Aleja Hertzler-McCain

The largest Latin American countries are now only two-thirds Catholic.

In some, like Brazil, Catholic adults make up less than half the population.

This represents a significant decrease over the last 10 years.

That's largely because many Latin Americans are becoming religiously unaffiliated.

But being unaffiliated doesn't mean they don't believe in God or pray daily.

They actually report doing both at almost the same rate as European Christians.

Latin American Pentecostals have been an important demographic politically.

Their support has been linked to conservative success, but Pew's data shows that now a smaller share of Latin American Protestants are Pentecostal as compared to a decade ago.

For NPR News, I'm Aleja Hertzler-McCain.

The largest Latin American countries are now only two-thirds Catholic.

In some, like Brazil, Catholic adults make up less than half the population.

This represents a significant decrease over the last 10 years.

That's largely because many Latin Americans are becoming religiously unaffiliated.

But being unaffiliated doesn't mean they don't believe in God or pray daily.

They actually report doing both at almost the same rate as European Christians.

Latin American Pentecostals have been an important demographic politically.

Their support has been linked to conservative success, but Pew's data shows that now a smaller share of Latin American Protestants are Pentecostal as compared to a decade ago.

For NPR News, I'm Aleja Hertzler-McCain.

Conservatives are revisiting Francis' policies that they disagreed with. Those include his suppression of certain Latin masses, allowing the blessing of same-sex couples, and his advocacy for the environment and thawing of relations with China.

Conservatives are revisiting Francis' policies that they disagreed with. Those include his suppression of certain Latin masses, allowing the blessing of same-sex couples, and his advocacy for the environment and thawing of relations with China.