Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

s and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

s are predominantly

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

in the United States. Specifically, they are most often

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. According to a

Public Religion Research Institute The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of topics, specializing in the quantitative and qualitative study of politic ...

study in 2017, the majority of Hispanic and Latino Americans are

(76%), and about 11% of

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

identify as Hispanic or Latino Christian.

Roman Catholicism

The Spanish and Portuguese took the

faith to

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, and Roman Catholicism continues to be the largest, but not the only,

religious denomination A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Cat ...

among most Latinos. Among the largest Latino groups, 61% of Mexican Americans identify as Catholic, followed by

Dominican American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

(59%),

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

(49%),

Puerto Rican American Stateside Puerto Ricans ( es, link=no, Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans ( es, link=no, puertorriqueño-americanos,), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the U ...

(45%), and

Salvadoran American Salvadoran Americans ( or ) are Americans of full or partial Salvadoran descent. As of 2010, there are 2,195,477 Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the fourth-largest Hispanic community by nation of ancestry. Among the Latino Catholics, most communities celebrate their homeland's patron saint, dedicating a day for this purpose with festivals and religious services. Some Latinos syncretize Roman Catholicism and African or Native American rituals and beliefs despite the Catholic Church's teachings against such syncretic combinations of Catholicism and paganism. Such is the case of Santería, popular with

s and Puerto Ricans and which combines old African beliefs in the form of Roman Catholic saints and ritual.

Other Christian denominations

A significant number of Latinos are also

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, and several Protestant denominations (particularly

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

ones) have vigorously proselytized in Latino communities. Among the largest Latino groups, 37% of

Salvadoran American Salvadoran Americans ( or ) are Americans of full or partial Salvadoran descent. As of 2010, there are 2,195,477 Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the fourth-largest Hispanic community by nation of ancestry.Puerto Rican American Stateside Puerto Ricans ( es, link=no, Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans ( es, link=no, puertorriqueño-americanos,), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the U ...

(30%),

(22%), Mexican Americans (18%), and

(16%). And about 32% of Hispanic American Protestants are under the age of 30, and the median ages of Hispanic American Protestants is 37 years. Among Latino Protestant communities, most are

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

, but some belong to mainline denominations. Compared to Catholic, unaffiliated, and mainline Protestant Latinos, Evangelical Protestant Latinos are substantially more likely to attend services weekly, pray daily, and adhere to

biblical literalism Biblical literalism or biblicism is a term used differently by different authors concerning biblical interpretation. It can equate to the dictionary definition of literalism: "adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense", where literal mea ...

Trends

As of 2014, the majority of Hispanic Americans are

(80%), while 24% of Hispanic adults in the United States are former Catholics. 55%, or about 19.6 million Latinos, of the United States Hispanic population identify as Catholic. 22% are

, 16% being Evangelical Protestants, and the last major category places 18% as unaffiliated, which means they have no particular religion or identify as atheist or agnostic.

References

External links

U.S. Hispanic Market in 2010

Hispanic Heritage Foundation
{{Hispanic and Latino Americans navbox Christianity in the United States Hispanic and Latino demographics in the United States

Roman Catholicism

Other Christian denominations

Trends

See also

References

External links