Courtney McGrailMore Latin Americans are associating with Protestantism or leaving organised religion
A new Pew Research Centre survey reports a rapid decline in Latin Americans calling themselves Catholics.
The survey finds that 69% of Latin Americans are calling themselves Catholics, in stark contrast to 90% during the majority of the 20th century.
The decline appears recent with 84% surveyed reporting being raised Catholic.
Many Latin Americans have completely left organised religion while others have turned to the Protestant religion.
Uruguay emerged as Latin America's most secular country, with 37% of people saying they were atheist or agnostic or had no religious affiliation. Just 42% of people from Uruguay say they are Catholic.
About one in ten Latin Americans were raised Protestant, but nearly one in five now call themselves Protestant. About 4% of Latin Americans were raised without organised religion, but now 8% are not affiliated to any religion.
The losses in the Catholic church was a factor in the 2013 election of Pope Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who is the first Latin American pontiff.
"In most of the countries surveyed, at least a third of current Protestants were raised in the Catholic Church, and half or more say they were baptized as Catholics," the authors of the report said.
According to the survey two-thirds or more respondents held positive views of Pope Francis. However, the authors of the Pew report said former Catholics are more skeptical of the pope than those still in the church.