After Centuries of Catholicism, Latinos See Pentecostal Reformation
God is moving through Hispanics—not only in Latin American nations like Brazil but right here in the United States. Indeed, Hispanics are poised to play a pivotal role in Christianity in the days—and even hours—ahead.
Nearly 1-in-4 Hispanic adults (24 percent) are now former Catholics, according to a major, nationwide survey of more than 5,000 Hispanics by the Pew Research Center. About 22 percent of America’s 35.4 million Latino adults are Protestant—and many identify as Pentecostal or charismatic Protestants.
TIME magazine is penning an article about “The Latino Reformation.” The Washington Post is writing about “How Latinos Are Changing American Christianity.” And Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Evangelical Association, says we’re at a tipping point, as most of Christians around the world are now Latinos.
“Even here in America, the majority of Christ’s followers by the year 2030 will be of Latino descent. This is our reformation. We’ve had arguably 30 years, 40 years, 50 years of reformation. Seventy years ago, we were all Catholics or the majority of us were Catholics in Latin America. We haven’t had 500 years of Martin Luther’s thesis on the door. This is not Wittenberg. This is our reformation,” Rodriguez tells Charisma News.
“We’re giddy about Christianity. We’re like little kids super excited about this new thing … what do you mean we don’t have to go to the priest and confess and we don’t have to take penance and do 10 Hail Marys? We can speak to Jesus directly and by the way, He can fill us with His Spirit and we have a prayer language. And by the way, there are signs and wonders and miracles. And by the way, He can equip us to change the world by being light if we walk in righteousness. This is really cool.”
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