Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The author explores the debate over US Latino religious affiliation. Depending on whom you believe, Latino Catholic affiliation in the United States runs from 77 to as low as 50%. After reviewing the limitations of previous studies, the author draws on the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life (HCAPL) national survey (n = 2060) to explore six demographic shifts in US Latino religions: (1) Catholic defections; (2) mass conversions to Protestantism; (3) mainline Protestant market share loss; (4) Pentecostal growth and the Pentecostalization of Latino Christianity; (5) growth of alternative Christian traditions; and (6) growth of world religions, metaphysical traditions and non-denominationalism. By breaking down Latino Protestantism into mainline, evangelical, and Pentecostal, the author challenges the theory that Latinos convert for status advantage and upward mobility. These shifts suggest that the future of US Latino religions is not only going to remain Catholic, but will also increasingly be Pentecostal/charismatic, alternative Christian, “heterodox”, and other non-denominational.

Keywords

Latino religions Pentecostalism

References

Barnes, Gerald R. (2001) Hispanic Ministry at the Turn of the Millennium: A Report of the Bishop’s Committee on Hispanic Affairs, pp. 1-43. Washington, DC: National Conference of Catholic Bishops .

Brackenridge, R. Douglas et García-Treto, Francisco O. (1987) Iglesia Cristiana: A History of Presbyterians and Mexican Americans in the Southwest. San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press .

Cruz, Ron (2002) Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry. Washington, DC: Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops .

Díaz-Stevens , Ana María et Stevens-Arroyo , Anthony M. (1998) Recognizing the Hispanic Religious Resurgence in U.S. Religion. New York: Westview Press .

Espinosa, Gaston (1999) Borderland Religion: Los Angeles and the Origins of the Hispanic Pentecostal Movement in the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico, 1900-1945, PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Espinosa, Gaston (2003) “The Impact of Pluralism on Trends in Latin American and U.S. Hispanic Religions and Society” , Perspectivas (Fall): 9-55 .

Espinosa, Gaston , Elizondo, Virgilio et Miranda, Jesse (2003) Hispanic Churches in American Public Life. Notre Dame, IN: Center for the Study of Hispanique Religions at the University of Notre Dame .

Froehle, Brian T. et Gautier, Mary L. (2000) Catholicism USA, p. 17. Maryknoll, MD: Orbis .

Gallup, George, Jr et Lindsay, Michael (1999) Surveying the Religious Landscape. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing .

10.

Gonzalez, Justo (1991) Each in Our Own Tongue: A History of Hispanic United Methodism. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press .

11.

Greeley, Andrew M. (1988) “Defection Among Hispanics”, America 30 July: 61-62.

12.

Greeley, Andrew M. (1994) “The Demography of American Catholics: 1965-1990”, in The Sociology of Andrew M. Greeley, pp. 545-564. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press .

13.

Greeley, Andrew M. (1997) “Defection Among Hispanics (Updated)”, America 27 September: 12-13.

14.

Griffith, Beatrice (1947) American Me. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company .

15.

Hunt, Larry (1998) “The Spirit of Hispanic Protestantism in the United States: National Survey Comparisons of Catholics and Non-Catholics” , Social Science Quarterly 79(4): 828-845 .

16.

Hunt, Larry (1999) “Hispanic Protestantism in the United States: Trends by Decade and Generation” , Social Forces 77(4): 1601-1624 .

17.

Hunt, Larry (2000) “Religion and Secular Status among Hispanics in the United States: Catholicism and the Varieties of Hispanic Protestantism” , Social Science Quarterly 81(1): 344-362 .

18.

Jasso, Guillermina , Massey, Douglas S. , Rosenzweig, Mark R. et Smith, James (2003) “Exploring the Religious Preferences of Recent Immigrants to the United States: Evidence from the New Immigrant Survey Pilot”, in Yvonne Yaz-beck Haddad , Jane I. Smith et John L. Esposito (eds) Religion and Immigration: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Experiences in the United States, pp. 217-253. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press .

19.

Kosmin, Barry et Lachman, Seymour (1993) One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society. New York: Harmony Books .

20.

McLean, Robert N. (1923) “Getting God Counted Among the Mexicans” , Missionary Review of the World May: 363 .

21.

Roundy, Rodney W. (1921) “The Mexican in our Midst” , Missionary Review of the World May: 366 .

22.

Sherkat, Darren E. (2001) “Tracking the Restructuring of American Religion: Religious Affiliation and Patterns of Religious Mobility, 1973-1998” , Social Forces 79(4): 1459-1493 .

Changements démographiques et religieux chez les hispaniques des Etats-Unis

Abstract

Keywords

References