Demographic and religious changes among Hispanics in the United States

The author explores the debate over US Latino religious affiliation. Depending on whom you believe, Latino Catholic affiliation in the United States runs from 77 to as low as 50%. After reviewing the limitations of previous studies, the author draws on the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life (HCAPL) national survey (n = 2060) to explore six demographic shifts in US Latino religions: (1) Catholic defections; (2) mass conversions to Protestantism; (3) mainline Protestant market share loss; (4) Pentecostal growth and the Pentecostalization of Latino Christianity; (5) growth of alternative Christian traditions; and (6) growth of world religions, metaphysical traditions and non-denominationalism. By breaking down Latino Protestantism into mainline, evangelical, and Pentecostal, the author challenges the theory that Latinos convert for status advantage and upward mobility. These shifts suggest that the future of US Latino religions is not only going to remain Catholic, but will also increasingly be Pentecostal/charismatic, alternative Christian, "heterodox", and other non-denominational.