Catholicism’s decline, “nones” on the rise in six countries

Catholicism has declined in multiple Latin American countries over the last decade, while a growing share of adults describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, Pew Research Center surveys found.

The Pew report, released Wednesday, is based on surveys of adults conducted in early 2024 in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—countries that together make up about 75% of Latin America’s population.

“Our analysis found that the Catholic share of the population in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru — which collectively make up about 75% of Latin America’s population — has significantly declined since 2013-14, while a growing share of adults in the region are religiously unaffiliated,” said Kirsten Lesage, a Pew research associate and the lead author of the report.

Catholics down in each country; unaffiliated up

Pew found that Catholics make up 46% to 67% of the adult population in the six countries, while the share of adults who are religiously unaffiliated ranges from 12% to 33%.

The report said the share of Catholics declined in each country over the past decade by at least 9 percentage points, while the share of religiously unaffiliated adults rose by 7 percentage points or more.

Lesage said the unaffiliated have overtaken Protestants in several places: “In fact, there are now more religiously unaffiliated adults than Protestants in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico,” she said.

A decade ago, Pew reported, the six countries all had Catholic majorities—about 6 in 10 or more adults in each country identified as Catholic. Today, Pew found that about half of Brazilians and Chileans identify as Catholic, and about two-thirds of Mexicans and Peruvians are Catholic.

In Argentina and Colombia, Pew found that about 6 in 10 adults are Catholic, but those majorities are smaller than they were a decade earlier.

Context: scandals, church positions and stable Protestantism

The AP report said Pew links Catholic influence in Latin America to erosion following clergy sex abuse scandals and opposition to the church’s stances on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

Pew also said many people in countries such as Argentina look for spiritual answers beyond the Catholic Church, ranging from practices such as yoga and tarot to astrology and other beliefs outside organized religion.

The analysis said Protestantism has remained “relatively stable” across Latin America since 2013-14, according to Pew. In Brazil, the AP reported that 29% of adults now identify as Protestant, compared with 26% in 2013-14.

The major shift, Pew said, has occurred among people with no religious affiliation. In Mexico, Pew found that about 2 in 10 adults identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” while roughly 1 in 10 Mexicans identify with any branch of Protestantism.

Despite change, Pew said many remain religious

Lesage said that even with changes in religious identity, Latin Americans remain religious on average: “What’s striking is that, despite these shifts in religious identity, Latin Americans remain quite religious, on average,” she said.

Pew said belief in God is widespread, with about 9 in 10 or more adults in each country saying they believe in God. It also found that about half or more of adults in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru say religion is “very important” in their lives, and that majorities of adults in Brazil, Colombia and Peru say they pray at least once a day.

The AP report said Pew’s analysis found Latin Americans are about as likely to believe in God as they were a decade ago. Even among those with no religious affiliation, Pew said most still say they believe in God.

The survey included 6,234 Latin American adults interviewed from Jan. 22 to April 27, 2024, and Pew reported that the margin of error varies by country, ranging from plus or minus 4.0 percentage points to 4.5 percentage points.

License: CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain) — https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/