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| Pope Francis Faces a Latin America Where Many Catholics Worship to a Different Beat | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| QUITO, Ecuador — The rock music boomed as the congregants at this simple, white-walled church sang and clapped, raising their arms skyward as they prayed aloud and swayed to the beat. The sermon included jokes and a call-and-response with people in the pews. There was even a faith healing testimonial. | QUITO, Ecuador — The rock music boomed as the congregants at this simple, white-walled church sang and clapped, raising their arms skyward as they prayed aloud and swayed to the beat. The sermon included jokes and a call-and-response with people in the pews. There was even a faith healing testimonial. |
| But just when it seemed like a Protestant revival meeting, the blessing of the host began and the parishioners filed to the altar to take communion, as in any other Roman Catholic Mass. | But just when it seemed like a Protestant revival meeting, the blessing of the host began and the parishioners filed to the altar to take communion, as in any other Roman Catholic Mass. |
| Afterward, many of the worshipers bought T-shirts and scarves with the logo of Pope Francis’ visit to their country this week. | Afterward, many of the worshipers bought T-shirts and scarves with the logo of Pope Francis’ visit to their country this week. |
| “They’re not so Catholic, are they?” joked the priest who presided over the service, Ismael Nova, referring to the Masses he conducts at San Juan Eudes parish church. “They’re different.” | “They’re not so Catholic, are they?” joked the priest who presided over the service, Ismael Nova, referring to the Masses he conducts at San Juan Eudes parish church. “They’re different.” |
| But then he added, “It’s the same Catholic Mass, because we’re still Catholic, but it’s made livelier with the music and the singing and raising the arms and handing over our lives more to Jesus.” | But then he added, “It’s the same Catholic Mass, because we’re still Catholic, but it’s made livelier with the music and the singing and raising the arms and handing over our lives more to Jesus.” |
| Father Nova, who at one point strutted like a peacock during Mass to make a point about pridefulness, belongs to a movement within Catholicism — known as the charismatic renewal — that has adopted an animated style of worship similar to Pentecostal and other Protestant churches. | Father Nova, who at one point strutted like a peacock during Mass to make a point about pridefulness, belongs to a movement within Catholicism — known as the charismatic renewal — that has adopted an animated style of worship similar to Pentecostal and other Protestant churches. |
| In doing so, the movement has helped the church compete in a region where, for decades, rival branches of Christianity have been siphoning off the Catholic faithful and challenging Catholicism’s long-held dominance in Latin America. | In doing so, the movement has helped the church compete in a region where, for decades, rival branches of Christianity have been siphoning off the Catholic faithful and challenging Catholicism’s long-held dominance in Latin America. |
| That erosion is one of the main challenges facing Francis, an Argentine who is the first Latin American pope, as he makes his first tour as pontiff of Spanish-speaking countries in the region, visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. On Thursday, he gave an open air Mass in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. | |
| Latin America and the Caribbean contain an estimated 425 million Catholics, more than a third of the church’s faithful worldwide. But while at least 90 percent of the region’s population was Catholic in the early 1970s, now just 69 percent say they belong to the religion, according to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 19 countries in late 2013 and early 2014. | Latin America and the Caribbean contain an estimated 425 million Catholics, more than a third of the church’s faithful worldwide. But while at least 90 percent of the region’s population was Catholic in the early 1970s, now just 69 percent say they belong to the religion, according to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 19 countries in late 2013 and early 2014. |
| At the same time, membership in Protestant churches has exploded. | At the same time, membership in Protestant churches has exploded. |
| In Brazil, the nation with more Catholics than any other, evangelical churches have grown so much that one church founder built a 10,000-seat replica of Solomon’s Temple. Other evangelical churches lure crowds with fight nights, reggae music or even on-site tattoo parlors. | In Brazil, the nation with more Catholics than any other, evangelical churches have grown so much that one church founder built a 10,000-seat replica of Solomon’s Temple. Other evangelical churches lure crowds with fight nights, reggae music or even on-site tattoo parlors. |
| Now, trying to breathe new life into the Catholic Church, Francis has embraced the unorthodox practices of Catholics like Father Nova who belong to the charismatic renewal movement. | Now, trying to breathe new life into the Catholic Church, Francis has embraced the unorthodox practices of Catholics like Father Nova who belong to the charismatic renewal movement. |
| The pope has attended gatherings of Catholic charismatics, and last month he urged churches to open their doors to the movement. | The pope has attended gatherings of Catholic charismatics, and last month he urged churches to open their doors to the movement. |
| He told a gathering of priests in Rome last month that when he first encountered charismatic Catholics he thought they were “not right in the head,” according to an account on the website of Vatican Radio. | He told a gathering of priests in Rome last month that when he first encountered charismatic Catholics he thought they were “not right in the head,” according to an account on the website of Vatican Radio. |
| But he said that he later realized he had been wrong, and he encouraged priests around the world to hold charismatic training sessions in their parishes. | But he said that he later realized he had been wrong, and he encouraged priests around the world to hold charismatic training sessions in their parishes. |
| “I see a great opening with the pope,” Father Nova said. | “I see a great opening with the pope,” Father Nova said. |
| While other popes have voiced support for the movement, which started in the United States in the 1960s and has adherents around the world, more traditional forces in the Catholic Church have long put up resistance, wary of its Pentecostal-like style, its embrace of the Holy Ghost as a mystical force and ecstatic expressions like speaking in tongues and faith healing. | While other popes have voiced support for the movement, which started in the United States in the 1960s and has adherents around the world, more traditional forces in the Catholic Church have long put up resistance, wary of its Pentecostal-like style, its embrace of the Holy Ghost as a mystical force and ecstatic expressions like speaking in tongues and faith healing. |
| But it may just be what many in the Catholic Church, particularly in this region, are looking for. | But it may just be what many in the Catholic Church, particularly in this region, are looking for. |
| Respondents to the Pew Survey, which looked at religious practices in Latin America, most often said that they made the switch from Catholicism in search of a more personal connection with God and because they enjoyed the style of worship at their new church. | Respondents to the Pew Survey, which looked at religious practices in Latin America, most often said that they made the switch from Catholicism in search of a more personal connection with God and because they enjoyed the style of worship at their new church. |
| “I always wanted a different way to get closer to God but without changing religions,” said Milena Martín, 36, who was born and raised Catholic. | “I always wanted a different way to get closer to God but without changing religions,” said Milena Martín, 36, who was born and raised Catholic. |
| “I tried the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and another Christian sect,” she added. “I liked how they sang, how they praised God, but I didn’t feel comfortable because I missed the other parts, the Eucharist, confession, the cult of the Virgin Mary.” | “I tried the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and another Christian sect,” she added. “I liked how they sang, how they praised God, but I didn’t feel comfortable because I missed the other parts, the Eucharist, confession, the cult of the Virgin Mary.” |
| Then Ms. Martín, who works in an insurance office, found charismatic Catholicism. She now participates regularly in a charismatic prayer group. She credits the group’s prayers with curing her 11-month-old daughter, Paula Figueredo, who suffered a medical condition in which the bones of her skull fused prematurely. | Then Ms. Martín, who works in an insurance office, found charismatic Catholicism. She now participates regularly in a charismatic prayer group. She credits the group’s prayers with curing her 11-month-old daughter, Paula Figueredo, who suffered a medical condition in which the bones of her skull fused prematurely. |
| “It’s the power of prayer,” she said. | “It’s the power of prayer,” she said. |
| At a recent meeting of the prayer group, about 40 members sat on white plastic chairs in a low-ceilinged half-basement room in a small building between a cheap hotel and a dental clinic, across the street from a fast-growing Baptist church. | At a recent meeting of the prayer group, about 40 members sat on white plastic chairs in a low-ceilinged half-basement room in a small building between a cheap hotel and a dental clinic, across the street from a fast-growing Baptist church. |
| The leader, Marcelo Sánchez, 53, dressed in a gray shirt and black slacks with a belt that was too big for him, played a guitar with an electric amplifier and sang with gusto into a microphone as the members raised their hands above their heads and sang along. On the wall were pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II, the only other pope to visit Ecuador, which he did in 1985. | The leader, Marcelo Sánchez, 53, dressed in a gray shirt and black slacks with a belt that was too big for him, played a guitar with an electric amplifier and sang with gusto into a microphone as the members raised their hands above their heads and sang along. On the wall were pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II, the only other pope to visit Ecuador, which he did in 1985. |
| “There is a special connection with God here, praising God, shouting out to him, a direct communication,” said Marcelo Naranjo, 47, another member of the group. He said that before he encountered charismatic Catholicism he used to be a Catholic “in quotation marks,” going to Mass only out of routine. | “There is a special connection with God here, praising God, shouting out to him, a direct communication,” said Marcelo Naranjo, 47, another member of the group. He said that before he encountered charismatic Catholicism he used to be a Catholic “in quotation marks,” going to Mass only out of routine. |
| Like some others in the prayer group, Mr. Naranjo, a businessman, said he had the gift of speaking in tongues. He said that it happens to him sometimes during prayer and that when it occurs he has no idea what he is saying. | Like some others in the prayer group, Mr. Naranjo, a businessman, said he had the gift of speaking in tongues. He said that it happens to him sometimes during prayer and that when it occurs he has no idea what he is saying. |
| “I asked God for it because I knew it was a way to communicate directly with him,” he said. | “I asked God for it because I knew it was a way to communicate directly with him,” he said. |
| Back at the San Juan Eudes church, where Father Nova presides, Sonia Almeida, 59, beamed as she walked out of the church last Sunday. | Back at the San Juan Eudes church, where Father Nova presides, Sonia Almeida, 59, beamed as she walked out of the church last Sunday. |
| “We consider the Eucharist to be a party,” she said. “You don’t leave a party with a long face. Here the Mass is more vivacious.” | “We consider the Eucharist to be a party,” she said. “You don’t leave a party with a long face. Here the Mass is more vivacious.” |