Most Hispanics in the United States continue to belong to the Roman Catholic Church. But the Catholic share of the Hispanic population is declining, while rising numbers of Hispanics are Protestant or unaffiliated with any religion. Indeed, nearly one-in-four Hispanic adults (24%) are now former Catholics, according to a major, nationwide survey of more than 5,000 Hispanics by the Pew Research Center. Together, these trends suggest that some religious polarization is taking place in the Hispanic community, with the shrinking majority of Hispanic Catholics holding the middle ground between two growing groups (evangelical Protestants and the unaffiliated) that are at opposite ends of the U.S. religious spectrum.

The Pew Research Center’s 2013 National Survey of Latinos and Religion finds that a majority (55%) of the nation’s estimated 35.4 million Latino adults – or about 19.6 million Latinos – identify as Catholic today. ¹ About 22% are Protestant (including 16% who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical) and 18% are religiously unaffiliated.

The share of Hispanics who are Catholic likely has been in decline for at least the last few decades.² But as recently as 2010, Pew Research polling found that fully two-thirds of Hispanics (67%) were Catholic. That means the Catholic share has dropped by 12 percentage points in just the last four years, using Pew Research’s standard survey question about religious affiliation.³

The long-term decline in the share of Catholics among Hispanics may partly reflect religious changes underway in Latin America, where evangelical churches have been gaining adherents and the share of those with no religious affiliation has been slowly rising in a region that historically has been overwhelmingly Catholic.⁴ But it also reflects religious changes taking place in the U.S., where Catholicism has had a net loss of adherents through religious switching (or conversion) and the share of the religiously unaffiliated has been growing rapidly in the general public.⁵

Hispanics leaving Catholicism have tended to move in two directions. Some have become born-again or evangelical Protestants, a group that exhibits very high levels of religious commitment. On average, Hispanic evangelicals – many of whom also identify as either Pentecostal or charismatic Protestants – not only report higher rates of church attendance than Hispanic Catholics but also tend to be more engaged in other religious activities, including Scripture reading, Bible study groups and sharing their faith.

At the same time, other Hispanics have become religiously unaffiliated – that is, they describe themselves as having no particular religion or say they are atheist or agnostic. This group exhibits much lower levels of religious observance and involvement than Hispanic Catholics. In this respect, unaffiliated Hispanics roughly resemble the religiously unaffiliated segment of the general public.

Hispanic Catholics are somewhere in the middle. They fall in between evangelicals and the unaffiliated in terms of church attendance, frequency of prayer and the degree of importance they assign to religion in their lives, closely resembling white (non-Hispanic) Catholics in their moderate levels of religious observance and engagement (see Chapter 3).

These three Hispanic religious groups also have distinct social and political views, with evangelical Protestants at the conservative end of the spectrum, the unaffiliated at the liberal end and Hispanic Catholics in between.

These are among the key findings of the Pew Research Center’s 2013 National Survey of Latinos and Religion. The survey was conducted May 24-July 28, 2013, among a representative sample of 5,103 Hispanic adults (ages 18 and older) living in the United States. The survey was conducted in English and in Spanish on both cellular and landline telephones with a staff of bilingual interviewers. The margin of error for results based on all respondents is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. For more details, see Appendix A: Survey Methodology.

The remainder of this overview discusses the key findings in greater detail, beginning with a deeper look at changes in religious affiliation among Latinos in recent years, which have been concentrated among young and middle-aged adults (ages 18-49). While these shifts are complicated and defy any single, simple explanation, the report examines some potential factors, including patterns in religious switching since childhood, the reasons Latinos most frequently give for changing their religion, areas of agreement and disagreement with the Catholic Church, and the continuing appeal of Pentecostalism. The report also explores key differences between Latino religious groups, placing Latino Protestants, Catholics and religiously unaffiliated adults on a spectrum in terms of religious commitment, social attitudes and political views.

Broad-Based Changes in Religious Identity

The recent changes in religious affiliation are broad-based, occurring among Hispanic men and women, those born in the United States and those born abroad, and those who have attended college as well as those with less formal education. The changes are also occurring among Hispanics of Mexican origin (the largest single origin group) and those with other origins.

The change, however, has occurred primarily among Hispanic adults under the age of 50, and the patterns vary considerably among different age groups. Among the youngest cohort of Hispanic adults, those ages 18-29, virtually all of the net change has been away from Catholicism and toward no religious affiliation. Among those ages 30-49, the net movement has been away from Catholicism and toward both evangelical Protestantism and no religious affiliation. Among Hispanics ages 50 and older, the changes in religious identity are not statistically significant.

For more on religious affiliation, see Chapter 1.

Religious Switching Since Childhood

The decline in Catholic affiliation among Latinos is due, at least in part, to changes in religious affiliation since childhood.⁶ Three-quarters of Latino adults in the new survey (77%) say they were raised as Catholics, while just over half (55%) currently describe themselves as Catholics. Roughly a quarter of Latinos were raised Catholic and have left the faith (24%), while just 2% were raised in some other faith and have converted to Catholicism, for a net decline of 22 percentage points.

Catholicism is the only major religious tradition among Latinos that has seen a net loss in adherents due to religious switching. Net gains have occurred among the religiously unaffiliated (up 12 percentage points) and among Protestants (up eight points).

Foreign Born

Roughly half of Hispanic adults (50%) were born outside the United States. ⁷ Among these first-generation immigrants, Catholics have had a net loss of 19 percentage points due to religious switching. The net gains are about evenly divided between those who have changed to Protestant (a net gain of eight percentage points) and those who have changed to no religious affiliation (a net gain of 10 percentage points).

Among Hispanic immigrants who say their current religion is different from their childhood religion, roughly half say this change occurred after moving to the U.S., while nearly as many say they changed religion before coming to the United States.

U.S. Born

At the same time, a growing share of Hispanics were born in the U.S., and they are gradually shifting the demographic center of gravity in the Hispanic community from immigrants to the U.S. born.⁸ Looking at religious switching among the native born, the biggest gains have been among the unaffiliated (a net gain of 17 percentage points) and Protestants (a net gain of seven points). Catholics, by contrast, have had a net loss of 25 percentage points among the native born.

For more on religious switching, see Chapter 2.

Reasons Given for Switching Religions

The new survey asked respondents who have left their childhood religion about the reasons they did so. Of six possible reasons offered on the survey, two were cited as important by half or more of Hispanics who have changed faiths: 55% say they just gradually “drifted away” from the religion in which they were raised, and 52% say they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood religion.

In addition, nearly a third (31%) say they found a congregation that reaches out and helps its members more, while roughly a fifth say the decision was associated with a “deep personal crisis” (23%) or with moving to a new community (19%). About one-in-ten (9%) say that marrying someone who practices a different faith was an important reason for leaving their childhood religion.

Latinos who have left the Catholic Church are especially likely to say that an important reason was that they stopped believing in its teachings; 63% of former Catholics who are now unaffiliated and 57% of former Catholics who are now Protestants give this reason for having left the church.

In addition, 49% of Hispanics who were raised as Catholics and have become Protestants say that an important factor was finding a church that “reaches out and helps its members more.”

The survey also contained an open-ended question asking respondents to explain, in their own words, the main reason they left their childhood religion. Some former Catholics cite particular aspects of Catholicism that they now reject, such as the veneration of saints and the Virgin Mary, or trust in the Catholic priesthood; about 3% specifically mention the scandal over sexual abuse by clergy, for example. But many others give general answers, such as that they no longer accept Catholic doctrine, came to a different understanding of the Bible, found God’s love, lost faith in all religions or decided for themselves what to believe.

For more on the reasons Hispanics give for switching faiths, see Chapter 2.

For an analysis of the extent to which childhood Catholics who have switched faiths or become religiously unaffiliated retain vestiges of Catholic beliefs and practices, such as praying to the Virgin Mary and displaying a crucifix or other religious objects in their home, see Chapter 4.

Attitudes of Current and Former Catholics Toward the Catholic Church

On the whole, Hispanic Catholics express very positive views of some aspects of their church. For example, more than eight-in-ten say their opinion of Pope Francis is either very favorable (45%) or mostly favorable (38%).⁹ Nearly two-thirds (64%) say they consider the typical Catholic Mass to be “lively and exciting.” And about six-in-ten Hispanic Catholics (62%) consider the Catholic Church to be very welcoming to new immigrants. An additional three-in-ten (29%) say it is somewhat welcoming; just 5% say it is “not too” welcoming or “not at all” welcoming to immigrants. Foreign-born and U.S.-born Catholics are about equally likely to see the Catholic Church as welcoming toward immigrants.

In general, the survey finds that former Catholics tend to be less positive on these questions. Though a plurality (50%) of Hispanics who were raised as Catholics and have since left the church hold favorable opinions of Pope Francis, a larger share of former Catholics than current Catholics express an unfavorable view of the pontiff (21% vs. 6%) or do not state an opinion (29% vs. 5%). Only one-third of Hispanics who have left the faith say the Catholic Church is very welcoming toward new immigrants (33%), and just one-in-five think the typical Mass is lively and exciting (19%). However, these are classic chicken-and-egg situations: it is impossible to know whether such views are a cause of religious switching or a consequence of having switched.

Even as Latino Catholics generally express positive views of their church, there is strong consensus among them that more action is needed to address the clergy sex abuse scandal. About three-quarters of the current Catholics surveyed say the church needs to do “a lot more” (74%) to address the scandal; just 4% say the church does not need to do anything more to address the sex abuse issue.

Moreover, most Hispanic Catholics are at odds with the church’s teachings on divorce and contraception, and most favor allowing priests to marry and women to become priests. Disagreement with these church teachings is stronger among Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass less regularly. But even among weekly Mass attenders, about half or more support changing the church’s positions on these issues.¹⁰ (Questions about whether the Catholic Church should change its positions were asked only of Catholics.)

Continuing Appeal of Pentecostalism

One of the main findings of the first major Pew Research survey of Latinos and religion, conducted in 2006 and released in 2007, was the strong influence of Pentecostalism and related “charismatic” or “spirit-filled” religious movements, which have been burgeoning in Latin America and other countries in the “global South” for the past century or so.¹¹ Those who belong to this diverse and dynamic branch of Christianity are sometimes referred to as “renewalists” because of their belief in the spiritually renewing gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, divine healing and prophesying. They also nurture a strong sense of God’s direct, often miraculous, role in everyday life.

The influence of Pentecostalism is still strongly felt within the Hispanic community. The new survey finds that among Hispanics who have left Catholicism and now identify as Protestants, more than a quarter (28%) are Pentecostal. Among Hispanic Protestants overall, two-thirds either say they belong to a traditional Pentecostal denomination (29%) or describe themselves as charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (38%). Among Hispanic Catholics, 52% describe themselves as charismatic Christians. (For definitions of terms, see Chapter 7.)

Hispanics who are Pentecostals are particularly likely to report having received a divine healing (64%) or a direct revelation from God (64%), to have witnessed the devil or spirits being driven out of a person (59%), and to say they have spoken in tongues (49%). And those who describe themselves as charismatics are more likely than those who do not describe themselves as renewalist Christians to have witnessed or participated in these types of experiences. For more on renewalism among both Protestants and Catholics, see Chapter 7. In addition, Chapter 8 looks at the influence of indigenous or Afro-Caribbean religions and the importance of the spirit world in Hispanics’ everyday lives.

Measures of Religious Commitment

As the religious diversity of Latinos grows, the major religious groups are marked by sharply differing levels of religious commitment.

Latino evangelical Protestants are the most likely to say they attend worship services at least weekly, pray daily and consider religion to be very important in their lives. Religiously unaffiliated Latinos are at the other end of the spectrum, with just 6% reporting that they attend services weekly and a minority saying that religion is very important to them (20%) or that they pray daily (29%). Latino Catholics and mainline Protestants fall in the middle between these two groups.

With few exceptions, Hispanic religious groups are similar to their non-Hispanic counterparts in the general public in terms of religious commitment. The main exception is Hispanic mainline Protestants, who tend to be somewhat more religious, by conventional measures, than white (non-Hispanic) mainline Protestants. The differences stem primarily from higher levels of religious practice among foreign-born mainliners. U.S.-born Hispanic mainline Protestants resemble white (non-Hispanic) mainline Protestants in their levels of religious commitment. For more on religious commitment and practices, including engagement in congregational life, see Chapter 3.

Social and Political Views

When it comes to social and political views, Hispanics also fall into distinct groups along religious lines.

Same-Sex Marriage

Like the U.S. public as a whole, Latinos have become more inclined to favor same-sex marriage in recent years; support among Latinos has risen from 30% in 2006 to 46% in 2013. However, there still are sizable differences in views about same-sex marriage among Hispanic religious groups. Religiously unaffiliated Hispanics favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally by a roughly four-to-one margin (67% to 16%). Hispanic Protestants tilt in the opposite direction, with evangelical Protestants much more inclined to oppose same-sex marriage (66% opposed, 19% in favor). Hispanic Catholics fall in between, though more say they favor same-sex marriage (49%) than oppose it (30%). Mainline Protestants are closely divided on the issue, with nearly four-in-ten (37%) opposed to same-sex marriage and 44% in favor. These differences among Hispanic religious groups are largely in keeping with patterns found among the same religious groups in the general public.¹²

Abortion

Hispanics tend to be more conservative than the general public in their views on abortion. While 54% of U.S. adults say that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, just four-in-ten Hispanics take this position.

But Latino religious groups differ markedly in their views about abortion. Most Latino evangelical Protestants (70%) say that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, as do 54% of Latino Catholics. Latino mainline Protestants are closely divided, with 45% saying abortion should be mostly legal and 46% saying it should be mostly illegal. And a majority of religiously unaffiliated Hispanics (58%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Views on abortion among Hispanic evangelical Protestants are similar to those among white (non-Hispanic) evangelicals, 64% of whom say that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances. Hispanic Catholics are more inclined than white Catholics to say that abortion should be illegal (54% vs. 44%). Hispanic mainline Protestants are also more inclined than white mainline Protestants to say that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances (46% vs. 31%).¹³ The belief that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases is more common among those who attend religious services at least once a week.

Religion in Politics

Latinos are closely divided over the role that churches and other houses of worship should play in public debates over social and political issues. While 47% say that churches should express their views on social and political issues, a similar share (44%) say they should not. In the general public, more Americans say that churches should keep out of politics (54% to 40%), according to a 2012 Pew Research survey.

But, once again, there are sizable differences of opinion among Hispanic religious groups. About six-in-ten Hispanic evangelical Protestants (61%) say that church leaders should express their views on social and political issues, while about a third say church leaders should keep out of political matters. By contrast, half or more of religiously unaffiliated and mainline Protestant Hispanics say that church leaders should stay out of political matters. Hispanic Catholics are more divided on this issue, with about half (49%) saying church leaders should express their views and 41% saying church leaders should keep out of political matters.

Gender Roles

Solid majorities of Hispanics in all major religious groups reject traditional views of gender roles within marriage. Most say that a marriage in which both husband and wife hold jobs and help take care of the children (79%) is preferable to a traditional arrangement where the husband is the financial provider and the wife takes care of the house and children (18%). Further, about six-in-ten Hispanics (63%) reject the idea that “husbands should have the final say in family matters” – though fully one-third (34%) say husbands should have final say. Overall, Hispanics are no more likely to prefer traditional marriage roles than the general public was in a 2010 Pew Research survey that asked many of the same questions.¹⁴ And there are few significant differences of opinion about marital roles among Hispanics by gender, age or immigrant generation.

However, Latino evangelical Protestants are somewhat more likely than either Latino Catholics or religiously unaffiliated Latinos to say a traditional marriage is a more satisfying way of life (29% vs. 15% each).

And Latino Protestants – including mainline as well as evangelical Protestants – are more inclined than either Catholics or the religiously unaffiliated to believe that husbands should have the final say on family matters. Latinos who attend services more regularly are more inclined to say this than are those who attend less frequently.

Partisanship

Hispanics are more unified when it comes to party identification. Across all of the major religious groups, Hispanics are more likely to identify with the Democratic Party than with the Republican Party. Overall, 56% of Hispanics describe themselves as Democrats or as independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. About a fifth (21%) identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, and about a fifth (22%) do not lean toward either party.

The partisan gap is narrower among Latino evangelicals than among other religious groups. Three-in-ten Latino evangelical Protestants identify as Republicans or lean toward the Republicans, while 48% identify with or lean toward the Democrats. The religiously unaffiliated are particularly likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (64%) over the Republican Party (16%). Latino Catholics also tilt more heavily toward the Democrats (58%) than toward the GOP (21%).

About half or more of both foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics identify as Democrats or as independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. However, those who are foreign born – including some who are not U.S. citizens – are less likely to express a party affiliation than those who are U.S. born.

For more on views about social and political issues, see Chapter 9.

About the Survey

This report is based on findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted May 24-July 28, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of 5,103 Hispanic adults. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish on cellular as well as landline telephones. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval. Interviews were conducted for Pew Research by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS). For a detailed description of the methodology, see Appendix A.

Estimates of the current religious profile of Hispanics are based on 4,080 respondents who were asked the standard Pew Research question on religious affiliation, which has been used in numerous U.S. surveys since 2007.¹⁵ For more details on the current religious affiliation of Hispanics, see Chapter 1.

Estimates of change in religious affiliation from 2010 to 2013 are based on Pew Research surveys that use the same standard question about religious affiliation.

Pew Research’s first major survey of Hispanics and religion, conducted in 2006 and released in 2007, used a slightly different question on religious affiliation. To allow for a direct comparison with that survey, a random subsample of 1,023 respondents in the new survey were asked about their religious affiliation using the 2006 question wording. For more details, see the sidebar in Chapter 1.

Other analyses throughout this report are based on the full, combined sample (N=5,103).

Many Pew Research staff members contributed to the development of this survey and accompanying report. Jessica Hamar Martinez and Cary Funk were the principal researchers on this survey and lead authors of the report. They were assisted by Greg Smith, Associate Director of Religion Research. Elizabeth Sciupac contributed to the data analysis, writing and number checking. Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera also assisted with questionnaire development and analysis, and Besheer Mohamed and Angelina Theodorou helped with number checking. Sandra Stencel, Tracy Miller and Michael Lipka provided editorial review and copy editing. Others who contributed to the report include Erin O’Connell, Anna Brown, Noble Kuriakose, Joseph Liu, Eileen Patten, Katherine Ritchey, Stacy Rosenberg and Bill Webster. Fieldwork for the survey was ably carried out by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) under the direction of David Dutwin. The questionnaire and analysis benefited from the guidance of a number of others at the Pew Research Center, especially the center’s director of Hispanic research, Mark Hugo Lopez, as well as Claudia Deane, Michael Dimock and Alan Murray. Expert advice on portions of the questionnaire was provided by R. Andrew Chesnut of Virginia Commonwealth University, Joseph M. Murphy of Georgetown University and Timothy J. Steigenga of Florida Atlantic University. All these efforts were guided by Luis Lugo, former director of the Religion & Public Life Project, and the current director, Alan Cooperman.

Pew Research previously released two other reports in October 2013 based on this survey: “Latinos’ Views of Illegal Immigration’s Impact on Their Community Improve” and “Three-Fourths of Hispanics Say Their Community Needs a Leader.”

Roadmap to the Report

The remainder of this report details the survey’s findings on Latinos and religion. Chapter 1 looks at the religious affiliation of Hispanics, including religious profiles of the major Hispanic origin groups in the United States. Chapter 2 covers religious switching among Hispanics as well as reasons for leaving one’s childhood religion. Chapter 3 describes religious commitment and religious practices, including frequency of attendance at worship services, frequency of prayer and involvement in church activities aside from worship services. Chapter 4 examines Hispanics’ views of Pope Francis and of the Catholic Church more broadly. Chapter 5 discusses the ethnic characteristics of the churches that Hispanics attend, including the availability of Spanish-language worship services, the presence of Hispanic clergy and the presence of other Hispanic churchgoers. Chapter 6 explores religious beliefs, including beliefs about the Bible, the Virgin Mary and the prosperity gospel. Chapter 7 examines renewalism among Hispanics, including the beliefs and practices of those who identify as Pentecostal and charismatic Protestants and Catholics. Chapter 8 takes a closer look at the experience of the spirit world. Chapter 9 covers views on social and political issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, gender expectations and the role of the church in political matters.

More than half of Latinos identify themselves as Catholic, while most of the remainder are closely divided between Protestants and those who say they have no religious affiliation.

Religious affiliation varies across Hispanic origin groups. Hispanics of Mexican and Dominican descent are more heavily Catholic than are other origin groups. Among Hispanics of Salvadoran descent, nearly equal shares are Catholic and Protestant.

There also are differences in affiliation between Hispanics who were born in the U.S. and those who were born outside the U.S. Foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to identify as Catholic. Foreign-born and native-born Hispanics are about equally likely to be Protestant, but the native born are more likely to be religiously unaffiliated.

The Religious Profile of Latinos

A majority of Latinos (55%) identify as Catholic, while most of the rest of the Latino population is roughly evenly divided between adherents of various Protestant traditions (22%) and those who are religiously unaffiliated (18%).

Hispanics are significantly more Catholic and less Protestant than is the public as a whole. The unaffiliated shares of the two groups are about the same.

Among Latino Protestants, there is a significantly higher proportion of born-again or evangelical Protestants than mainline Protestants (16% vs. 5%).

Three percent of Latinos identify with another Christian religion, including 2% who are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Nearly one-fifth of Hispanics (18%) are not affiliated with any religion. This includes 3% who say they are atheist or agnostic and 15% who say their religion is nothing in particular.

The Protestant tradition encompasses many denominational families, such as Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and Pentecostals. When Latino Protestants are asked which denomination or church they identify with most closely, about three-in-ten (29%) say they are affiliated with a Pentecostal church, such as the Assemblies of God. This makes Pentecostalism the single largest denominational family among Latinos. About one-in-five (19%) identify as Baptist, and roughly one-in-ten (11%) identify with a nondenominational or independent Protestant church.

Differences by Hispanic Origin Group, Nativity and Generation

The religious profile of Hispanics varies by Hispanic origin group and nativity. Majorities of Hispanics of Mexican and Dominican descent identify as Catholic (61% and 59%, respectively). About half of Cuban Americans are Catholic (49%), as are 45% of Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent and 42% of those of Salvadoran descent. Among Salvadorans, there are nearly as many Protestants (37%) as Catholics (42%).

Six-in-ten foreign-born Hispanics are Catholic, compared with about half of the U.S. born (48%). By contrast, the native born are somewhat more likely than the foreign born to be religiously unaffiliated (23% vs. 15%). Roughly equal shares of both groups are Protestant (20% among foreign-born Hispanics, 24% among the native born).

There are no significant differences in the religious profile of second- and third-generation Hispanics.

Demographic Profile of Religious Groups

About two-thirds of Latino Catholics were born outside of the United States (65%), as were 60% of Latino evangelical Protestants. Fewer religiously unaffiliated Latinos (50%) and mainline Protestant Latinos (41%) are foreign born. Among the U.S. population as a whole, including children and adults, 13% are foreign born.

Latino Catholics and evangelical Protestants are also more likely to be Spanish-language dominant than either the religiously unaffiliated or mainline Protestants.

Religiously unaffiliated Latinos tend to be younger and more male compared with the other three major religious groups, and they also tend to have higher levels of educational attainment. About six-in-ten of the unaffiliated are men, while the gender balance among Catholics, evangelical Protestants and mainline Protestants is more evenly divided. While most Latinos in each of the major religious groups are under age 50, the unaffiliated and, to a lesser extent, mainline Protestants are even younger by comparison. Nearly half of unaffiliated Latino adults (49%) and about four-in-ten mainline Protestants (39%) are under age 30, compared with about a quarter of both Catholics (24%) and evangelical Protestants (23%).

Two-thirds of Hispanics report that their current religion is the same as the one in which they were raised, while about a third now belong to a religion that is different from their childhood faith. Religious switching is slightly more common among U.S.-born Hispanics than among those born outside the U.S.

Overall, Catholicism has had a considerable net loss due to changes in religious affiliation among Latinos. There have been net gains from religious switching among Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated.

The survey asked Latinos whether certain factors were important in their decision to change religions. A majority of those who have switched say an important reason for switching was that they just gradually drifted away from the religion in which they were raised. Almost as many say they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood religion.

On a separate question about the main reason for switching religions, Latinos cite various factors, including dissatisfaction with religious institutions, practices or people; changes in personal spirituality; and family or life factors.

The survey also allows some analysis of whether Latinos who were raised Catholic and have switched to another faith or become religiously unaffiliated retain elements of Catholic beliefs or practices. This analysis can be found at the end of Chapter 4.

The Direction of Religious Switching

Nearly one-third of Hispanics (32%) no longer belong to the religion in which they were raised. This figure is based on switching between major religious traditions and does not include changes from one Protestant tradition to another (such as from Methodist to Lutheran). By comparison, the Pew Research Center’s 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that 28% of adults in the U.S. have switched religions.¹⁶

Among Latinos, Catholicism has experienced a net loss due to religious switching. Three-quarters of Latinos (77%) were raised Catholic, but just slightly more than half (55%) report that their current religious affiliation is Catholic. Only a small share of Latinos (2%) have become Catholic after being raised in another faith or in no faith, while nearly a quarter (24%) of Latinos were raised Catholic and have left the faith, for a net loss of 22 percentage points.

The biggest net gains in religious affiliation due to switching have been among Hispanic Protestants and religiously unaffiliated Hispanics. While 14% of Hispanics were raised Protestant, 22% are currently Protestant, for a net gain of eight percentage points. Just 6% of Hispanics were raised with no religious affiliation, but about one-in-five (18%) are now unaffiliated, a net gain of 12 percentage points.

Among Hispanics who are currently Catholic, fully 95% were raised Catholic. By contrast, among those who are now Protestant, about four-in-ten (41%) were raised Protestant, while nearly half (47%) were raised Catholic. A large percentage of Hispanics who are now religiously unaffiliated were raised in a religion, including 61% who were raised Catholic and 19% who were raised Protestant. Only 16% of those who are currently unaffiliated were raised unaffiliated.

Demographic Characteristics of Converts

Age of Conversion

Among Latinos who no longer belong to their childhood religion, fully seven-in-ten say they made the change before they were 24 years old. This includes 20% who switched before age 13 and 28% who did so between ages 13 and 17. The median age at which Latinos report having switched religions is 17. Relatively few Latinos say they changed religions after age 35 (5%).

This pattern is consistent with the relatively young age of religious switching found among the general public in the Pew Research Center’s 2008 survey of a sample of respondents from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. In that survey, most respondents who left their childhood faith also did so before age 24, and a large majority did so before age 36.

Nativity

U.S.-born Latinos are slightly more likely than the foreign born to say that they no longer belong to their childhood religion; 36% of the native born have switched faiths, compared with 30% of the foreign born.

Among Latino immigrants who have switched religions, about half – 16% of all foreign-born Latinos – say they made the switch after coming to the U.S. But nearly as many – 13% of all foreign-born Latinos – switched religions before moving to the U.S. This may reflect some of the religious changes that are taking place in Latin America, where the shares of Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated have been growing in countries that historically have been overwhelmingly Catholic..

Four-in-ten foreign-born Latinos under age 30 have switched religions, while fewer foreign-born Latinos ages 30 and older (27%) have done so. Among all foreign-born Latinos in the older age group, 13% left their childhood faith before coming to the U.S., and the same share switched religions after arriving in the country. A similar share (14%) of the younger group switched faiths in their native country, while a larger share – 25% of all foreign-born Latinos under 30 – made the change after coming to the U.S.

Why Latinos Have Left Their Childhood Religion

The survey asked Latinos whether certain factors were important in their decision to leave the religion in which they were raised. A majority of those who have left their childhood religion (55%) say they just gradually drifted away. Nearly as many (52%) say they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood religion. About three-in-ten (31%) say they found a different congregation that reaches out and helps its members more. Roughly one-in-five cite a deep personal crisis (23%) or a move to a new community (19%) as important reasons for switching faiths. And about one-in-ten (9%) say marrying someone who practiced a different religion was an important reason for changing.

Among Hispanics who were raised either Catholic or Protestant and are now unaffiliated, many say an important reason for leaving their faith was that they gradually drifted away; 66% of unaffiliated former Catholics say this, as do 70% of unaffiliated former Protestants. More than four-in-ten former Catholics who are now Protestant say they just gradually drifted away from Catholicism.

Former Catholics, whether they left Catholicism for the Protestant faith or for no faith, are particularly likely to say that an important reason for leaving the church was that they stopped believing in its teachings. About six-in-ten former Catholics (61%) say this was an important reason for switching. Among former Protestants who are now religiously unaffiliated, about four-in-ten (41%) say they stopped believing in the teachings of their childhood faith.

About half of Hispanic evangelical Protestants who were raised Catholic (51%) say an important reason they left the Catholic Church was because they found a congregation that reaches out and helps its members more; 45% of mainline Protestants who were raised Catholic also cite this as an important reason for switching.

Survey respondents who have switched religions also were asked to describe in their own words the main reason that they are no longer part of the religion in which they were raised.

A third of those who have switched religions say that the main reason for the change had something to do with religious institutions, practices or people. This includes people who say they disagree with the worship of saints or the Virgin Mary, or idolatry more generally; people who cite hypocrisy, corruption, deception or contradictions in their previous church or religion, or religion in general; those who were generally dissatisfied with their previous religion; and people who found a religion they felt more comfortable with or liked better. The clergy sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, or the way the church handled it, was cited by 3% of those who are no longer affiliated with their childhood religion (the vast majority of whom were raised Catholic).

About a quarter of Hispanics who have left their childhood faith (27%) say the main reason had to do with personal spirituality, including those who say they stopped believing or started questioning their childhood religion and those who say they grew up and made their own decisions about religion.

About one-in-ten Latinos who have left the religion in which they were raised (8%) cite family factors, such as marriage, as the main reason for switching. A similar share say their change had something to do with the beliefs or teachings of their childhood religion (10%), including that the religion did not focus enough on the Bible or the word of God. Just 3% say they changed religions mainly because of new circumstances in their life, such as moving to a new community.

Fully one-in-five Latinos (20%) give some other main reason for switching religions, including having drifted away or having stopped attending services (4%). Some say they practice more than one religion, or that they do not perceive themselves as having left their religion (3%).

Reasons for Latinos leaving their childhood religion vary somewhat, in expected ways, by the direction of the religious change. For example, among those who have left Catholicism and are now Protestant, responses referencing disapproval of the worship of saints or of the Virgin Mary (13%) were among the most common reasons given. Among those who have left their childhood religion and are now religiously unaffiliated, many said they stopped believing in their religion, started questioning their religion or lost their faith; 16% of former Protestants who are now unaffiliated and 13% of former Catholics who are now unaffiliated gave a response that fit into this category.

Roughly three-in-ten Hispanics (28%) show high levels of religious commitment based on their frequency of prayer and worship service attendance, as well as the importance of religion in their lives. Evangelical Protestants exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than other major Hispanic religious groups, on par with white non-Hispanic evangelical Protestants and black non-Hispanic Protestants. Comparatively, Hispanics who are religiously unaffiliated report relatively low levels of worship attendance and prayer while assigning less importance to religion in their lives. Hispanic Catholics and mainline Protestants tend to fall somewhere in between evangelical Protestants and the unaffiliated on these measures.

Hispanic Catholics – both foreign born and U.S. born – are similar to white non-Hispanic Catholics in their levels of religious commitment.

Hispanic mainline Protestants, meanwhile, tend to exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than their white non-Hispanic counterparts on some measures. These differences are largely due to sharply higher levels of religious commitment among foreign-born Hispanic mainline Protestants. Religious commitment among U.S.-born Hispanic mainline Protestants is comparable to that of white mainline Protestants in the U.S. public as a whole.

Trends reported in this chapter come from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. See Appendix A: Survey Methodology for more detail.

Importance of Religion

Six-in-ten Latinos say that religion is very important in their lives, while a quarter (24%) say it is somewhat important and 15% say it is not too or not at all important. By comparison, 56% of Americans overall say that religion is very important in their lives.

Latino evangelical Protestants are especially likely to consider religion very important in their lives; fully 85% express this view. About two-thirds of Latino Catholics (65%) say religion is very important to them, as do a majority of Latino mainline Protestants (56%). Just one-in-five Latinos who are unaffiliated with a religion say that religion is very important to them, while fully half say that it is not too or not at all important.

Older Hispanics are more likely than their younger counterparts to say that religion is very important in their lives. And Hispanic immigrants are more likely than those who were born in the U.S. to say religion is very important to them. This pattern holds true across age groups. For example, half (50%) of Hispanic immigrants ages 18-29 say that religion is very important in their lives, compared with 40% of U.S.-born Hispanics in the same age group.

Worship Service Attendance

Four-in-ten Hispanics say they attend worship services at least once a week. Roughly a third (35%) say they attend services a few times a month or a few times a year, and about a quarter (24%) say they seldom or never attend. A similar share of the U.S. general public attends worship services at least weekly (37%).

Latino evangelical Protestants stand out from other religious groups on this measure. Seven-in-ten evangelicals (71%) say they attend worship services at least once a week, compared with 35% of Latino mainline Protestants and 40% of Latino Catholics. Just 6% of the religiously unaffiliated attend services at least weekly, while seven-in-ten (71%) say that they seldom or never attend worship services.

Older Hispanics attend worship services somewhat more regularly than younger Hispanics, a pattern also found among the general public. About half of Hispanics ages 50 and older say they attend services at least weekly (48%). By comparison, four-in-ten of those ages 30-49 and three-in-ten adults under age 30 attend services at least weekly. There are no significant differences by nativity in frequency of worship service attendance after controlling for age.

Daily Prayer

About six-in-ten Hispanics (59%) say they pray at least once a day outside of attending worship services. Roughly a quarter (23%) say they pray weekly or monthly, and 17% say they seldom or never pray outside of religious services. In the general public overall, 55% say they pray daily.

Similar shares of Hispanic Catholics (61%) and mainline Protestants (60%) engage in prayer on a daily basis; the figure is much higher for Hispanic evangelical Protestants (84%). Roughly three-in-ten Hispanics with no religious affiliation (29%) say they pray daily; about a fifth (21%) say they pray weekly or monthly, and about half (49%) say they seldom or never pray.

As with other measures of religious commitment, daily prayer is more common among older Hispanics than among younger ones. Nearly three-quarters of Hispanics ages 50 and older pray daily (73%); by comparison, six-in-ten of those ages 30-49 and 46% of those ages 18-29 pray at least once a day. After controlling for age, there are no significant differences by nativity in frequency of prayer.

Index of Religious Commitment

When these three measures of religiosity – the importance of religion, frequency of worship service attendance and frequency of prayer outside of worship services – are combined, they provide a useful indicator of overall religious commitment among Latinos. By this combined measure, about three-in-ten Latinos (28%) have a “high” level of religious commitment, saying that religion is very important in their lives, that they attend services at least once a week and that they pray every day. Just 7% exhibit “low” levels of commitment, saying that religion is either “not too” or “not at all” important to them, that they seldom or never attend worship services and that they seldom or never pray. A majority of Latinos (63%) fall somewhere in between, exhibiting a “medium” level of religious commitment. Latinos are about as likely as Americans overall to exhibit a high level of religious commitment (28% vs. 29% among the general public). However, a somewhat smaller share of Latinos exhibit a low level of religious commitment (7% vs. 11% among the general public).

Latino Catholics and mainline Protestants are similar on this index of religious commitment, with 27% and 23%, respectively, falling into the high-commitment category. A much larger share of Latino evangelical Protestants (57%) exhibit a high level of commitment.

Just 3% of religiously unaffiliated Latinos have a high degree of religious commitment according to the index. A majority of the religiously unaffiliated (63%) exhibit a medium level of religious commitment, while about a third (32%) fall into the low-commitment category.

Older Latinos have a higher level of religious commitment than do younger Latinos. Nearly four-in-ten Latinos ages 50 and older (37%) show a high level of commitment on this index, compared with about three-in-ten (29%) of those ages 30-49 and 19% of adults under age 30.

Latino immigrants are somewhat more likely than U.S.-born Latinos to have a high level of religious commitment on this index. However, this gap stems primarily from differences between native-born and foreign-born mainline Protestants. In addition, differences by nativity are not significant after controlling for age.

Other Indicators of Religious Commitment

Engagement in Congregational Life and Volunteering

One-in-five Hispanics who say they ever attend worship services (21%) are involved in their church or place of worship in some way other than attending worship services. This includes 11% who say they are members of the parish or church council, 9% who lead small groups or ministries, 8% who teach Sunday school or other religious education and 7% who are Eucharistic or lay ministers.

Churchgoing Hispanic evangelical Protestants have a rate of involvement in church activities that is more than twice as high as it is among other Hispanic religious groups. Four-in-ten evangelical Protestants (42%) say they are involved in church ministries in some way, compared with 17% of Catholics, 16% of mainline Protestants and 6% of those who are unaffiliated with a religion but still attend worship services on occasion.

In terms of individual activities, churchgoing Hispanic evangelical Protestants are about three times as likely as Hispanic mainline Protestants or Hispanic Catholics to be members of a parish or church council. They also are three times as likely as mainline Protestants – and more than four times as likely as Catholics – to lead small groups or ministries. When it comes to teaching Sunday school or other forms of religious education, evangelicals (18%) are twice as likely as mainline Protestants (9%) to be involved. Far fewer Catholics (4%) or religiously unaffiliated Hispanics (3%) say they teach Sunday school.

Hispanics who were born outside the U.S. are a bit more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to be involved in their church in some way (23% vs. 18%). In particular, the foreign born are more likely to be on a parish or church council; 14% of foreign-born Hispanics say they are, compared with 7% of the native born. This pattern may be related, in part, to the older average age of immigrants relative to native-born Hispanics.

Women are somewhat more likely than men to be involved in the church in some way (23% vs. 19%), and Hispanics ages 30 and older (23%) are more likely than those ages 18-29 (17%) to be involved.

A third of all Hispanics (33%) report they have volunteered with a church or religious group in the past 12 months, and 28% say they have volunteered with a neighborhood group, business group or youth group. A quarter of Hispanics (25%) say they have volunteered at a school or tutoring program.

The level of engagement in these activities among Hispanics overall is largely unchanged from 2006, when three-in-ten said they volunteered with a church or religious group, 27% said they were involved with a neighborhood group and 26% helped with a school or tutoring program. Hispanic evangelical Protestants are somewhat more likely to say they have volunteered with a church or religious group (65%, vs. 56% in 2006).

Hispanic evangelical Protestants stand out in terms of volunteering with a church or religious group; nearly two-thirds (65%) say they have done this in the past 12 months, while fewer than half of mainline Protestants (38%) and Catholics (29%) say the same. But evangelicals are about as likely as members of other religious groups to say they volunteer in neighborhood or school groups.

Reading Scripture

A plurality of Hispanics who are affiliated with a religion (43%) say they read Scripture at least once a week outside of worship services. A quarter say they do this a few times a month or a few times a year, and 31% say they seldom or never read Scripture outside of worship services.

Among Hispanic religious groups, Protestants are twice as likely as Catholics to read Scripture regularly outside of worship services (67% vs. 33%). Evangelical Protestants are especially likely to read Scripture outside of services, with fully three-quarters (76%) saying they do this weekly or more often, compared with 42% of mainline Protestants.

There has been a slight uptick in the percentage of religiously affiliated Hispanics who read Scripture outside of worship. In 2006, 38% said they did this weekly or more; in 2013, 43% say the same. The change has occurred primarily among Catholics, a third of whom read Scripture outside of worship at least weekly (33%), up from 27% in 2006.

Participation in Bible Study Groups

Roughly a quarter (27%) of Hispanics who are affiliated with a religion say they participate in prayer groups or Bible study groups at least once a week. A similar portion (23%) say they participate monthly or yearly, while about half (49%) say they seldom or never participate.

About half of Latino evangelical Protestants (55%) participate in Bible study groups at least once a week. This level of participation is less common among Catholics and mainline Protestants. Fewer than one-in-five Catholics (17%) say they participate in prayer or Bible study groups on a weekly basis, and about a quarter (23%) say they do so a few times a month or a few times a year. A quarter of mainline Protestants participate in such groups at least weekly, and a similar portion (22%) participate monthly or yearly.

Among Latinos overall, participation in prayer groups or Bible study groups has remained stable since 2006. Among Latino evangelical Protestants, though, the share saying they participate in such groups on a weekly basis has declined somewhat, from 65% in 2006 to 55% in 2013.

Sharing the Faith

Roughly a third (35%) of Hispanics who are affiliated with a religion say they share their faith with nonbelievers at least once a week. About one-in-five (21%) say they share their faith monthly or yearly, and four-in-ten (41%) say they seldom or never share their faith with nonbelievers.

Among religious groups, Latino Protestants are more likely to share their faith on a regular basis than are Catholics (54% vs. 26%). And among Protestants, evangelicals are far more likely than mainline Protestants to say they share their religion weekly or more (60% vs. 36%). About half of Latino Catholics (51%) say they seldom or never share their faith with nonbelievers, compared with 20% of Protestants who say the same. These figures are largely unchanged from 2006.

Catholics and Praying to Saints

Nearly half of Hispanics (47%), including seven-in-ten Catholics (70%), say they pray to saints to ask for help when they face difficult moments in their lives. In addition, about three-in-ten Hispanics overall (28%), and 39% of Hispanic Catholics, say they have made offerings to spiritual beings or saints. These practices may reflect both official Catholic practices and indigenous or Afro-Caribbean religious traditions. For more on indigenous practices, see Chapter 8.

The Pew Research survey asked respondents whether or not they pray to saints, and then asked a separate question about whether they ever pray to “popular or folk saints.” The most common responses to both questions were traditional Catholic saints, such as the Virgin Mary and Saint Jude. As a result, responses to the two questions are combined here.

Not surprisingly, praying to saints is a far more common practice among Catholics than among other religious groups. Fully seven-in-ten Hispanic Catholics say they pray to saints, compared with 23% of mainline Protestants, 21% of the unaffiliated and 9% of evangelical Protestants.

Among Catholics, those who attend Mass at least once a week are slightly more likely to say they pray to saints (74%) than are Catholics who attend Mass less often (67%).

Praying to saints also is somewhat more common among Catholic immigrants (74%) than among U.S.-born Catholics (63%). There are few differences on this measure among Latino Catholics of different origin groups.

When asked to whom they pray most often, Hispanic Catholics reference Mary as their most common response. About one-in-six say they pray most often to Our Lady of Guadalupe (17%), and about as many say the Virgin Mary (16%). Saint Jude is mentioned by 13% of Hispanic Catholics. Fewer than one-in-ten say they pray most often to God (7%) and to Jesus Christ (7%).

The Pew Research survey specifically asked about any “popular or folk saints” to whom people might direct their prayers, but very few Catholics – less than 1% – mention folk saints who are not officially recognized by the Catholic Church, such as La Santa Muerte or Jesús Malverde. Similarly, very few respondents – also less than 1% – mentioned figures from other religions, such as Orishas (spirits associated with Santería).

Catholics and Confession

Three-in-ten Latino Catholics say they go to confession a few times a year, and 12% say they do so at least monthly. A majority (57%), however, say they seldom or never go to confession.

Among Latino Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week, about four-in-ten (41%) go to confession a few times a year, and a fifth (20%) go at least monthly. By comparison, among Latino Catholics who attend Mass less than once a week, 23% say they go to confession a few times a year and 6% go more often.

There are no major differences by age, gender or nativity in terms of frequency of attending confession.

There has been virtually no change in frequency of confession among Latino Catholics since 2007.

How Hispanics Compare With Non-Hispanics in Each Religious Group

Catholics

Overall, Hispanic Catholics closely resemble white non-Hispanic Catholics when it comes to levels of religious commitment. Among each group, four-in-ten attend Mass at least once a week, and about six-in-ten (61%) pray at least once a day. Roughly two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics (65%) say that religion is very important in their lives, while about half of white Catholics (54%) say the same. When the three measures are combined in an index of religious commitment, majorities of both Hispanic Catholics and white Catholics fall in the “moderate” category.

As noted earlier, fully 95% of Hispanic Catholics were raised Catholic. A 2012 Pew Research survey found that 88% of white Catholics were raised Catholic.¹⁷

Protestants

Hispanic evangelical Protestants stand out among Hispanic religious groups for their high levels of religious commitment. But, overall, the level of religious commitment among Hispanic evangelicals is similar to that of white (non-Hispanic) evangelical Protestants. It also is on par with the commitment level of black Protestants, about three-quarters of whom identify themselves as “evangelical or born-again.”

On some of these measures, Hispanic mainline Protestants tend to exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than do white mainline Protestants. However, there are sizable differences by nativity among this group. U.S.-born Hispanic mainline Protestants resemble white non-Hispanic mainline Protestants in their levels of religious commitment, while the foreign born exhibit markedly higher levels of commitment. For example, native-born mainline Protestants are about as likely as white (non-Hispanic) mainline Protestants to say that religion is very important in their lives (47% and 45%, respectively). By contrast, about seven-in-ten foreign-born Hispanic mainline Protestants (69%) say that religion is very important to them.

Similarly, Latino mainline Protestants are more likely than white mainline Protestants to report praying at least daily (60% vs. 45%). However, this difference is due largely to more frequent prayer among foreign-born mainline Protestants; roughly three-quarters of foreign-born mainline Protestants (74%) say they pray daily, compared with about half of the U.S. born (51%).

A much larger share of foreign-born Latino mainline Protestants report attending worship services at least once a week than do U.S.-born Latino mainline Protestants (59% vs. 18%). By comparison, about three-in-ten white mainline Protestants (29%) attend services at least once a week.

The Religiously Unaffiliated

Latinos who have no particular religion or say they are atheist or agnostic exhibit distinctly low levels of religious commitment compared with other Latino groups. But religiously unaffiliated Latinos are roughly similar to unaffiliated non-Hispanic whites in their frequency of worship service attendance, and they differ only modestly in their frequency of prayer and the importance of religion in their lives.

Nearly all religiously unaffiliated Hispanics and religiously unaffiliated non-Hispanic whites exhibit either medium or low levels of religious commitment. But the share of the unaffiliated with a medium level of religious commitment is higher among Hispanics (63%) than it is among non-Hispanic whites (50%), and a greater share of unaffiliated non-Hispanic whites have a low level of religious commitment compared with Hispanics (47% vs. 32%).

A number of questions in the survey speak to how Hispanics view the Catholic Church, its new leader and its teachings. At the time the survey was conducted – just a few months after Pope Francis ascended to the papacy – a majority of Hispanics, including Hispanic Catholics, held a favorable view of him overall, and a plurality considered his election as pope to represent a major change for the Catholic Church. Foreign-born Catholics and those who attend Mass more regularly were particularly favorable in their opinions of the pope, and both groups were especially likely to see the selection of Pope Francis as a major change for the Catholic Church.

However, Hispanics who were raised Catholic but have switched faiths were less positive in their views of Francis and less likely to say he represents a major change for the church. Childhood Catholics who have switched faiths also were less likely to view the Catholic Mass as lively and exciting.

There is a strong consensus among Hispanics, including Hispanic Catholics, that the Catholic Church needs to do a lot more to address the sex abuse scandal. Moreover, most Hispanic Catholics are at odds with the church’s teachings on divorce and contraception, and most favor allowing priests to marry and women to become priests. Disagreement with these church teachings is stronger among those who attend Mass less regularly, but even among weekly Mass attenders, roughly half or more support changing the church’s positions on these issues.

The survey also finds that there has been a slight uptick in recent years in the number of Catholics who say they “could imagine leaving the Catholic Church someday.” Among Catholic adults under age 30, nearly four-in-ten now express this view.

Trends reported in this chapter come from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. See Appendix A: Survey Methodology for more detail.

Views of Pope Francis

Francis’ election as pope on March 13, 2013, marked the first time a Latin American has been selected as pontiff. Just a few months after Francis became pope – when this survey was conducted – Hispanic Catholics held favorable views of him; fully 84% said their overall opinion of the pope was either “very” favorable (45%) or “mostly” favorable (38%) at that time.¹⁸

Latino members of other religious groups were far less likely than Catholics to hold any opinion of Pope Francis, but those who did also tended to see him more favorably than unfavorably. Overall, two-thirds (67%) of Hispanics had a favorable opinion of Pope Francis, while just 13% had an unfavorable opinion and about a fifth (21%) did not know enough about the pope to express an opinion.

Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week tended to have more strongly favorable views of the pope than less frequent attenders, who were slightly less likely to have an opinion about him. And foreign-born Hispanic Catholics were more positive in their views about the pope than were U.S.-born Catholics (53% and 31%, respectively, saw Francis very favorably.)

The survey also asked respondents whether the election of Pope Francis represented a major change or only a minor change for the Catholic Church. At the time of the survey, nearly six-in-ten Hispanic Catholics (57%) said the selection of Francis as pope was a major change for the church.¹⁹

Hispanic Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated were much less inclined than Catholics to see the selection of Pope Francis as a major change for the Catholic Church; both groups were less likely to hold an opinion about this issue, however.

Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week were more inclined than those who attend less frequently to see Francis as a major change for the church as of mid-2013 (67% and 51%, respectively). And more foreign-born Catholics than those born in the U.S. saw him as a major change (64% and 45%, respectively).

Hispanics who were raised Catholic and have switched faiths held less favorable views of the pope than Hispanics who are Catholic, and they were less likely to see Francis as a major change for the Catholic Church. Former Catholics also were less inclined than Catholics to express any opinion on these questions.

Addressing the Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis

Hispanics agree that the Catholic Church needs to do more to address the clergy sex abuse scandal.²⁰ Three-quarters of all Hispanics say the church needs to do “a lot more” to address the sex abuse scandal, while 15% say it needs to do “a little more” and just 4% say it needs to do nothing more. Opinion on this issue is similar across all religious groups; 74% of Catholics, 78% of the unaffiliated and 79% of Protestants say the Catholic Church needs to do a lot more to address the scandal. Among former Catholics, 82% say the church needs to do a lot more regarding this issue.

There are no significant differences in opinion about this issue between Hispanic Catholics who attend services more and less frequently. Foreign-born Hispanic Catholics are slightly more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to say the church needs to do a lot more to address the clergy sex abuse scandal (77% vs. 67%).

Views on Church Teachings

Most Hispanic Catholics support changes to the Catholic Church’s positions on certain issues. About seven-in-ten Hispanic Catholics (72%) think the church should allow its members to use birth control, and about two-thirds (64%) say the church should permit divorce. Majorities of Hispanic Catholics also say the church should allow priests to get married (59%) and allow women to become priests (55%).

On each of these issues, there is less support for change among Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week than among those who attend less often. But even among Catholics who attend Mass regularly, roughly half or more support some change to church positions on these issues.

These questions were not asked of former Catholics.

There is also slightly less support for change among foreign-born Hispanic Catholics than among those born in the U.S. About two-thirds or more of U.S.-born Hispanic Catholics support the church changing its position on each of these four issues. Among foreign-born Catholics, about half or more support allowing priests to marry and women to become priests, and solid majorities think the church should allow its members to use birth control and to get divorced.

Hispanic Catholics closely resemble white, non-Hispanic Catholics in their views about birth control; 72% of Hispanic Catholics and 74% of white, non-Hispanic Catholics favor allowing Catholics to use birth control, contrary to the church’s official position.

But there are differences between Hispanic and white, non-Hispanic Catholics when it comes to views about changes in the rules for priests. White Catholics are more inclined than Hispanic Catholics to favor allowing priests to marry, though a majority of Hispanic Catholics also favor this proposal (70% and 59%, respectively). Similarly, more white Catholics (65%) than Hispanic Catholics (55%) favor allowing women to become priests.

Views of Catholic Mass

When it comes to views of the Catholic Mass, about two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics (64%) say the typical Mass is lively and exciting, while a third disagree. By contrast, 63% of Hispanics who were raised Catholic but have since switched faiths say they do not consider the Mass to be lively and exciting.

Majorities of Hispanic Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated do not consider the typical Catholic Mass lively and exciting, and about a fifth or more of both groups do not express an opinion about this.

Compared with the 2006 Pew Research survey, fewer Hispanics overall say the typical Mass is lively and exciting (56% in 2006 vs. 45% today). The share of Hispanic Catholics who say the typical Mass is lively and exciting also is down, from 71% in 2006 to 64% today.

Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week are more inclined to see the typical service as lively and exciting than those who attend less often (72% vs. 59%). And foreign-born Hispanic Catholics are more likely than the U.S. born to see the typical Mass as lively and exciting (71% vs. 51%).

The Catholic Church and Immigrants

Hispanics tend to see the Catholic Church as welcoming to new immigrants. About half of all Hispanics (48%), including 62% of Hispanic Catholics, consider the Catholic Church “very welcoming” to new immigrants. Hispanic Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated are less inclined to see the Catholic Church as welcoming to new immigrants, although both groups also are less likely to hold an opinion about this issue.

Compared with 2006, fewer Hispanics overall now see the Catholic Church as very welcoming to new immigrants (56% in 2006 vs. 48% today), but the share of Hispanic Catholics who see the church as very welcoming has stayed about the same (60% in 2006 vs. 62% today).

Foreign-born Latino Catholics are as likely as U.S.-born Latino Catholics to see the church as very welcoming to immigrants. And although Latino Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week are a bit more inclined to see the church as very welcoming to immigrants than those who attend Mass less often, majorities of both groups see the church this way.

Strength of Ties to the Catholic Church

The survey also included an indirect indicator of affinity with the Catholic Church. The survey asked Catholics the following question: “Some people tell us that no matter what, they could never leave the Catholic Church. Others say that they could imagine leaving the Catholic Church someday. Which of these comes closest to your view?” About two-thirds of Latino Catholics say they could never leave the church, and 29% say they could imagine leaving. While still the minority viewpoint, more Catholics today say they could imagine leaving the church than said so in 2007 (21%).

U.S.-born Hispanic Catholics have changed their views on this question more than foreign-born Catholics; fully a third of the native born (35%) say they could imagine leaving the church, up from 20% in 2007. Among age groups, the change is most pronounced among Catholics ages 18-29, 37% of whom say they could imagine leaving the church someday (compared with 21% in 2007). Those who attend Mass less than once a week also have become more likely to say they could imagine leaving the Catholic Church someday.

Are There Vestiges of a Catholic Upbringing?

Do former Catholics who have switched faiths or become religiously unaffiliated maintain some of their Catholic beliefs and resemble current Catholics? On some measures – for example, views of Pope Francis and of the typical Catholic Mass – Hispanics who were raised Catholic but have left the faith differ sharply from current Hispanic Catholics. But on some other measures – for instance, some beliefs and practices related to the Virgin Mary – there is some evidence that childhood Catholics who have switched to Protestantism differ from those who were raised Protestant, suggesting that childhood practices and beliefs persist to some degree. Similarly, a sizable minority of unaffiliated Hispanics who were raised Catholic report behaviors that may reflect their upbringing in the Catholic faith.

Hispanic Catholics are nearly unanimous in their belief that “Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and watches over believers.” Fully 93% of Hispanic Catholics agree with this statement. Among Hispanic Protestants, belief in the Virgin Mary is much less common; about three-in-ten Hispanic Protestants who were raised Protestant (29%) believe that Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and watches over believers. But a somewhat larger share (41%) of Protestants who converted from Catholicism hold this view.

Roughly eight-in-ten Catholics (81%) say they pray to the Virgin Mary, including 76% of those who attend Mass less than weekly and 88% of those who attend at least once a week. Among Hispanic Protestants, those raised Catholic are more likely than those who did not convert to say they pray to Mary (16% vs. 7%). Among those who were raised Catholic and are now unaffiliated, 27% say they pray to Mary.

The pattern is similar on the question of religious objects in the home. An overwhelming majority of Hispanic Catholics (84%) say they have a crucifix or other religious object in their home, a practice common among Catholics who attend Mass weekly (87%) as well as those who attend less often (83%). A sizable minority of the unaffiliated who were raised Catholic (45%) also say they have a religious object in their home. And among current Protestants who were raised Catholic, 46% have a religious object displayed in their home, compared with 27% of Protestants who are not converts. Childhood Catholics who are now mainline Protestants are more likely to have a religious object in their home than are those who converted to evangelical Protestantism (70% vs. 40%).

There is little difference between Hispanic Protestants raised as Catholic and lifelong Protestants when it comes to making offerings to saints or spiritual beings. Roughly four-in-ten Hispanic Catholics (39%) say they have made offerings such as food, drink, candles or flowers to saints or spiritual beings, as do about one-in-ten Hispanic Protestants who were raised as Catholic (11%) and Hispanic Protestants who are not converts (8%). Roughly a fifth (21%) of unaffiliated Hispanics who were raised Catholic also say they have made such offerings.

One of the major findings of the 2006 National Survey of Latinos and Religion was that a large proportion of Latinos were attending churches with services in Spanish, Latino clergy and heavily Latino congregations. The new Pew Research survey also finds that a large share of Latinos attend churches with these “ethnic church” characteristics, but the share is somewhat smaller than it was in 2006.

Trends reported in this chapter come from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. See Appendix A: Survey Methodology for more detail.

Characteristics of the Ethnic Church

About eight-in-ten Hispanic churchgoers (82%) say their church offers Spanish-language services, 75% say there is Hispanic clergy at their church, and 61% say that most or all of the other people they worship with also are Hispanic. And fully half (51%) say the place of worship they attend most often has all three of these characteristics.

The percentage of Hispanic churchgoers who say their place of worship has all three characteristics is down 12 percentage points from 2006, when 63% said the church they attend most often had all three characteristics. The change is fairly evenly distributed among Hispanics saying that their church has none, one or two of these characteristics.

Among Latinos of all major religious groups, majorities of those who attend worship services say their place of worship has Spanish-language services and Latino clergy. And about two-thirds (66%) of Catholic churchgoers say most or all of their fellow congregants are also Latino, compared with roughly six-in-ten evangelical Protestant churchgoers (58%), and roughly half or fewer mainline Protestants (48%) and unaffiliated Latinos who ever attend services (45%).

Attendance at an ethnic church is more common among foreign-born than U.S.-born Hispanics. Among Hispanics who were born outside the United States, seven-in-ten or more churchgoers say that their place of worship offers services in Spanish (87%), has Hispanic clergy (82%) and is a mostly Hispanic congregation (71%). Among native-born churchgoing Hispanics, the numbers are lower on all three measures. Indeed, in every major religious group in the survey, immigrant churchgoing Hispanics tend to be more likely than those who are native born to say that their place of worship has these characteristics.

Large majorities of Hispanic churchgoers whose primary language is Spanish say their church has each of these three characteristics, as do majorities of those who are bilingual. Among Hispanic churchgoers whose primary language is English, smaller majorities say their church offers worship services in Spanish or has Hispanic clergy, and only about a third (32%) say most other congregants are also Hispanic.

Each of these church characteristics is somewhat less common now than in 2006. The share of Latino churchgoers whose place of worship offers Spanish-language worship services is down five percentage points (from 87% in 2006 to 82% in 2013), as is the share whose church has Latino clergy (from 80% to 75%).

The share of churchgoers who say all or most of the other congregants at their place of worship are also Latino is down 13 points, from roughly three-quarters in 2006 to about six-in-ten in 2013. And compared with 2006, a somewhat larger share say that few or no other people at their place of worship are Latino (16% today vs. 10% in 2006). With few exceptions, these changes have taken place across religious, nativity and language-dominance groups.

Attending Spanish-Language Services

While about eight-in-ten Latinos who attend religious services say that services are offered in Spanish at their place of worship, a smaller majority — about six-in-ten (62%) — say the services they have attended in the past year have been in Spanish every time (36%) or most of the time (26%). About a third say most (17%) or every (17%) service they attended was in English.

Hispanic immigrants who attend religious services are far more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to say that most or all the services they attended in the past year were in Spanish (79% to 35%). Among the native born, second-generation Hispanics are more likely than third-generation Hispanics to say they attended services in Spanish in the past year (48% vs. 17%). In fact, a plurality of third-generation Hispanics say every worship service they attended in the past year was in English (44%).

Two-thirds of Hispanic Catholic churchgoers say the services they attended in the past year were celebrated in Spanish every time (39%) or most of the time (28%) they attended. Among Hispanic evangelical Protestant churchgoers and unaffiliated Hispanics who attend worship services, more also say the services they attended were in Spanish (57% and 53%, respectively) than in English (38% and 37%). The experiences of Hispanic mainline Protestant churchgoers are evenly divided: 49% say most or every service was in Spanish, and 49% say most or every service was in English.

While two-thirds of Hispanic Catholic churchgoers say that all or most of the services they have attended in the past year were in Spanish — a share roughly similar to 2007, when 73% of Hispanic Catholic churchgoers said the same thing — the share who say that every service they attended was in Spanish has dropped from 60% in 2007 to 39% in 2013. A corresponding increase occurred in the percentage that says that they attend services most times in Spanish (13% in 2007 vs. 28% today). (In 2007, the question was asked only of Catholics. Therefore, trend data for other religious groups are not available.)

While a smaller share of Hispanic Catholics in the current survey are Spanish-language dominant (43%) than in the 2007 survey (55%), the decline in attendance at Spanish-language services has also occurred among Hispanic Catholics who speak Spanish as their primary language.

The change could be due, at least in part, to fewer of those services being offered. In 2007, 91% of churchgoing Hispanic Catholics said that the parish they attend most often offers Spanish-language Mass; today, 86% say the same, a slight but significant decrease. At the same time, preferences for worship in Spanish have also declined, as discussed below.

Preferences for an Ethnic Church

While strong majorities of Hispanic churchgoers say the place they attend most often offers worship services in Spanish, has Hispanic clergy, and that a majority of fellow congregants are also Hispanic, many fewer express a preference for each of these elements; a majority say that each does not matter.

Among Hispanics who say they ever attend worship services, twice as many attend a church that offers Spanish-language services as say they would prefer a church that offers this (82% vs. 40%). About half say it does not matter to them if services are in Spanish (51%), and 9% volunteer that they prefer to attend services in English (8%) or that they have some other preference (1%).

Three-quarters (75%) of Latino churchgoers attend a church where there is Latino clergy, though about as many (77%) say it does not matter to them whether there is a Latino minister or priest. And 61% of churchgoing Latinos say that the place of worship they attend most often is comprised of all or mostly fellow Latino, but just 18% express a preference for such a congregational makeup; most say it does not matter to them.

The pattern is similar across religious groups. More churchgoers in most religious groups say it does not matter to them whether these elements of the ethnic church are present in their places of worship than say they prefer these elements. Catholics are an exception; while 48% say the language of the service does not matter, a similar share (46%) prefer worship services in Spanish. The balance of opinion on this issue has shifted in recent years; in 2007, a majority of Hispanic Catholics (56%) said they would prefer to attend services in Spanish, and just over a third (36%) said they did not have a language preference. This change is likely due, at least in part, to the decline in the percentage of Hispanic Catholics who use Spanish as their primary language, from 55% in the 2007 survey to 43% in 2013. In 2007, eight-in-ten Hispanic Catholic churchgoers who were Spanish-language dominant said they preferred worship services in Spanish. In the current survey, 74% of Spanish-dominant Hispanic Catholic churchgoers express this preference, though this apparent decline is not statistically significant. (In 2007, this question was asked only of Catholics. Therefore, there is no trend data for other religious groups.)

Across religious groups, foreign-born Hispanics are far more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to prefer to attend worship services with ethnic church elements. More than half of Hispanic immigrant churchgoers (59%) would prefer a worship service held in Spanish, compared with 10% of Hispanic churchgoers born in the United States. Foreign-born churchgoers are also more likely than the native born to prefer services where there is Hispanic clergy (31% to 8%) and a mostly Hispanic congregation (26% to 6%).

Perhaps not surprisingly, a majority (72%) of church-attending Hispanics whose primary language is Spanish say they would prefer to attend a church that offers Spanish-language worship services. But just a minority of Spanish-dominant Hispanics say they prefer to have Hispanic clergy (35%) or a mostly Hispanic congregation (30%).

Church Ties to Latin America

Nearly six-in-ten Hispanic churchgoers (57%) say their church maintains close ties with countries in Latin America by sending money or missionaries to these countries or receiving clergy from countries in the region. About one-in-five Hispanics say that their place of worship does not maintain close ties to Latin American countries (21%) and the same share say they do not know if this is the case (21%).

Among religious groups, churchgoing Protestants are more likely than Catholics to say that their church maintains close ties with Latin America (71% and 54%, respectively). Protestants also are significantly less likely than Catholics to say that they are unsure of their church’s ties to Latin America (10% to 26%). And a plurality (44%) of religiously unaffiliated Hispanics who ever attend religious services say the place of worship they attend most often maintains close ties to countries in Latin America, while 30% say it does not and a quarter (26%) say they do not know about their church’s ties.

There are no significant differences by nativity or by language dominance when it comes to whether or not one’s church maintains ties with Latin American countries.

There has been no significant change on this question between 2013 and 2006, when this question was last asked.

When it comes to various beliefs about biblical texts and religious figures and teachings, the survey does not reveal one clear pattern among Hispanics. On some questions – such as whether the Bible is the word of God and should be taken literally and whether Jesus will return to Earth in one’s lifetime – Hispanic evangelical Protestants exhibit higher levels of belief than do other religious groups. But on other questions – such as whether social problems can be solved by more people being “brought to Christ” and whether God grants health and wealth to believers with deep faith – members of different religious groups hold similar views.

On many questions, Hispanics differ by nativity or other demographic characteristics. For example, Hispanic immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to believe that the Bible is the word of God and that Jesus will return in their lifetime. And lower-income Hispanics are more likely than those with higher incomes to say that God will grant wealth and good health to believers with enough faith.

Trends reported in this chapter come from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. See Appendix A: Survey Methodology for more detail.

For additional analysis of the beliefs of renewalist Hispanics on several of these questions, see Chapter 7.

Biblical Literalism

The Pew Research survey finds that roughly three-quarters of Hispanics (73%) believe that the Bible is the word of God, including 43% who say it should be taken literally, word for word. One-in-five Hispanics (21%) say it is a book written by men, and 7% give another response or decline to answer.

A large majority of Hispanic evangelical Protestants (94%) say that the Bible is the word of God. Smaller shares – though still clear majorities – of mainline Protestants (77%) and Catholics (78%) say the same. Compared with other religious groups, Hispanic evangelical Protestants also are especially likely to say that the Bible should be taken literally (63%).

Somewhat more Latino Catholics say that the Bible should be taken literally (45%) than say it should not be (33%), while the balance of opinion is about evenly split among mainline Protestants (39% say it should be taken literally; 38% say it should not be). By contrast, about half of Latinos who are unaffiliated (54%) say the Bible is a book written by men and 37% say it is the word of God, including about a fifth (21%) who say it should be taken literally.

Latinos who attend religious services more frequently are more inclined to say the Bible is the word of God and that it should be taken literally. Two-thirds of evangelical Protestants who attend services at least weekly (67%) express this view, compared with half of evangelicals who attend services less frequently (50%). Similarly, about half of Catholics who attend Mass regularly (52%) say the Bible is the literal word of God, compared with four-in-ten who attend Mass less frequently (40%).

On average, Hispanic immigrants are more inclined than U.S.-born Hispanics to say the Bible is the word of God. Differences by nativity are most pronounced among Hispanic Catholics and mainline Protestants. About half of foreign-born Catholics (52%) say the Bible is the word of God and should be interpreted literally, compared with 32% of native-born Catholics. Similarly, nearly six-in-ten foreign-born mainline Protestants (58%) take the view that the Bible is the literal word of God, compared with 26% of U.S.-born mainline Protestants. And Hispanic immigrants who are religiously unaffiliated are more inclined than the native-born unaffiliated to say the Bible is the literal word of God (29% vs. 12%).

The Second Coming of Jesus

About half of Hispanics (51%) think that Jesus either definitely (24%) or probably (27%) will return during their lifetime. A somewhat smaller share (39%) say this probably (20%) or definitely (19%) will not occur.

Latino evangelical Protestants are more certain the second coming will occur during their lifetime; two-thirds (67%) hold this view, compared with roughly half of Catholics (54%) and mainline Protestants (50%). By contrast, a majority (64%) of religiously unaffiliated Latinos say Jesus definitely or probably will not return during their lifetime.

Foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to say Jesus will return during their lifetime (59% vs. 38%).

And those who attend worship services regularly are more likely than others to believe Jesus will return to Earth during their lifetime (63% of weekly attendees vs. 34% of those who seldom or never attend).

Beliefs About Mary and the Eucharist

Views about the Virgin Mary differ widely between Catholics and Protestants. Belief that Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and that she watches over believers is nearly universal among Latino Catholics (93% agree). Far fewer Latino Protestants – about a third of evangelicals (34%) and four-in-ten mainline Protestants (43%) – agree that Mary watches over believers.

Among Catholics, vast majorities of both those who attend Mass weekly (95%) and those who attend less often (92%) agree that Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and watches over believers. And U.S.-born and foreign-born Catholics are about equally likely to agree with the statement.

Hispanic Catholics are slightly more likely to hold this belief now than in 2006, when 88% agreed that Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and watches over believers. Among other major religious groups, there has been no significant change in this belief since 2006.

On another core Catholic tenet, three-quarters of Hispanic Catholics (76%) believe that in Mass the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. One-in-five Hispanic Catholics (18%) do not believe this.

Belief in transubstantiation is strongly associated with frequency of church attendance. Fully nine-in-ten Catholics who attend Mass regularly hold this belief, as do 72% of those who attend services monthly or yearly. By contrast, only about half of Catholics who seldom or never attend Mass (51%) believe that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ.

There are no differences between foreign-born and U.S.-born Catholics on this issue.

A similar, though not identical, question in the 2007 call-back survey also found an overwhelming majority of Hispanic Catholics (87%) who said they believe the bread and wine used during Mass become the body and blood of Christ.

Christian Teachings About Prosperity, Social Problems

Hispanics are closely divided when it comes to belief in the so-called “prosperity gospel” – the idea that God will grant wealth and good health to believers who have enough faith. Roughly half of all Hispanics (49%) believe this, while 40% say that God does not always give wealth and good health even to believers who have deep faith.

Differences among religious groups tend to be modest, especially when compared with other religious beliefs. About half of Latino Catholics (54%), evangelical Protestants (52%) and mainline Protestants (49%) believe in the prosperity gospel. A somewhat smaller share of the religiously unaffiliated (35%) also believe this.

Belief in the prosperity gospel is especially common among Pentecostal Protestants, among whom 65% say that God will grant wealth and good health to believers who have deep faith. (For more on Pentecostals’ and other renewalists’ beliefs, see Chapter 7.)

Belief in the prosperity gospel is associated with nativity; Latino immigrants are more likely than the U.S. born to hold this belief (54% vs. 41%). Those with lower family incomes (less than $30,000 per year) also are more inclined to say that God will grant wealth and good health to those with enough faith; more than half of lower-income Latinos (55%) say this, compared with 28% among those with annual family incomes of at least $75,000.

The Pew Research survey also asked respondents whether they agree or disagree with the following statement: “If enough people were brought to Christ, social ills would take care of themselves.” About two-thirds of Latino evangelical Protestants (65%) agree with this statement, as do six-in-ten Catholics (60%) and half of mainline Protestants (51%).

Compared with 2006, Hispanic Catholics are more likely to say that social ills can be addressed by people embracing Christ (45% in 2006 vs. 60% in 2013). Opinion among Hispanic evangelical and mainline Protestants is about the same as in 2006.

As with the prosperity gospel, beliefs on this topic are associated with nativity and family income. Hispanic immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to agree that social ills would take care of themselves if enough people were brought to Christ (62% vs. 55%). And those with a lower family income are more likely to agree with this statement than those with a higher income (64% among those earning less than $30,000, compared with 47% among those earning $75,000 or more).

One of the major findings of Pew Research’s 2006 survey of Hispanics and religion was the strong influence of Pentecostalism and other spirit-filled forms of Christianity. These lively, highly personal faiths emphasize the spiritually renewing “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” such as speaking in tongues, divine healing and direct revelations from God. Together, these religious traditions are sometimes referred to as the “renewalist” branch of Christianity.

Renewalist Christianity, which was one of the fastest-growing movements in global Christianity during the 20th century, continues to have a strong presence in the U.S. Hispanic community. Two-thirds of Latino Protestants and about half of Latino Catholics can be classified as renewalist Christians.

Renewalist Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, tend to be more religiously committed than their non-renewalist counterparts. And while charismatic Catholics resemble renewalist Protestants in some ways, they hold just as strongly as other Catholics – if not more so – to some traditional Catholic beliefs and practices.

Trends reported in this chapter come from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. See Appendix A: Survey Methodology for more detail.

Most Latino Protestants, Half of Latino Catholics are Renewalists

Two-thirds of Hispanic Protestants (67%) and about half of Hispanic Catholics (52%) can be classified as renewalists.²¹

The new survey finds that about three-in-ten (29%) Latino Protestants belong to traditional Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God or the Assembly of Christian Churches. An additional 38% describe themselves as Pentecostal or charismatic Christians even though they do not belong to a Pentecostal denomination.

Among Latino Protestants, the share that fall into the renewalist category has grown since 2006, from 61% to 67%. The percentage of Latino Protestants who belong to a Pentecostal denomination has declined somewhat, from 35% in 2006 to 29% in 2013, but the percentage of charismatic Protestants has increased by 12 percentage points, from 26% in 2006 to 38% in 2013.

The share of Hispanic Catholics who can be classified as renewalists has remained steady, with 52% saying they are either charismatic or Pentecostal Catholics, compared with 54% in 2006.

Renewalist Practices and Worship Experience

Protestants

Renewalist practices — such as receiving divine healings or direct revelations, witnessing the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person, or speaking or praying in tongues — are particularly common among Pentecostal Protestants. Roughly two-thirds of Latino Pentecostals say they have received a divine healing of an illness or injury (64%) or a direct revelation from God (64%). About six-in-ten say they have witnessed an exorcism (59%) and about half say they have spoken or prayed in tongues (49%).

Latino charismatic Protestants are less likely than Pentecostals but more likely than non-renewalist Protestants to have had these experiences. Among charismatic Protestants, 46% say they have experienced a divine healing and the same share say they have received a direct revelation from God. One-third have witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of someone (33%), and about a fifth (22%) have spoken or prayed in tongues. Fewer non-renewalist Protestants report any of these experiences.

Among Latino Pentecostal Protestants who attend worship services, the vast majority (97%) say the services they attend include people displaying signs of excitement and enthusiasm – such as raising their hands in praise, clapping, shouting or jumping – at least occasionally. More than half (57%) say such signs of excitement and enthusiasm are always present at their worship services. Smaller, though still substantial, majorities of churchgoing charismatic Protestants (86%) and non-renewalist Protestants (81%) also witness such displays at least occasionally during services.

Nearly all churchgoing Pentecostals (96%) also say that the worship services they attend include people speaking in tongues, “prophesying or receiving a word of knowledge” or praying for miraculous healings and deliverance, at least occasionally. Among charismatic Protestants who attend worship services, seven-in-ten observe such practices. By contrast, about half of non-renewalist Protestant churchgoers (53%) say they never observe these practices at worship services.

Catholics

While Catholics are less likely than Protestants to have these renewalist experiences, charismatic Catholics report experiencing some of these things at slightly higher rates than non-renewalist Catholics.

For instance, higher percentages of charismatic Catholics than non-renewalist Catholics say they have received a direct revelation from God (31% of charismatics vs. 25% of non-renewalists) and have witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person (15% vs. 9%). And among Latino Catholics who attend Mass, a higher percentage of charismatics than non-renewalists say that the worship services they attend include people displaying signs of excitement and enthusiasm, such as clapping or jumping, at least occasionally (71% vs. 59%). A larger share of churchgoing charismatic Catholics than non-renewalists also say the services they attend include speaking in tongues, prophesying or praying for deliverance or healing (56% vs. 42%).

Religious Commitment and Involvement

Hispanic renewalists stand out as having higher levels of religious commitment than their non-renewalist counterparts on measures such as frequency of church attendance, importance of religion in their lives and frequency of prayer. Hispanic renewalists also tend to report more involvement in religious practices outside of worship services than do non-renewalists, and they are more likely to hold a leadership position in their place of worship. (For additional analysis of these religious practices, see Chapter 3.)

Protestants

Latino Pentecostal and charismatic Protestants are more likely than non-renewalist Protestants to say they attend worship services at least once a week (72% of Pentecostals, 64% of charismatics and 51% of non-renewalist Protestants) and to say that religion is very important in their lives (89% of Pentecostals, 79% of charismatics and 67% of non-renewalist Protestants). Large majorities of Latino Protestants say they pray at least once a day, whether they are Pentecostal (81%), charismatic (79%) or non-renewalist Protestants (73%). On an index that incorporates these three measures of religious commitment, about half of Pentecostal (55%) and charismatic Protestants (52%) are in the “high commitment” category, compared with 39% of non-renewalist Protestants. (See Chapter 3 for more on the index.)

Hispanic renewalist Protestants, particularly Pentecostals, are highly involved in religious practices outside of worship services, such as Bible study and sharing their faith with others. Majorities of Pentecostal Protestants say they read Scripture outside of worship services at least once a week (79%), share their faith with nonbelievers at least once a week (65%) and participate in prayer groups or Bible study groups at least once a week (59%). Somewhat smaller shares of charismatic Protestants are involved in each of these practices: 67% say they read Scripture at least weekly, 55% share their faith with nonbelievers at least weekly and 47% participate in prayer groups or Bible studies. While a majority of non-renewalist Protestants say they read Scripture at least once a week (58%), fewer share their faith with nonbelievers (44%) or participate in prayer or Bible study groups (39%) with the same frequency.

About half of churchgoing Latino Pentecostals (49%) are involved in some kind of leadership role in their church, such as serving as a lay minister, a member of the church council, a leader of a small group or ministry or a Sunday school or religious education teacher. By comparison, 36% of charismatic Protestants and about a quarter of non-renewalist Protestant churchgoers (24%) hold such a role in their place of worship.

Catholics

Charismatic Catholics also tend to show somewhat higher levels of commitment and church involvement than Catholics who are not classified as renewalists. About seven-in-ten charismatic Catholics (72%) say religion is very important in their lives and roughly two-thirds (64%) say they pray at least once a day, compared with 58% of other Catholics who say each of these things. Charismatic Catholics also are more likely than other Catholics to say they attend Mass at least once a week (45% vs. 35%).

Similarly, charismatic Catholics are more likely than non-renewalist Catholics to engage regularly in religious practices outside of worship services, such as reading Scripture at least once a week (37% of charismatic Catholics vs. 27% of non-renewalist Catholics), sharing their faith with nonbelievers at least once a week (30% vs. 21%) or attending a prayer group or Bible study group weekly (22% vs. 12%). Additionally, charismatic Catholics who attend worship services are slightly more likely than other churchgoing Catholics to hold a leadership role in their parish, such as serving as a Eucharistic minister or religious education teacher (20% vs. 15%).

Renewalism and Beliefs About the Bible, Return of Jesus Christ

Nearly all Hispanic Pentecostal Protestants (97%) believe that the Bible is the word of God, and about two-thirds (67%) say it should be taken literally, word for word. Fewer non-renewalist Protestants (46%) say the Bible should be taken literally.

Latino Pentecostal Protestants also are particularly likely to hold the belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth during their lifetime – 76% believe this, including half who say it will definitely happen in their lifetime and about a quarter (26%) who say it will probably happen. A majority of charismatic Protestants (63%) also believe Jesus will definitely or probably return in their lifetime, while fewer non-renewalist Protestants – about half (51%) – hold this belief.

Hispanic charismatic Catholics are more likely than non-renewalist Catholics to take a literalist view of the Bible (52% vs. 38%). They also are more likely to believe that Jesus Christ will either definitely or probably return during their lifetime (62% vs. 45%).

(For more on these beliefs, see Chapter 6.)

The Prosperity Gospel, Curing Social Ills

Hispanic Pentecostal Protestants also are more likely than other Protestants to believe in what is often referred to as the “prosperity gospel” – that God will grant wealth and good health to all believers who have enough faith. About two-thirds of Pentecostal Protestants (65%) believe this, compared with about half (51%) of charismatic Protestants and 39% of non-renewalist Protestants.

About two-thirds of Latino Pentecostal Protestants (68%) also believe that if enough people were brought to Christ, social ills would take care of themselves. A similar share of charismatic Protestants (62%) hold this belief, as do 55% of non-renewalist Protestants.

Hispanic charismatic Catholics are more likely than other Catholics to believe that bringing people to Christ will solve social ills (63% vs. 56%). However, charismatic Catholics and non-renewalist Catholics are about equally likely to believe in the prosperity gospel. About half or more in each group agree that God will grant wealth and good health to believers who have enough faith (56% of charismatic Catholics vs. 52% of non-renewalist Catholics).

(For more on these beliefs, see Chapter 6.)

Renewalism and Traditional Catholic Beliefs and Practices

While charismatic Catholics are more likely than non-renewalist Catholics to hold beliefs and engage in practices that are generally associated with the Pentecostal tradition, there is no evidence to suggest that charismatic Catholics are “less Catholic” in their beliefs and practices. In fact, charismatic Catholics are as likely as — and in some cases even more likely than — other Catholics to adhere to traditionally Catholic beliefs and practices.

A majority of Catholics (76%) believe that in Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ; charismatic Catholics (84%) are even more likely than non-renewalist Catholics (68%) to believe in transubstantiation.

Charismatic Catholics also are more likely than other Catholics to say they go to confession with a priest at least a few times a year (49% vs. 35%), though about half or more in each group say they seldom or never go.

Larger shares of charismatic Catholics than non-renewalist Catholics say that they pray to the Virgin Mary (86% vs. 77%) and that they pray to saints for help when they face difficult moments in their lives (75% vs. 65%).

And more charismatic Catholics than other Catholics say the typical Catholic Mass in the U.S. is lively and exciting – 71% of charismatic Catholics say this, as do 57% of other Catholics.

On some other Catholic beliefs and practices, Latino charismatic Catholics closely resemble Latino Catholics who are not renewalists. For instance, upwards of eight-in-ten Catholics, both charismatic and not, say they have a crucifix or other religious objects displayed in their home. And the vast majority of Catholics, including upwards of nine-in-ten of both charismatic Catholics (95%) and others (91%), agree with the statement “Mary is the Virgin Mother of God and watches over believers.”

Interfaith Worship Attendance

While charismatic Catholics report many renewalist elements in their worship services and religious practices, relatively few say they ever attend services at a non-Catholic church, such as an evangelical or Pentecostal church. About three-in-ten charismatic Catholics who attend worship services (31%) say that they ever attend services at a non-Catholic church, and a similar share of non-charismatic Catholics (28%) say the same. The share of charismatic Catholics who ever attend non-Catholic services has risen nine percentage points since 2007.

Among churchgoing Protestants, a similar share (31%) report that they ever attend Catholic services. Pentecostal Protestants are less likely than non-renewalist Protestants to ever attend Catholic services (24% vs. 35%).

In 2007, this question was only asked of Catholics, so there is no comparison over time for Protestants.

The Demographics of Hispanic Renewalists

Hispanic renewalist Christians are more heavily foreign born than non-renewalists, and tend to have lower levels of educational attainment. There are few differences, however, between renewalists and others when it comes to gender and age.

Protestants

Nearly three-quarters of Hispanic Pentecostal Protestants (74%) are foreign born, as are about half of charismatic Protestants (52%). Among non-renewalist Protestants, 56% are U.S. born and 44% are foreign born.

Latino Pentecostal Protestants tend to have lower levels of educational attainment than non-renewalist Latino Protestants. Among Pentecostals, 41% have less than a high school degree, while 44% of non-renewalist Protestants have some college education or more. Educational attainment and nativity are often correlated, but even among just the foreign born, Pentecostal Protestants are more likely than non-renewalists to have less than a high school degree (49% vs. 31%) and less likely to have more than a high school degree (15% vs. 37%).

While a plurality of Latino Pentecostal Protestants are of Mexican origin (39%), Pentecostals are less likely to be of Mexican descent than are charismatic Protestants (53%) and non-renewalist Protestants (57%). By contrast, Pentecostals are somewhat more likely than charismatic Protestants and non-renewalist Protestants to be of Puerto Rican or Salvadoran origin. Roughly one-in-five Pentecostal Protestants (19%) are Puerto Rican and 15% are Salvadoran, compared with 12% and 8% of charismatics, respectively, and 8% and 3% of non-renewalists.

The degree of renewalism among Hispanic Protestants also varies somewhat by Hispanic origin group. Among Protestants of Salvadoran origin, a majority are renewalists; about half are Pentecostals (51%) and roughly a third are charismatic Protestants (36%). And about four-in-five Protestants of Puerto Rican origin are renewalists, including 43% who are Pentecostal and 35% who are charismatic Protestants. Smaller majorities of Mexican and Dominican Protestants are renewalists, with about a fifth in each group belonging to Pentecostal denominations (23% and 22%, respectively). There are too few Protestants of Cuban origin in the survey sample to analyze this group separately.

Catholics

Nearly three-quarters of Latino charismatic Catholics (73%) are foreign born, compared with 57% of other Latino Catholics. There are no significant differences, however, between charismatic Catholics and other Catholics when it comes to origin groups. Roughly two-thirds of both charismatic Catholics (67%) and other Catholics (65%) are of Mexican origin.

As with Latino Protestants, Latino charismatic Catholics tend to have lower levels of educational attainment than Latino Catholics who are not renewalists. About a quarter of charismatic Catholics (24%) have some education beyond high school, while 47% have less than a high school degree. Among non-renewalist Catholics, about four-in-ten (39%) have more than a high school degree and three-in-ten have less than a high school degree.

The presence of renewalism among Hispanic Catholics varies somewhat by Hispanic origin group. Nearly seven-in-ten Catholics of Salvadoran origin (69%) are charismatic Catholics, as are about six-in-ten Catholics of Dominican origin (62%). Roughly half of Catholics of Mexican (52%) and Cuban (48%) origin are charismatic Catholics. By contrast, a majority of Catholics of Puerto Rican origin (59%) are not renewalists.

The previous chapter focused on findings about the extent to which Hispanics engage in spirit-filled religious practices associated with renewalist Christianity, such as speaking in tongues, divine healing and prophesying. Some Hispanics also incorporate indigenous or Afro-Caribbean practices into their religious experiences, such as seeking help from someone with special powers to heal the sick, using incense or herbs in a ceremony for spiritual cleansing, or making offerings to spiritual beings.

Some Latinos take part in other forms of spiritual expression that may reflect a mix of Christian and indigenous influences. For instance, a majority of Latinos say they believe people can be possessed by spirits, and about three-in-ten say they have made offerings to spiritual beings or saints.

Whether these practices derive mainly from indigenous or traditional Christian sources – or a combination of the two – they point to a strong sense of the spirit world in the everyday lives of many Latinos.

Magic, Witchcraft and Spiritual Beings

A majority of U.S. Hispanics (57%) say they believe that people can be possessed by spirits. Smaller shares say they believe that magic, sorcery or witchcraft can influence people’s lives (44%) or that it is possible to communicate with spiritual beings or saints (42%).

Belief that people can be possessed by spirits is more common among Latino evangelical Protestants (80%) than among mainline Protestants (63%), Catholics (56%) or the religiously unaffiliated (43%).

A majority of evangelical Protestants (58%) say that magic or witchcraft can influence people’s lives. About half of mainline Protestants (48%) believe this, as do 42% of Catholics and 37% of the unaffiliated. Meanwhile, Latino Catholics (46%) are somewhat more likely than other groups to say they believe it is possible to communicate with spiritual beings or saints.

Roughly three-quarters of Hispanics of Salvadoran origin (73%), including 87% of Salvadoran Protestants, believe people can be possessed by spirits, compared with about six-in-ten or fewer among Hispanics of other origin groups. There are few differences across Hispanic origin groups regarding belief in the influence of magic or possible communication with spirits.

Alternative Religious Beliefs

About four-in-ten Hispanics (39%) say they believe in the “evil eye,” or that certain people can cast curses or spells that cause bad things to happen. Roughly three-in-ten believe in astrology (31%) or reincarnation (29%).

Roughly four-in-ten Catholics (41%) and Protestants (38%) believe in the evil eye, as do about a third of the religiously unaffiliated (32%). By contrast, Catholics are more likely than Protestants to believe in astrology (34% vs. 21%) and reincarnation (34% vs. 19%). Evangelical Protestants stand out for their lower levels of belief in astrology (18%) and reincarnation (16%).

Roughly four-in-ten Hispanics who attend religious services at least once a week (38%) believe in the evil eye, as do a similar share of those who attend monthly or yearly (42%). But Hispanics who attend services at least once a week are less likely than those who attend less frequently to say they believe in astrology or reincarnation (a quarter vs. about a third).

Immigrants are slightly more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to believe in the evil eye (40% vs. 36%). By contrast, foreign-born Hispanics are somewhat less likely than their native-born counterparts to believe in reincarnation (27% vs. 33%).

Among Hispanic origin groups, Cuban Americans are somewhat more likely than others to believe in the evil eye (50%) or astrology (41%). There are no significant differences across origin groups with respect to belief in reincarnation.

Indigenous Religious Practice

About one-in-seven Hispanics overall have participated in each of the indigenous religious practices included in the survey. One-in-five or fewer Hispanics in each major religious group say they have had black magic practiced on them or on someone close to them; roughly one-in-seven have sought help from a curandero, shaman, spiritist or someone else with special powers to heal the sick; and similar shares have used materials such as incense, herbs, tobacco or liquor in ceremonies for spiritual cleansing or healing. There are two notable exceptions: Just 5% of Hispanic mainline Protestants say they have ever sought help from a healer, and only 6% of evangelical Protestants say they have used incense or herbs in healing ceremonies.

U.S.-born Hispanics are slightly more likely than immigrants to say that they have used incense or herbs in spiritual cleansing ceremonies (15% vs. 11%), though there are virtually no differences by nativity on other indigenous practices.

There are no major differences in these practices by Hispanic origin group, though Cubans and Puerto Ricans tend to be slightly more likely than other groups to have had some of these experiences.

Prayers and Offerings to Saints

Nearly half of Hispanics (47%) say they pray to saints to ask for help when they face difficult moments in their lives.²² Fully seven-in-ten Catholics say they direct their prayers in this way, while 23% of mainline Protestants, 21% of the religiously unaffiliated and 9% of evangelicals say the same.

About three-in-ten Hispanics (28%) say they have made offerings such as food, drink, candles or flowers to spiritual beings or saints. While making offerings such as candles or flowers to saints is a traditional Catholic practice, other offerings (such as food or drink) are common among practitioners of indigenous and Afro-Caribbean faiths as well. Catholics are at least twice as likely as members of other religious groups to say they have made offerings to saints or spiritual beings. About four-in-ten Catholics (39%) have made such offerings, compared with roughly one-in-six of the religiously unaffiliated (17%) and mainline Protestants (15%) and only 7% of evangelicals.

Opposition to same-sex marriage among Latinos has declined in recent years, mirroring a trend seen in the U.S. general public. However, there are significant differences among religious groups, with religiously unaffiliated Latinos particularly likely to support same-sex marriage and Latino evangelical Protestants especially likely to oppose it.

Roughly half of Hispanics say abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, while four-in-ten say it should be legal. Among the general public, the balance of opinion is reversed. Hispanic Catholics are less inclined than white, non-Hispanic Catholics to say that abortion should be legal.

More Hispanics now say that churches should stay out of political matters than said so in a 2006 Pew Research survey. The shift in views has occurred among all religious groups, but it is particularly pronounced among Hispanic mainline Protestants.

Hispanics tend to reject traditional gender roles when it comes to marriage and the family, as do a majority of Americans overall. But Hispanics are more evenly divided when it comes to whether men should be religious leaders in the family.

The partisan leanings of Hispanics are decidedly more Democratic than Republican. While Hispanic religious groups differ somewhat on party affiliation, all tilt more toward the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, including evangelical Protestants. There also is a consensus across Hispanic religious groups that a bigger government providing more services is preferable to a smaller government that provides fewer services.

Views About Same-Sex Marriage

Opposition to same-sex marriage among Latinos has declined in recent years, from 56% opposed in 2006 to 34% in this survey, mirroring a similar trend in the general public. In turn, there has been a rise in the share of Latinos who favor same-sex marriage, from 30% in 2006 to 46% in 2013. A larger share of Latinos (19%) than U.S. adults overall (8%) express no opinion on this issue.

There are sizable differences among Hispanic religious groups in views about same-sex marriage. Religiously unaffiliated Hispanics favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally by about a four-to-one margin (67% favor vs. 16% oppose). Likewise, more Hispanic Catholics favor same-sex marriage (49%) than oppose it (30%). Hispanic evangelical Protestants tilt in the opposite direction; they are much more inclined to oppose (66%) than to favor (19%) same-sex marriage. Mainline Protestants’ views on the issue are similar to those of Hispanics overall, with 37% opposed to same-sex marriage and 44% in favor of it.

Hispanics who attend worship services regularly are less inclined than those who attend less often to favor same-sex marriage, a pattern that also is found in the general public. About a third of Hispanics who attend services at least once a week (32%) favor same-sex marriage. By contrast, roughly two-thirds of those who seldom or never attend services (65%) support it. This pattern holds across major religious groups.

Foreign-born Hispanics tend to be less supportive than U.S.-born Hispanics of same-sex marriage. Hispanic immigrants are closely divided, with 39% saying they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally and 38% saying they oppose it; 24% do not express an opinion. By contrast, a majority of native-born Hispanics (58%) favor same-sex marriage, while about three-in-ten (29%) oppose it and 13% do not express an opinion.

This pattern also holds across religious groups, though differences by nativity are particularly large among Latino mainline Protestants. Nearly six-in-ten U.S.-born mainline Protestants (57%) favor same-sex marriage, compared with a quarter of foreign-born mainline Protestants.

Overall, Latino women are slightly more likely than Latino men to favor same-sex marriage.

Views About Abortion

About half of Hispanics (53%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, while 40% say it should be legal. Among the general public, the balance of opinion is reversed: About half of American adults overall (54%) say abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, while 40% say it should be illegal.

Latinos’ opinions about abortion have been fairly stable for about a decade; the same is true among the general public.

Among Latinos, major religious groups differ markedly in their views about abortion. Seven-in-ten Latino evangelical Protestants (70%) say abortion should be mostly or entirely illegal, while about a quarter (24%) say it should be mostly or entirely legal. Roughly half of Latino Catholics (54%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, while nearly four-in-ten (38%) say it should be legal. Latino mainline Protestants are more evenly divided: 46% say abortion should be illegal and 45% say it should be legal in all or most circumstances. Religiously unaffiliated Latinos stand out for their greater acceptance of legal abortion; 58% say abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, while 35% say it should be illegal.

Hispanics who attend worship services at least weekly are more likely than those who attend less often to oppose legal abortion. Among Hispanics who attend services at least once a week, 69% say abortion should be illegal, while a quarter say it should be legal in all or most circumstances. This pattern holds across religious groups.

Foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to say abortion should be illegal. About six-in-ten Hispanics born outside the U.S. (58%) say abortion should be mainly illegal; a third (33%) say it should be mainly legal. U.S.-born Hispanics are closely divided, with 49% saying abortion should be mostly or entirely legal and 45% saying it should be illegal.

Among Hispanics overall, there are no gender differences in views about abortion.

Catholics’ Views on Social Issues

There are some significant differences between Hispanic Catholics and white, non-Hispanic Catholics when it comes to views about abortion and same-sex marriage. Hispanic Catholics tend be more conservative than white Catholics in their views about abortion. About half of Hispanic Catholics (54%) say that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances, compared with 44% of white Catholics.

Roughly similar shares of Hispanic Catholics and white non-Hispanic Catholics favor same-sex marriage (49% and 53%, respectively). However, Hispanic Catholics are less likely than white Catholics to oppose same-sex marriage (30% vs. 41%); about a fifth of Hispanic Catholics (21%) do not express an opinion on this issue.

Role of Church in Speaking Out About Social and Political Issues

Latinos are increasingly divided over the role that churches and other houses of worship should play in public debates over social and political issues. Compared with 2006, more Latinos now say that churches should stay out of political matters (37% in 2006, 44% in 2013). The share of Latinos who say that religious institutions should keep out of political matters (44%) is now nearly as large as the share who say such institutions should express their views on political and social issues (47%).

The balance of opinion on this question has shifted in the same direction among the general public. In Pew Research surveys prior to 2006, more Americans overall said churches should express their views on social and political matters than said churches should keep out of these issues; since 2006, opinion has tilted in the opposite direction. In 2012, for instance, 54% of the general public said churches should keep out of social and political matters, while 40% said churches should express their views.

There are sizable differences of opinion on this question among major religious groups. About six-in-ten Hispanic evangelical Protestants (61%) say churches should express their views on social and political issues, while a third (32%) say they should keep out of political matters. Greater shares of mainline Protestants (53%) and the religiously unaffiliated (57%) say churches should stay out of political matters. Hispanic Catholics are more evenly divided on this issue, with about half (49%) saying churches should express their views and 41% saying they should keep out of political issues.

Compared with 2006, fewer Hispanics in nearly every major religious group say churches should express their views on political and social matters. The shift is particularly pronounced for mainline Protestants, among whom 37% say churches should express their views on social and political issues and roughly half (53%) say they should keep out of political matters. In 2006, those percentages were reversed: 55% of mainline Protestants said churches should express their views on social and political issues and 35% said they should keep out.

Family and Gender Roles

Hispanics tend to reject a more traditional view of gender roles within marriage and the family. Most Hispanics say that a marriage with both husband and wife working and taking care of the house and children (79%) is preferable to a traditional arrangement with the husband as the financial provider and the wife taking care of the home (18%).

While the balance of opinion on this question is the same across major religious groups, Hispanic Protestants are somewhat more likely than either Catholics or the religiously unaffiliated to say a traditional marriage is a more satisfying way of life.

There are, at most, modest differences of opinion about marital roles by gender, age or nativity.

Hispanics appear to be no more likely than the U.S. general public to prefer traditional marriage roles. In 2010, a Pew Research survey that focused on marriage and family issues found that three-in-ten American adults preferred a marriage with the husband providing for the family and the wife taking care of the house and children, while 62% said a marriage where both spouses have jobs and both take care of the home and children was preferable. Hispanics in that 2010 survey expressed views similar to those of the general public, with 27% preferring a traditional marriage to one where both spouses have jobs and both take care of children and home needs (69%).

In the 2013 survey, about six-in-ten Hispanics (63%) reject the idea that “a husband should have the final say in family matters,” while one-third (34%) say they should.

While a majority of both men and women disagree with the idea that husbands should have the final say, more women (67%) than men (59%) reject the statement.

Hispanic Protestants, both evangelical and mainline, are more inclined than either Catholics or the religiously unaffiliated to believe husbands should have the final say. And Hispanics who attend religious services more often are more inclined to say this than are those who attend less frequently.

There are at most modest differences by age or nativity in views about whether husbands should have the final say.

Two previous Pew Research surveys, conducted in 2002 and 2009, asked Hispanics about the same statement using different response options to register intensity of agreement or disagreement. While the findings are not directly comparable with this new survey, the balance of opinion was about the same, with more Hispanics disagreeing than agreeing that a husband should have the final say in family matters.

A similar gender difference was found in response to this question in both 2002 and 2009, with men more inclined than women to agree with the statement.

In contrast with beliefs about gender roles in marriage, Hispanics are more evenly divided when it comes to gender-based religious roles in the family. The 2013 Pew Research survey asked respondents to agree or disagree that “men have a duty to serve as the religious leaders in the marriage and family.” About half of all Hispanics (51%) either completely or mostly agree with this statement, while 45% disagree.

There are sharp differences on this issue among religious groups. A majority of Hispanic Protestants, especially evangelical Protestants, see men as having a duty to serve as religious leaders in the family. Three-quarters of evangelicals (75%) say this, as do 55% of mainline Protestants. Hispanic Catholics are closely divided, with 50% saying men have a duty to serve as religious leaders in the family while 46% disagree. A majority of religiously unaffiliated Hispanics (68%) reject the idea that men have a duty to serve as religious leaders in the family.

There are some differences on this question by age, with older Hispanics more inclined than their younger counterparts to say that men have a duty to serve as religious leaders in the family. But men and women hold similar views on this issue, as do U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanics.

Political Party Affiliation

Overall, 56% of U.S. Hispanics either identify with the Democratic Party or are independents who lean Democratic, while 21% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. About a fifth of all Hispanics (22%) do not lean toward either party.

Compared with the general public, more Hispanics tilt toward the Democratic Party or identify with neither party. Foreign-born Hispanics are less likely than those born in the U.S. to express a party affiliation.

While more Latinos in every major religious group favor the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, there are some differences in party affiliation across these groups. Three-in-ten evangelical Protestants (30%) identify as Republicans or lean toward the GOP, while 48% identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. The religiously unaffiliated are particularly likely to identify as or lean Democratic (64%) over Republican (16%).

Similarly, there is a strong Democratic tilt in party identification across Hispanic origin groups. Dominicans are especially likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party over the GOP (80% vs. 7%). Compared with other Hispanics, Cubans are more Republican-leaning, but more Cubans identify with or lean toward the Democrats (48%) than the Republicans (33%). Cubans ages 50 and older are more evenly split in their party affiliation (39% Democratic or Democratic-leaning vs. 44% Republican) than are Cuban adults under age 50 (56% Democratic vs. 23% Republican). Cubans who are registered to vote are closely split in party affiliation: 47% identify with or lean toward the GOP, while 44% tilt toward the Democrats.

Role of Government

Regardless of party affiliation, most Hispanics prefer a bigger government that provides more services (67%) to a smaller government providing fewer services (21%).

Majorities of all major religious groups prefer a larger government with more services to a smaller one providing fewer services. Compared with other religious groups, Hispanic Catholics are particularly supportive of a larger government.

Similarly, there are only modest differences among Hispanic origin groups, though Salvadorans and Dominicans tend to be more supportive of a bigger government than Cubans and Puerto Ricans.

There is somewhat less support for a bigger government among U.S.-born Hispanics (55%) compared with immigrants (75%).

Among the general public, the balance of opinion on this issue is reversed: About half of Americans overall (51%) prefer a smaller government, while 40% prefer a bigger government.

Latino women are slightly more likely than men to prefer a bigger government, a pattern that is also found in the general public.

Personal Life and Optimism About the Future

An overwhelming majority of Hispanics are satisfied with their personal life. Nearly nine-in-ten Hispanics (88%) are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life; just one-in-ten are dissatisfied. There are no significant differences in life satisfaction among religious groups and, at most, modest differences among other subgroups of Hispanics.

Hispanics also tend to be more optimistic than pessimistic about the future. Overall, 72% of Hispanics expect their life to be better in 10 years than it is today, while just 6% think their life will be worse and 17% expect their life to be about the same.

Younger Hispanics tend to be more optimistic about the future than older Hispanics, a pattern that occurs across racial and ethnic groups in the general public. U.S.-born Hispanics, who on average are younger than foreign-born Hispanics, tend to be particularly optimistic about the future.

Among members of all major religious groups, about two-thirds or more are optimistic about the future. However, Hispanic Catholics tend to be somewhat less optimistic about the future than are evangelical Protestants or the religiously unaffiliated.

Survey data in this report are based on Pew Research Center surveys conducted with a nationally representative sample of Hispanics.

Differences between groups or subgroups, such as foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics, are described in this report only when the differences are statistically significant and therefore unlikely to occur by chance. The variability of estimates (and thus the margins of error) are computed using techniques that take into account the complex sampling design and weighting method used in the study.

2013 Survey of Hispanics

The nationally representative survey of Hispanics was conducted by telephone (cellphones and landlines) in English and Spanish with 5,103 Hispanic adults, ages 18 and older, living in the United States. The sample was drawn from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and survey interviews were conducted from May 24 to July 28, 2013. Interviews were conducted for the Pew Research Center by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) with a staff of bilingual interviewers.

The survey used a stratified sampling design with oversampling (i.e., geographic-based disproportionate sampling) in areas with a higher incidence of Latinos overall and also in areas with a higher incidence of non-Mexican Latinos. In addition, the survey design included an oversample of non-Catholic Latinos to facilitate analysis of religious groups. The results are weighted to account for the complex survey design, including a correction for oversampling and other differences in the probability of selection as well as sample balancing to population totals for the U.S. Latino adult population. After taking into account the complex sample design, the margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence.

Eligibility and Bilingual Interviewing

All people ages 18 or older who identified themselves as of Latino origin or descent were eligible to complete the survey. SSRS used a staff of Spanish-speaking interviewers who, when contacting a household, were able to offer respondents the option of completing the survey in Spanish or English. A total of 2,725 respondents (53%) were surveyed in Spanish, and 2,378 respondents (47%) were interviewed in English.

Sampling Error

The accompanying table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different subgroups in the survey after taking into account the complex sample design.

The survey’s margin of sampling error is the largest 95% confidence interval for any estimated proportion. For example, the margin of error for the entire sample is ±2.1 percentage points. This means that in 95 out of every 100 samples drawn using the same methodology, estimated proportions based on the entire sample will be no more than 2.1 percentage points away from their true values in the population.

Sampling errors and statistical tests of significance used in this report take into account the effect of weighting. One should bear in mind that, in addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

Questionnaire Design and Translation

Pew Research Center staff developed the questionnaire in consultation with SSRS staff. The questionnaire covered a range of topics, including Hispanics’ religious affiliation and behaviors, views of Hispanic identity and views about social issues. A pretest of the questionnaire, to inform questionnaire design, was conducted on May 21, 2013, with eight landline and 28 cellphone interviews. The questionnaire was translated into Spanish by staff at SSRS; all translations were reviewed by at least two Pew Research Center staff fluent in Spanish.

To allow for a direct comparison of religious affiliation over time, the survey asked two separate versions of a question about religious affiliation. Respondents in the main study sampling frame (not including the oversample of non-Catholics) were randomly assigned to one of the two questions about their religious affiliation. Different question wording leads to some differences in the proportion of Latinos identifying with religious groups. A comparison of the composition of Catholics, evangelical Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated using each question wording, however, found no or few significant differences. This analysis tested for differences on gender, age and education, as well as on the salience of religion, frequency of worship service attendance, frequency of prayer and an index combining these measures of religious commitment. The results in this report combine those answering both versions of the question about religious affiliation, except where noted in the report, specifically in the analysis of religious affiliation over time and the current religious affiliation of Hispanics.

Survey Administration

All interviews were conducted using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system, which ensures that questions are asked in the proper sequence with appropriate skip patterns. CATI also allows certain questions and answer choices to be rotated, eliminating potential biases from the sequencing of questions or answers.

Both the landline and cellphone samples were released for interviewing in replicates, which are small random samples of each larger sample. Using replicates to control the release of the telephone numbers ensures that the complete call procedures are followed for all numbers dialed.

An average of seven attempts were made to contact each sampled telephone number. Non-responsive numbers were contacted multiple times and at varying times of the day and days of the week to maximize the chance of making contact with a potential respondent. One attempt was made to convert soft refusals. The study included a $5 incentive for any cellphone respondent who requested compensation for their time.

Sample Design

To ensure the highest possible coverage of the eligible population, the study employed a dual-frame landline/cellphone design. The sample consisted of a landline sampling frame (yielding 2,698 completed interviews) and a cellphone sampling frame (2,405 interviews).²³ Both the landline and cellphone sampling frames used a stratified sampling design, oversampling areas with higher densities of Latino residents. The same sampling plan was used for the main sample and the non-Catholic oversample.

For the landline sampling frame, the sample was compared with InfoUSA and other household databases, and phone numbers associated with households that included persons with known Latino surnames were subdivided into a surname stratum. The remaining unmatched and unlisted landline sample was divided into the following mutually exclusive strata, based on U.S. Census estimates of the density of the Latino population in each: very high, high and medium Latino.²⁴ These strata were then further subdivided into low Mexican and high Mexican strata.

It is important to note that the existence of a surname stratum does not mean the survey was a surname sample design. The sample was a random digit dial (RDD) sample, with the randomly selected telephone numbers divided by whether or not they were found to be associated with a Spanish surname. This was done simply to improve the efficiency of interviewing respondents in this population.

Marketing System Group’s (MSG) GENESYS sample generation system was used to generate the cellphone sample, which was divided into high and medium Latino strata. These were then further divided into low Mexican and high Mexican strata.

Samples for the low-incidence landline and low-incidence cellphone strata were drawn from previously interviewed respondents in SSRS’s weekly dual-frame Excel omnibus survey. Respondents who indicated they were Latino on the omnibus survey were eligible to be re-contacted for this Pew Research Center survey. In addition, the incidences in the medium landline and cellphone strata were lower than anticipated, so interviews with Latinos prescreened from the Excel omnibus survey were used to gather additional interviews in these strata. This resulted in a total of two additional strata for both the landline and cellphone sampling frames. The number of interviews completed in each stratum is shown in the table below.

The landline response rate was 20.7% for the main study and 24.7% for the oversample, for an overall landline response rate of 22.0%, using AAPOR’s RR3 formula. The cellphone response rate was 14.1% for the main study and 18.2% for the oversample, for an overall cellphone response rate of 14.9%. The overall response rate for the full sample was 19.4%.

Weighting

Several stages of statistical adjustment, or weighting, were used to account for the complex nature of the sample design and ensure an accurate representation of the national Hispanic population. The weights account for numerous factors, including (1) the geographic-based disproportionate sampling of telephone exchanges in both the landline and cellphone RDD frames; (2) a propensity weight adjustment for the potential bias associated with re-contacting previously interviewed respondents in certain strata; (3) an adjustment for unequal probability of selection for those found to possess both a landline and a cellphone; and (4) an adjustment for the likelihood of within household selection in the landline sampling frame.

In addition, the data were put through a post-stratification sample balancing routine to population totals for the U.S. Hispanic adult population based on the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, March Supplement. Iterative proportional fitting technique, or raking, corrects for differential nonresponse that is related to particular demographic characteristics of the sample. This weight ensures that the demographic characteristics of the sample closely approximate the demographic characteristics of the population. Prior to raking, the base weights were trimmed to control the variance created by the base weight from 0.10 to just over 5.0. The variables matched to population parameters were: age by state (California, Florida, New York, Texas and all other states combined), gender by state, heritage by state, education by state, U.S. born or years in the U.S. by state, Census region, phone use (i.e., cellphone only, cellphone mostly, mixed, landline mostly, landline only) and density of the Latino population. The post-stratification weights were trimmed to range from 0.10 to 5.0. After the data were raked to resemble the population distribution for Latino adults, the weighted data were used to determine the benchmark for a Catholic/non-Catholic parameter, which was used to correct for the oversample of non-Catholic Latinos in the study design. Because two versions of the religious affiliation question were used, subsamples were raked separately based on which version of the question respondents received.

Trend Surveys of Hispanics

Most trend analyses in this report are from the 2006 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanics and religion and a subsequent call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics conducted in 2007. The 2006 survey of Hispanics was conducted via landline telephone by International Communications Research (ICR). Interviews were conducted from Aug. 10-Oct. 4, 2006, in both English and Spanish, among a nationally representative sample of 4,016 Hispanic adults. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. The 2006 survey of Hispanics was followed by a call-back survey of Hispanic Catholics. Survey interviews were completed Jan. 5-29, 2007, with 650 Catholic respondents from the original survey. The margin of error for Hispanic Catholics in the call-back survey is plus or minus 5.7 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. For more details, see the survey methodology. In this report, the call-back survey is referred to as “2007 Hispanic Catholics.”

The sample design for the 2006 Pew Research survey of Hispanics and religion was stratified to include a disproportionate number of non-Mexican respondents, and included an oversample of non-Catholics by drawing on a re-contact sample of non-Catholic Hispanic respondents from previous ICR studies. Weighting was employed to account for the stratified sample as well as the oversample of non-Catholic Latinos. For more details, see the survey methodology.

The 2006 figures for religious affiliation cited in Chapter 1 of this report vary somewhat from the previous report because the 2006 data were re-weighted using a procedure more comparable to the weighting of the 2013 survey data. In the original 2006 sample, a two-stage weighting design was used to correct for the stratification of the sample and to ensure an accurate representation of the national Hispanic population based on demographic estimates from the Census and Claritas (see the 2006 survey methodology for more information on the original weighting process). The parameter for Catholic/non-Catholic was derived from previous ICR surveys of Hispanics. The new weight, while also first accounting for stratification of sampling and employing post-stratification sample balancing routines to ensure accurate representation based on various demographic parameters, used a religion parameter derived from the post-stratified main sample (excluding the oversample of non-Catholics) to correct for the oversample of non-Catholic Hispanics. This new weight for the 2006 data was only employed for analysis of the religious affiliation profile of Hispanics. Other figures from 2006 are reported using the original weight.

Some figures in this report differ from the 2006 report due to changes in the way respondents were classified. In 2006, the category of “renewalist Protestants” included Jehovah’s Witnesses, Orthodox Christians and Mormons, whereas in this report these groups are not included in the “renewalist Protestant” categories. In addition, subsequent to the publication of the report based on the 2006 survey, it was discovered that due to a programming error in the survey, some respondents were coded as mainline Protestants when they should have been coded as undesignated on their born-again or evangelical status. Therefore, some trend figures for mainline Protestants may be slightly different than previously reported. Also, due to different approaches to rounding, some figures for 2006 may differ by as much as one percentage point between the previous report and the current report.

This report is based on findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted May 24-July 28, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of 5,103 Hispanic adults. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish on cellular as well as landline telephones. For more details, see the survey methodology.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals:

Primary Researchers Cary Funk, Senior Researcher Jessica Hamar Martinez, Research Associate

Research Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research Mark Hugo Lopez, Director of Hispanic Research Greg Smith, Associate Director of Religion Research Elizabeth Sciupac, Research Analyst Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa, Data Manager Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Research Associate Besheer Mohamed, Research Associate Angelina Theodorou, Research Assistant Eileen Patten, Research Analyst Anna Brown, Research Assistant

Editorial Sandra Stencel, Associate Director, Editorial Tracy Miller, Editor Michael Lipka, Assistant Editor Bill Webster, Information Graphics Designer

Communications and Web Publishing Stacy Rosenberg, Digital Project Manager Katherine Ritchey, Communications Manager Joseph Liu, Web Producer