Peru Main Religion
Catholicism was introduced in peru in the 16th century by spanish missionaries.
Peru main religion. The predominant religion is the roman catholic but other christian faiths are scattered. An example is the near synonymous association of pacha mama mother earth and the virgin mary. Since the 16th century along with catholicism expressions of the native religion based on the cult of the sun the pachamama mother earth and elements of nature have also been present.
Inca religion was one of the main concerns of the spanish conquerors since their arrival to the new world understanding it was vital to successfully convert the population into catholicism. Religion in peru is traditionally related to religious syncretism originating from catholicism with the ancient inca religion after the spanish conquesthowever protestant churches of various denominations have developed considerably in the popular sectors over the past 30 years. Throughout peruvian cities and villages you can stop and admire the cathedrals that the spanish built which are close by and sometimes directly on top of the ruins of inca and older indigenous civilizations.
However the indigenous people of peru have blended their traditional beliefs and catholic faith. The main religions in peru are nominally of the christian religion with roman catholicism being the dominant one. Christianity is the largest religion in peru with roman catholics having the most adherents.
Catholicism which came to this country along with the conquistadores met with the inca polytheistic religion and resulted in a mixture of the two. Here is a look at the ethnic communities in detail. Religion religion especially roman catholicism has played a significant role in social and political life throughout peruvian modern history.
Because of widespread spanish rule over the following centuries about 90 percent of the modern peruvian population identifies as catholic. Religion in peru the predominant religion is roman catholic but there is a scattering of other christian faiths. Its a multiethnic state with most of the population speaking spanish which is the official language although some still speak native languages such as quechua.
The religion of peru is an inheritance of the spanish conquest for this reason it is a mainly catholic country more than 75 of the population. The catholic church was constitutionally the state church until the 1970s. Indigenous peruvians however have blended catholicism and their traditional beliefs.
The following statistics are for peruvians of 12 years of age and over totaling 20850502 peru has a total population of 29248943.