USA TODAY: …The shift is dramatic for a region that has long been one of the bastions of Catholicism in the world. With more than 425 million Catholics, Latin America accounts for nearly 40% of the global Catholic population. Through the 1960s, at least 90% of Latin Americans were Catholic, and 84% of people surveyed recently by the Pew Research Center said they were raised Catholic.
But the report released Thursday found that only 69% of Latin Americans still consider themselves Catholic, with more people switching to more conservative Protestant churches (19%) or describing themselves as agnostic or religiously unaffiliated (8%)…
“While it is too soon to know whether (Pope) Francis can stop or reverse the church’s losses in the region, the new survey finds that people who are currently Catholic overwhelmingly view Francis favorably and consider his papacy a major change for the church,” the report said. “But former Catholics are more skeptical about Pope Francis. Only in Argentina and Uruguay do majorities of ex-Catholics express a favorable view of the pope.”… (more)
