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Paraguay

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Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

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Definition

Paraguay is a landlocked country in the heart of South America, with a 2017 population of 7 million (CIA 2018) and a land area of 406,752 square kilometers: a bit smaller than Sweden or the state of California. The Catholic Church entered as part of Spanish colonialism, but the Catholic population percentage has gone down from 98.1% in 1970 to 86.0% in 2009. Protestant, Mormon, and Jehovah’s Witness membership growth was high since the 1980s.

Introduction

Religion constitutes an important factor in Paraguayan culture and society. Former (2008–2012) President Fernando Lugo was a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church from 1994 to 2005 (Gooren 2013). Based on the 2002 census, the main religions with a strong presence in Paraguay are listed in Table 1: Roman Catholicism (89.6% of the population), Protestantism (6.0%), Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses (together 0.54%), other world religions (Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism together 0.11%), and nine main transnational new...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work & Criminal Justice, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Henri Gooren

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  1. Henri Gooren
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Correspondence to Henri Gooren .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology/Anthropology, Oakland Univ Sociology/Anthropology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Henri Gooren

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Gooren, H. (2019). Paraguay. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_359-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_359-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

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