Guatemala: A Rising Faith

PBS, the last bastion of truly intelligent television.

Their latest Religion & Ethics Newsweekly offers a concise, fascinating, in-depth, and even entertaining look at the amazing inroads that Protestant Evangelicals are making in the very Catholic country of Guatemala.

You can either read a transcript of the program or watch the video. Good stuff!

Guatemala: A Rising Faith
May 6, 2005 - Episode no. 836

Bob Abernethy, anchor: We have a special report today on one of the big changes going on within Christianity. It's the dramatic growth in Latin America, once almost exclusively Catholic, of Protestant Evangelicals. Saul Gonzales looks at what is happening in Guatemala.

Saul Gonzalez: For centuries, faith in Latin America has largely been synonymous with Catholic rites and rituals, like this traditional religious procession through the streets of Guatemala City on the eve of Lent.

Yet increasingly the Catholic Church's spiritual dominance in this part of the world is being challenged by other faiths -- namely Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity.

In recent years, Evangelical Protestant churches have attracted millions of followers in Latin America and moved from the margins of religious life into the mainstream.

In Guatemala, it's estimated that up to 40 percent of the population identify themselves as Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians.

Visit the PBS Religion & Ethics website.