Catholic Church loses most believers in Guatemala |
| Tuesday, 08 September 2009 14:21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Catholic religion is no longer the dominant majority and Guatemala due to the increase of the faithful who joined the different denominations of the Evangelical (Protestant), which have tripled their presence in the country over the past fifteen years. The presence of evangelicals is increasingly visible in this country until 25 years ago considered "totally Catholic", not only by the proliferation of "megatemplos" in the capital and major cities, but also by the vast amount of media at their disposal. About this there is no accurate data, but the dial is saturated with evangelical radio and television stations and cable networks increasingly offer more space for programs conducted by Protestant pastors. A recent study by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said that about half the 13.3 million Guatemalans profess evangelical Christianity. The figure contrasts with the last population census conducted by the National Statistical Institute in 2004, which identified 40 percent of the population as evangelical or Protestant. The AIN survey covered ten of the fourteen dioceses in the country through a methodology "observational," which has led to the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala (CEG) take the results with suspicion, considering them "somewhat exaggerated". The AIN is an international association under the Vatican, founded in 1947 by the German priest Werenfried van Straaten, "to help the church pastoral need or suffering persecution anywhere in the world," according to that organization on its website. One source of the Bishops Conference told Efe that, regardless of what the study says this partnership, "is a fact that the Protestant churches have grown in recent years and has gained traction, so that we can not ensure that 60 percent of Guatemalans are Catholic. " The Evangelical Alliance of Guatemala (AEG), which brings together more than 90 percent of Protestant denominations in the country, confirms the tripling of its presence in the country over the past fifteen years. However, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, director of that organization, is cautious when referring "to this numbers game." "They are the cold: commit and dizzy. They feel that certain triumphalism institutions, and that's not our goal. We respect the Catholic Church and other religions," he said in an interview with Efe. The priest said that the AEG "we have our own rates, based on data that will be permanently updated more than 22,000 temples in the country. Rodriguez prefers not to reveal the specifics because, he says, "we are not interested in the percentages", but acknowledges "significant" increase of Guatemalans who have converted to evangelical religion. "We believe that our total membership, 80 percent are Christians (evangelicals) practitioners, who go to temples permanently, and the remaining 20 percent are only nominally" he said. Evangelicals have also increased their role in social and political life of Guatemala and for ten years with the Catholic Church share a role until the mid nineties took the last exclusively. AEG, along with the Episcopal Conference, spaces are now involved in lobbying with other civil society organizations, which advocates equal planning security and the fight against crime, such as transparency in the election of officers court or in fighting corruption. This, according to Rodriguez, because their priority is "to contribute to good and quality of life" of the members of his church and its task is to "highlight the lost values and communicate the message of the Gospel. Source: EFE http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/619276.html
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