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Current Situation

According to article 24 of the Paraguayan Constitution of 1992, freedom of religion is recognised and there is no official religion. Relations between the State and the Catholic church are to be based on independence, co-operation and autonomy. The independence of religious organisations is guaranteed. [1]

As can be seen below, the majority of Paraguayans are Roman Catholic, although the percentage of Paraguayans who identify themselves as Catholic has dropped slightly. There has been a corresponding growth in the influence of Evangelical churches in recent years. There are a number of Indigenous religions and there are also Buddhist (probably due to immigration from Korea), Jewish and Muslim communities in the country.

Religions in Paraguay according to 2002 and 1992 censuses [1]

Religions in Paraguay[2]
ReligionNumber of followers 2002Percentage 2002Number of followers 1992Percentage 1992Change 1992-2002
Catholicism3,488,08689. 61%2,749,88893. 25%-3. 64%
Indigenous & Catholic2230. 01N/AN/AN/A
Orthodox25<0. 00%N/AN\AN/A
Russian (Orthodox)4700. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Other Orthodox9500. 02%N/AN/AN/A
Anglicanism1,8580. 05%N/AN/AN/A
Indigenous & Anglican29<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Lutheran8,8490. 23%N/AN/AN/A
Presbyterian2760. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Mennonites8,4450. 22%N/AN/AN/A
Indigenous & Mennonite8<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Traditional Christianity* (excl. Catholicism)21,1330. 54%14,4970. 49%+0. 05%
Christian and Missionary Alliance87<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Assemblies of God9,8790. 25%N/AN/AN/A
Maranatha Baptist Church10,3550. 27%N/AN/AN/A
Centro familiar de adoración aposent. 5130. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Comunidad Cristiana1,0460. 03%N/AN/AN/A
Plymouth Brethren - Open Brothers6650. 02%N/AN/AN/A
Independent7<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Church of God (Pentecostal)1,5500. 04%N/AN/AN/A
Church of God of Prophecy (Pentecostal)149<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Methodists4510. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Free Methodists156<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Church of the Nazarene86<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Neotestimentaria (Baptist)2760. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Pentecostal8,6310. 22%N/AN/AN/A
Other Evangelical186,1074. 78%N/AN/AN/A
Seventh Day Adventist7,8040. 20%N/AN/AN/A
Dios es Amor (Pentecostal)1,2900. 03%N/AN/AN/A
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God7140. 02%N/AN/AN/A
Unification Church116<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons)9,3740. 24%N/AN/AN/A
Pueblo de Dios12,1140. 31%N/AN/AN/A
Jehovah's Witnesses11,8050. 30%N/AN/AN/A
Mount Zion Church2330. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Other pseudo-Christian groups8250. 02%N/AN/AN/A
Post-16th-Century Christian demoninations**264,2336. 78%138,5734. 70%+2. 08%
Judaism1,1000. 03%9520. 03%-
Islam8720. 02%1,2000. 04%-0. 02%
Hinduism (Tao)151<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Buddhism2,0880. 05%N/AN/AN/A
Reyukai72<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Shintoism30<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Bahá'í2250. 01%N/AN/AN/A
"Eastern and Cultural Religions" (excl Islam)***25660. 07%2,8110. 10%-0. 03%
Rosacrucis7<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Spiritualists - E. C. Basilio2890. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Umbanda54<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Other, Spiritualist66<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Mentalism164<0. 01%N/AN/AN/A
Indigenous Religions23,7410. 61N/AN/AN/A
Religions not included above1,2080. 03%N/AN/AN/A
Unspecified other religion6,1390. 16%N/AN/AN/A
Religion not previously mentioned in 1992 Census****31,6680. 81%8,1520. 28%+0. 53%
No religion44,3341. 14%23,2360. 78%+0. 36%
No response37,2060. 96%9,7900. 33%+0. 63%
Total no. of participants3,892,603100%2,949,099100%-

NB:

Roman Catholicism in Paraguay

Main article Roman_Catholicism_in_Paraguay

Catholicism has long been the most important religion in Paraguay, the Bishopric of Asunción was created in 1547[3]. The Roman Catholic Church in Paraguay is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome The majority of government officials are catholics and a number of Catholic festivals are public holidays (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Feast of The Assumption of the Virgen Mary [15th August], Feast of The Immaculate Conception [8th December] and Christmas[4].

Many people mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with a pilgrimage to Caacupé . Caacupé is a city in Paraguay, founded in 1770. It is the capital of the department of Cordillera. The Basilica of Caccupe contains a statuette of Our Lady of the Miracles. Pope John Paul II visited Caacupe in 1987.

The Church maintains the Universidad Católica "Nuestra Señora de la Asunción".


Judaism in Paraguay

The first synagogue in Paraguay was established in 1917 by Sephardic Jews who had emigrated from Palestine, Turkey and Greece; though there had previously been some isolated Jewish settlers from Europe. [5]

Ashkenazi Jews from the Ukraine and Poland founded the Unión Hebraica in the 1920s, while in the 1930s between 15,000 and 20,000 refugees from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia fled to Paraguay to escape the holocaust. Many of these later moved on to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Those who remained were later joined by immigrants who were mostly survivors of the concentration camps. [6]

Today, the Jewish community has around a 1000 members who live mainly in Asunción. There is a Jewish school Escuela Integral Estado de Israel. Asunción has three synagogues: Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Chabad and a Jewish museum. [7]


Islam in Paraguay

Main article Islam_in_Paraguay

The 1992 census recorded 872 Muslims in Paraguay 486 of which were in the Alto Parana department, the capital of which is Ciudad del Este. The latest statistics for Islam in Paraguay estimate a total Muslim population of 507 representing 0 There are also communities in Asunción and Itapua (the capital fo which is Encarnación)[8]. As in other parts of Latin America, many of these are descended from immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, though some may also be from Bangladesh and Pakistan[9]

Links

Notes

  1. ^ Paraguay: Constitución de 1992
  2. ^ www. dgeec. gov. py
  3. ^ Paraguay - RELIGION
  4. ^ http://www.libertadeslaicas.org.mx/paginas/infoEspecial/historia/02Historiografia/10040212.pdf
  5. ^ Jews of Paraguay
  6. ^ Jews of Paraguay
  7. ^ Jews of Paraguay
  8. ^ Dirección General de Estadísticas, Encuestas y Censos
  9. ^ Los Musulmanes - The Spanish Ummah of the Muslim world
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