Religion in Argentina

A reader wrote in today with a question about religion in Argentina. I will try to address this the best I can.

Reader's Question

Upon thinking about the death of the Pope, I am curious as to the state of religion in Argentina.  Is it a predominately Catholic country as I would be inclined to think?  How is the Pope's passing being handled in Argentina?

Religion in Argentina

According to the CIA World Factbook, the breakdown of religions in Argentina is:

• 92% - Roman Catholic
• 2% - Protestant
• 2% - Jewish
• 4% - Other

According to NationMaster only 25% attend religious services on a weekly basis, however. Much like other developed countries, church attendance is pretty low. Just about the only place church attendance is rising is in former communist states, where religion was once repressed and is now being allowed to flourish.

The Passing of the Pope

With the passing of Pope John Paul II, Argentina remembers the pope fondly. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Argentina and Chile were both ruled by military regimes, the pope personally negotiated a peace treaty between the two countries to stop an imminent war over disputed islands in the Beagle Channel. And in 1982, in the final days of the war over the Malvinas Islands, the pope visited Argentina to comfort the people.

Since the pope's passing, churches have been filled all over South America and there is speculation that the next pope may be South American. We'll just have to wait and see.