Religion in Latin America

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Latin American Religions

Latin American Religions provides an introduction through documents to the historical development and contemporary expressions of religious life in South and Central America, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. A central feature of this text is its inclusion of both primary and secondary materials, including letters, sermons, journal entries, ritual manuals, and ancient sacred texts. These documents provide readers with direct access to the voices of adherents, enabling them to act as academic investigators, experiencing and interpreting the same texts on which historians draw. The documents are framed by substantive introductions which provide both historical context and theoretical insights for the study of these religions traditions and the ways in which they have developed over time.

From the religious traditions of the Mayas and Aztecs and of the African diaspora, to official and popular Catholicism, to liberation theology, the rise of Pentecostalism, and emerging trends and new religious movements in Latin America, this new work offers a concise overview of this fascinating field.

Anna L. Peterson, Professor at the University of Florida, is the author of Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion and Seeds of the Kingdom: Utopian Communities in the Americas.

Manuel A. Vasquez, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, is the author of The Brazilian Popular Church and the Crisis of Modernity and co-author of Globalizing the Sacred: Religion Across the Americas.

Latinos and the New Immigrant Church

Latin Americans make up the largest new immigrant population in the United States, and Latino Catholics are the fastest-growing sector of the Catholic Church in America. In this book, historian David A. Badillo offers a history of Latino Catholicism in the United States by looking at its growth in San Antonio, Chicago, New York, and Miami. Focusing on twentieth-century Latino urbanism, Badillo contrasts broad historic commonalities of Catholic religious tradition with variations of Latino ethnicity in various locales. He emphasizes the contours of day-to-day life as well as various aspects of institutional and lived Catholicism. The story of Catholicism goes beyond clergy and laity; it entails the entire urban experience of neighborhoods, downtown power seekers, archdiocesan movers and shakers, and a range of organizations and associations linked to parishes. Although parishes remain the key site for Latino efforts to build individual and cultural identities, Badillo argues that one must consider simultaneously the triad of parish, city, and ethnicity to fully comprehend the influence of various Latino populations on both Catholicism and the urban environment in the United States. By contrasting the development of three distinctive Latino communities—the Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans—Badillo challenges the popular concept of an overarching "Latino experience" and offers instead an integrative approach to understanding the scope, depth, and complexity of the Latino contribution to the character of America's urban landscapes.

The Catholic Social Imagination

The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that resonates so profoundly with followers who live under disparate conditions? What is it, for instance, that binds parishioners in America with those in Mexico? For Joseph M. Palacios, what unites Catholics is a sense of being Catholic—a social imagination that motivates them to promote justice and build a better world.

In The Catholic Social Imagination, Palacios gives readers a feeling for what it means to be Catholic and put one’s faith into action. Tracing the practices of a group of parishioners in Oakland, California, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico, Palacios reveals parallels—and contrasts—in the ways these ordinary Catholics receive and act on a church doctrine that emphasizes social justice. Whether they are building a supermarket for the low-income elderly or waging protests to promote school reform, these parishioners provide important insights into the construction of the Catholic social imagination. Throughout, Palacios also offers important new cultural and sociological interpretations of Catholic doctrine on issues such as poverty, civil and human rights, political participation, and the natural law.

READING LISTS

For a best suggested readings see Peterson and Vasquez Latin American Religions (above) Pg. 311-317

For advanced students of Latin American religion please click the link below to the University of Florida's, doctoral Program in Religion in the Americas. Click here.

Visit our Companion Website

This site reflects heightened contemporary interest in Bartolomé de Las Casas. It provides information, research, and analysis of the life and writings of the person who has become a symbol of justice and human rights in Latin America and elsewhere.

http://www.lascasas.org

Catholic Charismatic Renewal: The Largest Movement

Countries Ranked by Estimated Number of Charismatic Catholics (in millions)

Brazil	33.7
Colombia	11.3
Mexico	9.2
Argentina	4.7
Venezuela	3.1
Peru	2.4
Chile	1.6
Ecuador	1.2
Bolivia	.881
Guatemala	.864
Haiti	.782
Dominican Republic	.752
Honduras	.503
El Salvador	.400
Cuba	.349
Nicaragua	.216
Uruguay	.208
Panama	.198
Costa Rica	.183
Paraguay	.099

Source: David Barrett and Tod Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia.Oxford University Press; 2nd edition, 2001.

Is Evangelical Growth Leveling Off?
And Other Issues

As the national censuses and polls from the early part of the millennium
are reported, several aspects of religion in key countries have become
clearer.

1. The increase of evangelicals appeared to have peaked in two of the
three countries most talked about when dealing with evangelical growth:

Guatemala: the SEPAL and CID-Gallup polls show virtually no growth since
the early 1990s. The percentage of evangelicals remains at about 25 per
cent of the national population.

Chile: Carla Lehmann of el Centro de Estudios Públicos (2001) believes
that the national percentage of evangelicos has stabilized at 15 per cent
in her country.

2. Apostacy among evangelicals is extraordinarily high. See “Shopping
Around” article (below).

3. Lack of regular attendance among evangelicals has been a problem in
some countries for years. In 1991 less than half of evangelicals (most of
whom are Pentecostals in Chile) attended church weekly. Further, lack of
regular attendance among Chilean evangelicals increased to 38 per cent in
1998.

4. The category of no religion is growing in Latin America. Polls in
Guatemala since 1990 have showed about 12 per cent of citizens saying
they have no religious affiliation. Kurt Bowen’s study of evangelicals in
Mexico found that 43 per cent of second-generation of evangelicals no
longer claimed any religious affiliation. The recent census of Brazil
also pointed out large increases in this category.
For sources: see “Shopping Around” (below)

THE THIRD CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA:
Religion and Globalization in Contemporary
Latin America

Reviews six recent books in Latin American Research Review
Click Here
(Courtesy of LARR Editor)

Latin American Studies Program of Providence College

Last Round in Rational Choice Debate

Article on Web about Conversions

Three Books on Net and Downloadable:

Biographies

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