A Look at Catholics in Latin America as Pope Leo Visits

A weekly digest of the Center’s latest research on religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world · Subscribe ↗ Pope Leo is currently touring several Latin American countries – including Peru, where he lived for about two decades. Catholics still make up a majority in many of the region’s countries, but their share of the population has fallen in many places in Latin America over the last decade, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of six countries in the region. In Peru, for example, Catholics make up 67% of the population in 2026, down from 76% in our 2013-14 survey. And the share of Catholics in Mexico has fallen from 81% to 71%. The survey shows high levels of religiousness among Catholic Latin Americans. For example, 70% of Brazilian Catholics and 52% of Chilean Catholics report praying at least once a day. And majorities of Catholics in Brazil (76%), Colombia (68%) and Peru (60%) say religion is very important in their lives.