Latin America is becoming more secular
Catholicism is in swift decline, although there are growing numbers of evangelicals
ALEJANDRA LEMONNIER joined the convent of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus when she was 20. She came from a religious family, attended a Roman Catholic school and lived in a conservative part of Buenos Aires. Her four younger siblings were all, to varying degrees, Catholic—at least officially. Today Sister Lemonnier, who is now 31, is the only devout member of her family. Her oldest brother became a New Age spiritualist. One of her sisters came out as a lesbian and became an apostate, formally renouncing her Catholic faith. Another sister is “indifferent”. For the youngest brother, who is 18, religion is “just not part of his universe”.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Losing their religion"
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