Catholic Church in Peru

The Catholic Church in Peru is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.

Map of Peru
Map of Peru

Catholics compose an estimated 74% of Peru's population,[1] according to the 2017 census.[2] In 2020, there were over 3,000 priests and over 9,000 nuns serving across 1,670 parishes;[3] the church also ran 136 hospitals and homes for the old and infirm.

Peru has produced two famous saints, St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres, as well as two Blesseds, Ana de los Ángeles (Ana Monteagudo Ponce de León) and Antonia Luzmila Rivas López (María Agustina).[4]

In 2023, the Cardinal of Peru was Pedro Barreto.[5]

Demographics

Catholicism has been decreasing for many decades. According to the different census, in 1940, 98.5% of the Peruvian population adhered to Catholicism, decreasing to 94,6% in 1981 and to 81,3% in 2007.

Year Percent Decrease
1940 98.5% -
1961 97.3% -1.2%
1972 96.4% -0.9%
1981 94.6% -1.8%
1993 89.0% -5.6%
2007 81.3% -7.7%
2017 76.0% -5.3%

Dioceses

The Peruvian Catholic Church is divided into dioceses and archdioceses:

Province of Arequipa

Province of Ayacucho

Province of Cusco

Province of Huancayo

Province of Lima

Province of Piura

Province of Trujillo

Apostolic Vicariates

Military Ordinariate

See also

Sources

  1. Latinobarometro, Opinion Publica Latinoamericana, Enero 2018.
  2. US State Dept 2022 report
  3. Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
  4. G Catholic website, Saints page, retrieved 2023-08-28
  5. "Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 28.06.2018" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
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