Latin People in the us have commonly embraced Pope Francis, the Argentine-born Jesuit bishop elected to lead the Catholic Church after Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013. Favorable views regarding the pontiff that is new throughout the area, with two-thirds or higher regarding the populace in many nations expressing a confident viewpoint of Pope Francis if the study had been carried out in belated 2013 and early 2014.

Latin catholics that are american specially excited about Pope Francis, with clear majorities throughout the area rating him positively. Certainly, in 14 for the nations surveyed, at half that is least of Catholics state they have an extremely favorable viewpoint of Francis.

Former Catholics, in contrast, are ambivalent in regards to the pope that is new. Clearly negative views of Pope Francis are reasonably uncommon among this team, but so might be overwhelmingly good responses, except in Francis’ home country of Argentina. For a lot of former Catholics, the jury remains away. Generally in most places surveyed, a 3rd or even more 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 even more of Catholics in 16 for the nations polled see the choice regarding the previous Argentine bishop as being a major modification. Previous Catholics are less particular; just in Argentina do up to half (53%) begin to see the brand new pope as representing an important change. As using the pope’s overall favorability, significant percentages of previous Catholics state it’s too quickly to share with whether Francis represents change that is much.

Aside from 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 usage of contraceptives.

There is also significant help among Latin American Catholics (a local median of 60%) for closing the church’s prohibition on breakup. 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 must certanly be permitted to marry. a share that is similarlocal median of 42%) say the church should allow ladies to be ordained as priests. for each problem, many catholics that are hispanic the U.S. benefit changing the Catholic Church’s old-fashioned jobs: 59% state priests should always be permitted to marry, and 55% think ladies must be entitled to provide into the priesthood.

Reputation For Religious Change

In 1910, a believed 94% of Latin People in america had been Catholic, and just about 1% were Protestant. But Catholics started decreasing being a share regarding the population that is region’s the 1970s, relating to Brazilian and Mexican census data 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). 4% include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Spiritists and adherents of Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian or native religions, 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 particularly 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 attracts people who share an affinity with native religions that traditionally incorporate values and techniques linked with direct interaction utilizing the “spirit world.”

Another explanation that is potential the practical main reasons why Pentecostalism could have gained an after in the area. Pentecostals frequently stress upward social and mobility that is economic thrift. Consequently, supporters of Pentecostalism may begin to see the faith as more conducive to financial success. 6 historic estimates for specific Latin US nations underscore that the change far from Catholicism is just a reasonably current sensation in many areas. The quotes expose just two locations where experienced double-digit declines in Catholic identification between 1910 and 1970: Chile (a decrease of 20 portion points) and Puerto Rico (a 13-point decrease). In Colombia, the portion defined as Catholic really increased by 15 percentage points between 1910 and 1970.

in comparison, the time scale between 1970 and 2014 is marked by significant decreases in the percentages of Catholics in the majority of for the countries surveyed – ranging from the drop that is 47-point Honduras to a 5-point decline in Paraguay.

The Pew Research Center previously noted post-1970 decreases in Catholic identification in Brazil and Chile. ( See the 2006 Pew Research report “Spirit and energy: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals” and the 2013 report “Brazil’s Changing landscape.” this is certainly spiritual

In regards to the study

This report is founded on findings from a Pew Research Center survey carried out with ample money through the Pew Charitable Trusts therefore the John Templeton Foundation. The study were held October 2013 to February 2014 among nationally representative examples in 18 nations together with U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Together, these nations and Puerto Rico account fully for significantly more than 95per cent for the population that is total of America. The study had been 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, begin to see the survey methodology.

Many Pew researching personnel contributed growth of this study and report that is accompanying. James Bell and Neha Sahgal were the researchers that are principal the lead writers of this report. Alan Cooperman ended up being the lead editor. Steve Schwarzer, Fatima Ghani and Michael Robbins assisted design sampling plans, monitor field work and assess information quality. Ghani drafted Chapter 9 (Views of Pope Francis while the Catholic Church) and Juan Carlos Donoso drafted Chapter 8 (Religion and Science). Phillip Connor drafted the parts regarding the reputation for spiritual improvement in . 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 editing. Stacy Rosenberg, Bill Webster, Adam Nekola, Ben Wormald and Diana Yoo designed the graphics and online interactive presentation. Other people during the Pew Research Center whom contributed to your report consist of Conrad Hackett, Mark Lopez, Claudia Deane, Michael Dimock, Anne Shi, Katie Simmons and Jessica Schillinger. Luis Lugo, previous director associated with center’s Religion & Public lifetime venture, ended up being instrumental in conceiving the study and supplied guidance throughout its execution.