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A comprehensive study of religious practices in America conducted by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Hispanic Center uncovered the profound influence Latinos are having on religious life in the US. Both groups work under the auspices of the Washington-based Pew Research Center which provides information on attitudes and trends shaping America.
In particular, Pew discovered Hispanics display strong leanings to the charismatic or Pentecostal faith -- in one instance this cultural group was seven times more likely to attend charismatic services as their non-Hispanic counterparts. With increasing Hispanic growth, these influences will only become more pronounced over time.
In 2006, Pew conducted an extensive public opinion survey involving more than 4,600 Latinos between August and October.
The survey focused specifically on Roman Catholic Latinos in an effort to determine their "religious beliefs and behaviors." This included Latinos who were part of the Roman Catholic Church -- the largest religious institution in the US, and Latinos who left the Catholic Church to join evangelical congregations. This latter group was surveyed to determine the reasons for their conversion to the evangelical faith.
Roman Catholic Latinos go charismatic
- 68% of Hispanics considered themselves Roman Catholic -- Pew 2006 survey.
Latinos make up 30% of the population of the Roman Catholic Church and current demographic trends show Hispanic populations will increase as a percentage of Catholic congregations over the next few decades.
In light of this growing influence, Pew discovered over half (54%) of Hispanics consider themselves charismatic Catholics. This compares to only 8% of the non-Hispanic Catholics.
This charismatic group incorporates behaviour very similar to spirit-filled protestant congregations with emphasis on "divine healing and direct revelations from God." This includes speaking in tongues which 33% said they use at least once a week.
Many of the remaining (46%) Hispanics -- who did not connect with the Catholic charismatic movement -- stated they were "deeply influenced" by the charismatic element in the Catholic church.
"The implications of this are particularly important for the Catholic Church, given that the growing Latino flock is practicing a distinctive form of Catholicism," Pew said in their news release.
Pew added this distinctive charismatic element, "incorporates many of the beliefs and behaviours most commonly associated with the Pentecostal or renewalist Christianity while at the same time upholding the main features of traditional Catholic teaching."
My wife and I saw first hand the positive influence the charismatic has in Catholic congregations. When my wife and I adopted our daughter from Peru, we worked through a Roman Catholic orphanage. While there, we connected with a young couple involved in the Peruvian Catholic charismatic movement.
We ended up at their home and over the course of the evening discussed the charismatic renewal in Peru. We were told it was the fastest growing movement in the Catholic church and was found in nearly every Peruvian parish.
Their group emphasized the infilling of the Holy Spirit and moved in the gifts of Spirit -- tongues, prophecy, healing and etc. They even had a more Biblical approach to salvation focusing on the born-again experience of salvation by faith.
Eventually, our conversation turned to some of the Catholicism's' extra-Biblical doctrines such as the idolization of Mary and the Catholic emphasis on saints, works and purgatory. The husband ardently defended these basic tenets of the Catholic faith.
We were at loggerheads on these points, until I took what could only be described as a proverbial stab in the dark. After talking with the couple, I was convinced the moving of the Holy Spirit among the Catholic charismatics was for the most part genuine. Based on this, I said, "I suspect the emphasis on Mary and saints is either non existent among the Catholic charismatics or noticeably reduced from normal Catholic practice."
Our spirited discussions on Catholic theology came to an abrupt end when he admitted that yes, in fact, this was the case.
But clearly there was a gap between belief and practice. Though the couple still believed in the traditional Catholic doctrines, as the Holy Spirit moved in their charismatic gatherings, the "traditional" teachings of Roman Catholicism took a back seat to a more Biblical doctrine.
Latino Evangelicals More Charismatic
- 15% of the Latinos surveyed said they attended Evangelical churches -- Pew Survey results 2006.
Again even among this group we see a pronounced interest in the charismatic as 57% said they attended Pentecostal or charismatic churches compared to only 20% for non-Hispanics. Among Pentecostal Hispanics, 36% said they spoke in tongues at least once a week and 70% said they shared their faith with others at least once a week -- compared to only 33% and 27% respectively for Catholic charismatics.
According to Pew's survey, 51% of the Latinos attending evangelical churches stated they were converts. In their second stage of the survey, Pew asked this group what factors contributed to their withdrawal from the Catholic Church. It was clear from their response it was not due to an anti-Catholic sentiment.
- 90% of Hispanics cited "spiritual search" as the main reason for leaving.
- 61% added that the Catholic Church mass lacked excitement though only 36% stated it was a contributing factor to them leaving.
Conclusion
With rates of attendance at charismatic worship services running at three to seven times higher than their non-Hispanics counterparts is evidence of a significant moving of the Holy Spirit of among Hispanics in the U.S. It would suggest the spiritual outpouring that has occurred in Brazil and Argentina has spilled over into American Hispanics as well. But more importantly, the broad base of the Pew survey indicates this charismatic renewal has affected Hispanics from all Central and South American countries, not just Brazil and Argentina.
Source: Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and Pew Hispanic Project)
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John 5:3-4, “In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”
2) The following are the proves that Angels could perform marvellous wonders:
Luke 1:7, “And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years.” Luke 1:13, “but the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for their prayer is heard; and they wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John”. Luke 1:18, “And Zacharias said unto the angel, ‘Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my life well stricken in years.” Luke 1:19, “And THE ANGEL ANSWERING UNTO HIM, I AM GRABRIEL…” Luke 1:20, “AND BEHOLD, THOU SHALL BE DUMB, AND NOT ABLE TO SPEAK, UNTIL THE DAY THAT THESE THINGS SHALL BE PERFORMED, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” Luke 1:22, “And when he came out, HE COULD NOT SPEAK UNTO THEM”.
Matthews 28:1-2, “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Many Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And, behold, THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE, FOR AN ANGEL OF THE LORD DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN, AND ROLLED BACK THE STONE OF THE DOOR, and sat it.”
Acts 12:23, “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”