Nearly 94 Percent of Latinos Are Christian

By Alfonso Aguilar
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 5/16/02)

Between 92 and 94 percent of Latinos in the United States are affiliated with a Christian faith, most of them Catholic (70 percent). Only 3 percent are not Christian and a mere 1 percent are atheists or agnostics.

Hispanic Catholics are less conservative than Protestant groups on issues such as abortion, homosexuality and help for illegal immigrants, but Latinos are more inclined to become Protestants with the passing of generations. For example, from the first to third generation Catholics decreased from 74 to 59 percent while Protestants increased from 18 to 32 percent.

These figures appear in a national survey conducted by the Tómas Rivera Policy Institute in California. It was commissioned by the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

"The Impact of Religion on Latino Political Attitudes and Participation," a unique and unparalleled survey, examines how and to what extent religious affiliation, experience and/or activities matter politically among Latinos. The study included interviews with a random sampling of 2,310 Latinos over a 10-week period from Aug. 21 to Oct. 31, 2000.

"It is undoubtedly the most solid, comprehensive and scientific survey dealing with the faith of our community and its influence in public life," said theologian Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, associate director of the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "One of the most revealing findings is that nearly 94 percent of Latinos identify themselves as Christians and that out of 25 million, 6.6 million are actively involved in Catholic charismatic movements."

Church attendance influences attitudes toward the death penalty, school vouchers, abortion and homosexual relations, and increases the likelihood of voting participation," says the survey. For example, 64 percent of those who go to church once a week or more report that they went to the polls in the 1996 presidential election, as compared with only 46 percent who voted but did not attend Mass.

Opinions on abortion by religious affiliation show that 40 percent of Protestants, as compared to 22 percent of Catholics, strongly believe that abortion should never be permitted. Amazingly, 27 percent of Catholics favor abortion as a matter of personal choice as compared to 19 percent of Protestants.

Responses to questions on homosexuality revealed that, although the majority rejects it, Catholics are more tolerant than Protestants. For 61 percent of Catholics, homosexuality is "always wrong," and 80 percent of Protestants agree; and while 25 percent of Catholics says there is "nothing wrong" with homosexuality, only 12 percent of Protestants share the same opinion.

In general, a majority (45 percent) of those affiliated with a religion attend religious services regularly. Only seven percent report that they never go to church or religious services.

The survey’s statistics show that 61 percent remain faithful to their original religion, 39 percent report that they have personally had a conversion experience related to Jesus Christ. Seventy-seven percent of Protestants identify themselves as born-again Christians as compared with 27 percent of Catholics.

Those who declare themselves to be "born-again" are more likely to believe that religious leaders should have an impact on public life, reports the survey. Of those who attend religious services, 43 percent prefer Spanish Mass, and 27 percent English.

A majority (53 percent) say that their religion provides a great deal of guidance in their day-to-day living.

Final results will be published in a book by Oxford University Press in 2003.  

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