a phenomenon that is relatively recent many places. The quotes expose just two locations that experienced double-digit decreases in Catholic identification between 1910 and 1970: Chile (a decline of 20 portion points) and Puerto Rico (a 13-point decrease). In Colombia, the portion defined as Catholic really increased by 15 portion points between 1910 and 1970.

In comparison, the time scale between 1970 and 2014 is marked by significant decreases when you look at the percentages of Catholics in the majority of for the countries surveyed – ranging from the 47-point fall in Honduras up to a 5-point decline in Paraguay.

The Pew Research Center formerly noted post-1970 decreases in Catholic identification in Brazil and Chile. (begin to see the 2006 Pew Research report “Spirit and energy: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals” and also the 2013 report “Brazil’s Changing landscape.” that is spiritual

Concerning the study

This report is dependent on findings from the Pew Research Center survey carried out with nice capital through the Pew Charitable Trusts together with John Templeton Foundation. The study occurred October 2013 to February 2014 among nationally samples that are representative 18 nations therefore the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Together, these nations and Puerto Rico account fully for a lot more than 95per cent for the total populace of Latin America. The study ended up being carried out through face-to-face interviews in Spanish, Portuguese and Guarani. Sample sizes and margins of mistake by nation can be found below. For lots more information, look at survey methodology.

Many Pew Research workers contributed growth of this study and accompanying report. James Bell and Neha Sahgal had been the researchers that are principal the lead writers of this report. Alan Cooperman had been the lead editor. Steve Schwarzer, Fatima Ghani and Michael Robbins aided design sampling plans, monitor field work and evaluate data quality. Ghani drafted Chapter 9 (Views of Pope Francis additionally the Catholic Church) and Juan Carlos Donoso drafted Chapter 8 (Religion and Science). Phillip Connor drafted the parts in the past reputation for spiritual improvement in the location. Cary Funk, Jessica Martinez, Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera assisted in questionnaire development; Martinez, Jill Carle, Kat Devlin, Elizabeth Sciupac, Claire Gecewicz, Besheer Mohamed and Angelina Theodorou assisted with number checking. Sandra Stencel, Michael Lipka and Aleksandra Sandstrom supplied editorial review and content modifying. Stacy Rosenberg, Bill Webster, Adam Nekola, Ben Wormald and Diana Yoo designed the graphics and online presentation that is interactive. Other people in the Pew Research Center whom contributed towards the report consist of Conrad Hackett, Mark Lopez, Claudia Deane, Michael Dimock, Anne Shi, Katie Simmons and Jessica Schillinger. Luis Lugo, previous manager for the center’s Religion & Public Life Project, had been instrumental in conceiving the study and supplied guidance throughout its execution.