Latinos -- whose numbers are growing through immigration and births -- are transforming the nation's religious landscape, especially the Roman Catholic Church, according to one of the largest-ever studies of Latinos' faith, which was released Wednesday. Latinos now account for one-third of American Catholics, and that proportion is likely to continue rising, according to the findings from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Hispanic Center.
Latinos also are clustering into ethnically focused, Spanish-language houses of worship. And throughout Christianity, they are nourishing a distinctive form of worship known as renewalism that is sweeping across Latin America.
One of the fastest-growing movements in Christendom, renewalism emphasizes God's daily intervention in human affairs through the Holy Spirit. The movement includes Pentecostal and charismatic churches, where biblical...