Latinos reshaping nation's religious terrain, study says

The study, by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that a majority of Latino Catholics practiced a distinctive, charismatic form of Catholicism, one that might include speaking in tongues, prophesying and other practices considered more typical of Pentecostal churches. Those traditions are much less widespread among non-Latino Catholics, who also are less likely to identify themselves as charismatics or Pentecostals, the researchers found.

The study also showed that Latinos tend to gather in churches that have at least some Latino clergy, offer Spanish-language services and serve predominantly Latino congregations. These "ethnic congregations" are emerging across the country and draw in both immigrant and U.S.-born Latinos.

"Latinos are finding each other and worshipping together," Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said in a conference call with reporters. "Religion appears to be one area where ethnic identity matters a lot."

The analysis, "Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion," is based on several telephone surveys, with the main one conducted between August and October. More than 4,600 adult Latinos participated in what the researchers called one of the largest examinations to date of Latinos and faith. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Overall, the study found, about 68% of Latinos identify themselves as Roman Catholic, 15% describe themselves as evangelical or born-again, 5% say they are mainline Protestants, 3% belong to other Christian denominations and about 8% say they are secular. The remainder declined to answer.

About a third of all U.S. Catholics are Latinos, with that percentage considered certain to rise, alongside the growing Latino population. And about 54% of Latino Catholics surveyed identified themselves as charismatics or Pentecostals, compared to about 12% of non-Latino Catholics, the study showed.

Both charismatic and Pentecostal Christians, often grouped together under the term "renewalist Christianity," place special emphasis on an intense, personal experience of the divine and believe that the Holy Spirit is manifested through supernatural phenomena, such as miraculous healing and prophesy.