Seeing Double
The U.S. Latino population has doubled in the last 18 years and so has the number of Pentecostals. A recent study by Trinity College found that the growth rate of Latino Pentecostals kept pace with immigration trends.
Researchers also found that Hispanic immigration helped the Catholic Church maintain its position as the nation’s largest religious tradition, with Latinos making up 32 percent of all U.S. Catholics in 2008 compared to 20 percent in 1990.
Some of the growth trends weren’t positive for Christians, however. The number of Latinos reporting no religious affiliation was the fastest-growing segment, jumping from 900,000, or 6 percent, in 1990 to nearly 4 million, or 12 percent, in 2008.
The findings are based on Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey.
