Religion in Ecuador
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When it comes to religion, the
There are many old and new churches throughout the country and many more are being built by the Catholic Church. The Evangelical Missionary Union represents many
Statistics
According to Latinobarómetro's 2018 public opinion survey, approximately 92 percent of respondents have a religious affiliation or belief. Of those, 74.8 percent are Catholic; 15.2 percent are evangelical Christian (including evangelical Baptists and Methodists); and 1.2 percent are Jehovah's Witnesses. Approximately 1.4 percent identify as members of other religious groups, including Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ, Jews, and Protestants. Of those who do not identify with a religion, 0.8 percent identify as atheists while 6.1 percent have no religion.[4]
According to the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Census in 2012 (the most recent year for which there are government statistics available), approximately 92 percent of the population professes a religious affiliation or belief. 80.4% are Catholic, 11.3% are Protestants, 1.29% are Jehovah's Witnesses, and 6.96 have other religions or none.[5][6][2][1]
- 80.4% Catholics
- 11.3% Protestants
- 1.29% Jehovah's Witnesses
- 6.96% Other or none
Christianity
Catholicism
After the Spanish colonization,
Protestantism
In Latin America, Protestants are most often called
Latter-day Saints
The first
Latter-day Saint membership in Ecuador has increased significantly in recent years. In 2008, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported having 185,663 members in Ecuador.[8]
Apostolics
The "
Judaism
The "Jewish Community of Ecuador" (Comunidad Judía del Ecuador) has its seat in
There is a very small community in
Islam
The "Islam Community of Ecuador" (Comunidad Islámica del Ecuador) is of Sunni denomination and has approximately 60 members in Ecuador. It runs the Mosque Assalam in the city of Quito.
The "Asociación Islámica Cultural Khaled Ibn al Walidi" reunites the Arab Muslims in the country and has its seat in Quito.
The Islamic Center "Al Hijra" is located in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and economic hub, with an estimated 85 members.
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith, while being registered with the government, has small numbers in the country.[4] The Baháʼí radio station in Otavalo, which started on October 12, 1977, was the first Baháʼí radio station in the world.[13] The National Bahá'í governing body of Ecuador is based in Quito and Guayaquil.[14]
Buddhism
Buddhism was originally brought to Ecuador by immigrants from China and Japan. A large number of these immigrants and their descendants have retained their native religions with approximately 5,000 practicing Buddhists. In 1995 Taiwanese missionaries began building the Templo Mision Budista in Guayaquil. Finished in 2007, it opened its doors to the public in 2008 and is one of the largest Buddhist temples in South America.
History
In the colony
The Catholic Church assumed a pivotal role in Ecuador virtually at the onset of the Spanish conquest. Catholicism was a central part of Hispanic culture, defining the ethos and worldview of the time. Through the Office of the Inquisition, the church examined the "purity" of possible officeholders. The church was virtually the only colonial institution dealing with education or the care of the needy. It amassed great wealth through donations, dowries, and outright purchases. Virtually every segment of the organization—the hierarchy, individual clerics, and religious orders—owned some form of assets.[15]
After the independence
The liberals' ascendancy in 1905 brought a series of drastic limitations to the Catholic Church's privileges. The state admitted representatives of other religions into the country, established a system of public education, and seized most of the church's rural properties. In addition, legislation formally abolished tithes (although many hacienda owners continued to collect them). The 1945 constitution (and the Constitution of 1979) firmly established freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.[15]
Changes in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s
Beginning in the 1960s, the country's Catholic bishops became increasingly active in supporting social change. Church leaders organized literacy campaigns among the Indians, distributed the institution's remaining lands, assisted peasants in acquiring land titles, and helped communities form cooperatives. In the 1970s and 1980s, the bishops espoused a centrist position on social and political issues. The episcopate contended that the unjust organization of Ecuadorian society caused many to live in misery. The bishops also claimed that the economic development of the 1970s and early 1980s had merely widened the gap between rich and poor. At the same time, however, Catholics were warned against employing Marxian analyses of society or endorsing violence or class conflict.[15]
Church support for social reform
Church support for social reform occasionally brought it into conflict with government authorities. In 1976, for example, police arrested Riobamba bishop
Internal organization of the Catholic Church in Ecuador
In 1986 the Catholic Church was organized into three archdioceses, ten dioceses, one territorial prelature, seven apostolic vicariates, and one apostolic prefecture. The church had only 1,505 priests to minister to a Catholic population of slightly more than 8 million, a ratio of 1 priest for every 5,320 Catholics.[15]
Although approximately 94 percent of Ecuadorians were at least nominally Catholic at the time, most either did not practice their religion or pursued a syncretistic version. Most Sierra Indians, for example, followed a type of folk Catholicism in which doctrinal orthodoxy played only a small part. Indigenous beliefs combined with elements of Catholic worship. Much of community life focused on elaborate fiestas that marked both public and family events. Although the precise configuration of fiestas varied from community to community, in general public fiestas involved an individual in a series of increasingly demanding and expensive sponsorships (cargos) of specific religious celebrations. By the time individuals had completed all the expected cargos, they were recognized community leaders.[15]
Religious freedom
The separation of state and religion is since 1986 guaranteed.
The Ecuadorian Constitution of 1998 includes two articles providing for freedom of worship:
- Art. 23: States, among others that "all people are legally born free and equal and that they will not be discriminated on the basis of religion". It guarantees also the freedom of religion. "Freedom of religion is guaranteed. Every individual has the right to freely profess his/her religion and to disseminate it individually or collectively. All religious faiths and churches are equally free before the law." The right to declare or not about ones religious affiliation is also guaranteed.
- Art. 81: Prohibits publicity that encourages violence, racism, sexism, religious or political intolerance.
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[16]
Conversions
The Catholic Church's relatively weak presence in the countryside and in squatter settlements, coupled with the nominal, syncretistic practice of most Catholics, created a fertile ground for Protestant
The phenomenal pace of conversion — some observers estimated that evangelicals and Pentecostals totaled 40 percent of the population in
References
- ^ a b "INEC presenta por primera vez estadísticas sobre religión". Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos. August 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "ECUADOR 2018 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT" (PDF). According to a 2012 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Census, the most recent government survey available, approximately 92 percent of the population professes a religious affiliation or belief. Of those, 80.4 percent is Catholic; 11.3 percent evangelical Christian, including Pentecostals; and 1.3 percent Jehovah's Witnesses. Seven percent belongs to other religious groups.
- ^ "Religion in Latin America: Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region" (PDF). November 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ a b US State Dept 2022 report
- ^ (in Spanish) El 80% de ecuatorianos es católico Archived 2013-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (in Spanish) El 80% de los ecuatorianos afirma ser católico, según el INEC
- ^ Ecuador and the Catholic Church
- ^ LDS Newsroom Archived 2008-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ecuadorian Jewish Community
- ^ Congreso Judío
- ^ Traveling Rabbi Guide to Ecuador
- ^ Keeping Kosher in the Amazon Rainforest
- ^ National Bahá'i Community of Ecuador. "The Bahá'í Radio of Ecuador". Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ Baháʼí Community of Ecuador
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kluck, Patricia. "Religion". A Country Study: Ecuador (Dennis M. Hanratty, editor). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (1989). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-08
Further reading
- Orta, Andrew, Cathechizing Culture: Missionaries, Aymara, and the 'New Evangelization'. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.