Human Interest

Despite being home to a huge amount of the world's Roman Catholics, membership in the Church is dropping throughout South America in favor of other religious options, from various Protestant sects to New Age beliefs to African diaspora religions.  The Pentacostal church in particular is highly favored all over the region, predominantly because it puts a bigger emphasis on a relationship with God and faith healing.  It has also adapted much better to Latin American culture than the Catholic church.  Most Pentacostal priests are from the region, while most Catholic clergy are outsiders, and Pentacostal churches use more Latin American music and dance.  The Catholic church has, however, had some limited success in the region with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which has adopted many aspects of Pentacostal church services while retaining the traditional church hierarchy and reverence for the Virgin Mary and the saints.  However, the Catholic church would systemic reform to slow or even reverse the the trend in South America, which would make the church unappealing to more conservative Catholic communities in Africa and Asia.  This touches on a variety of cultural differences between these regions, and poses an impossible dilemma to the church in which it must pick and choose which region or regions are more important.