Argentina and Chile

Latin America in 20th century

Introduction

Modern Catholicism is not the result of a parish civilization. It has been historically marked by the significance of urban structures and the persistent lack of priests. The discrepancy between the widespread (Catholic) belief and the low sacramental and parochial participation is one of the main characteristics of Argentina's religious panorama.

Argentina is a Latin American country with a population of 40 million inhabitants distributed throughout a large territory, about 90% of who live in cities. Most of the people are Catholic. Catholicism in Argentina is a wide social fact, not confined to the religious sphere. In the 16th century, the Spanish Conquest imposed a model of “Christianity” on the Argentinean territory. Catholicism became the monopolistic culture, not only subordinating those of Native Americans and African slaves but also excluding them from the public sphere altogether. Catholic culture established deep roots in Argentina, persisting postindependence, through liberal times, and well into the mid-20th century (Blashfield, 2007).

However, Chile is a Spanish-speaking country winding down the Pacific Coast of South America, is a multiethnic society. More than half of its population of 17 million are people of European origin, and most of the rest are mestizos (people of mixed ancestry), with a small percentage (less than 5%) primarily of indigenous Indian ethnicity. In Chile, the church and the state are officially separate. The constitution allows for religious freedom. In 1999, a law was passed that forbade religious discrimination and granted other religions the same rights that the Catholic Church has (Franceschet, 2005).

About 70% of Chileans are Catholic, which is the religious tradition of the early Spanish colonial settlers. Protestants arrived in Chile in the 19th century with American missionary David Trumbull; currently, about 15% of the population of Chile is Protestant. The Chilean Jewish community in the country has approximately 30,000 members and accounts for less than 1% of the population (Rector, 2003).

Chile also has religious representation from Islam and Baha'i. There are 3,196 Muslims and 6,000 Baha'is in Chile. The first Islamic institution, The Society of Muslim Union in Chile, was founded on September 25, 1926. In 2002, the Baha'i community constructed a temple in Chile, the first Baha'i temple to be built in South America. Other religious denominations in Chile include the following: 3.3% Mormons, 1% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 4.4% “other;” 8.3% are atheists (Kamsteeg, 2008).

Discussion

In contemporary, global times, Argentina is a believing society; 91% of the population believes in God. The religious identification shows a progressive pluralization; the percentage of Catholics in the country came down from 90% of the population in 1960 to 76.5% in 2008. The decline of the sense of belonging to Catholicism describes a fracture of the historical monopolistic cult, due to two main tendencies: (1) the growth of Pentecostal Protestantism and (2) an increase in religious indifference (Gofen, 2002).

Indeed, religiously indifferent people (agnostics, atheists, etc.) make up 11% of the population, and evangelical believers make up 9% of the population. In Argentina, there are other religious communities ...