Although Argentine-born Pope Francis is largely popular in Latin America, the number of adults in the region who describe themselves as Catholic is falling, says a study published Thursday. In a study of 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the US territory of Puerto Rico, the Pew Research Center said the Roman Catholic church is losing adherents to Protestant faiths or seeing them abandon organized religion altogether. The study said that historical data suggest that from 1900 through the 1960s at least 90 percent of Latin America’s population was Catholic. Latin America has more than 425 million Catholics, who account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s Catholic population, the center said.
