The Catholic Church in Latin America Under Fierce Assault by Evangelicals; Church Seen as Uncaring to the Poor

Just yesterday I heard from a close friend of mine who is in Latin America doing research work for one of the largest companies in the world.  While there, he interviewed a number of people in Sao Paulo who all expressed concern with the Catholic Church being out of touch and losing ground to the Evangelicals.  While they stated that Brazil was founded by the Portuguese and greatly enriched by the monks and friars who settled there, the Church today is seeing a massive exodus of souls who are leaving her ranks and joining the Evangelicals.  This is deeply troubling as these souls are leaving the only barque of salvation and joining the ranks of Evangelical, Pentecostal, and other heretical sects. 

And this trend is well documented in various studies consistently over the past decades.  I read one such report this morning by Vanessa Chesnut.  Some quotable points of Ms. Chesnut's May 2018 article for NBC entitled, "As Catholicism declines in Latin America and U.S., parishes still count on Latino growth" include:

While 70 percent of adult Latinos identified as Catholic in 2006, that figure fell to 57 percent by 2015, according to The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a nonprofit research center... 

A Chilean polling firm, Latinobarómetro, reported in a January 2018 survey that the number of Latin Americans who identified as Catholic has fallen from 80 percent in 1995 to 59 percent now. But there is great variation among countries — while only 37 percent of Hondurans and 39 percent of Salvadorans identify as Catholic, that figure rises to 80 percent among Mexicans... 

Even Pope Francis has been unable to reverse the five-decade decline despite his high approval rating among Latin Americans. The Chilean poll shows that from Francis' election in 2013 to 2017, Latin America saw a 4-percentage-point drop in people identifying as Catholic.

Why are they doing this?  My friend, an experienced researcher, stated that his subjects all expressed resentment that the Church is not doing enough to help the poor.  It is the Evangelicals who are actively going to the poor regions and ministering.  And the poor are being won over, just as they were in centuries past when Catholic missionaries dedicated their lives to such works. 

Where have all the Catholic missionaries gone when they are so badly needed? 

They are in their rectories relaxing.  Or they have forsaken their vocations or failed to pick up the Lord's call to serve as missionaries.  These trends are the result of liberal Catholicism having taken hold now for the past 50 years since Vatican II in Latin America.  This is far from a "new springtime."  This is complete desolation and souls are leaving the Church founded by Jesus Christ for counterfeit religions because the Lord's ministers are failing.  It is not watered down teachings, modernized liturgy, or LGBT rights that will save the Church in Latin America.

We need to earnestly pray for great missionaries to rise up and serve the poor, enforce the love and charity of God expressed in the Traditional Liturgy, and who care about saving souls.  Souls cannot be saved in false religions.  We as Catholics profess without a doubt the dogma that there is no salvation outside of the Church. 

Please join me in praying for more vocations to the SSPX's missions in South America and for their House in Brazil, for the FSSP's South American missions, and for the Institute of the Good Shepherd.  I also pray for the modern dioceses to follow them in their work for the poor, for good Liturgy, for sound catechesis, and for doing all things for the salvation of souls!

Prayer for Lapsed Catholics:

Almighty Father, You desire not the death of the sinner, but that he may be converted and live. Pour out upon us Your mercy and hear the prayers of Your servants. Soften the hearts of Your children who have strayed from the true path which You established for their salvation.  They are now forgetful of their duties as Catholics and pursue the pleasures of the world.  Grant that they may quickly return to the practice of every Christian virtue, so that their lives may shine with the integrity of faith, the fervor of piety, and the ardor of charity.  Restore them all to Your sacraments and the life of Your grace, through the merits of the most precious blood of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen