Poll finds Catholic identity of young Latinos decreasing

Washington - A recent poll found that, while the majority of the Hispanics in the United States identify as Catholics and take the morally conservative stances on controversial issues, a significant gap exists between the older and the younger generations on the issues of the religion and the morality.

The poll of 1,500 Hispanics conducted by the Univision and the Associated Press (AP) analyzes the cultural attitudes in the America’s Hispanic and the Latino populations. The results of the poll were made public in the articles in both the English and Spanish.

The article in Spanish, published by the Univision, focused on the fact that among Hispanics in the United States, 62 percent identify as the Catholic, while 11 percent claimed no religious affiliation. Among that same demographic, 55 percent thought abortion should be illegal, while 39 percent thought that it should be legal. In regards to the gay “marriage,” 35 percent thought that it should not be allowed while 31 percent were in favor of legalizing it. Univision also reported that, though a majority of the Hispanics are Catholic, they are less likely to practice the faith, with only 35 percent of those surveyed attending the religious services weekly.

The AP looked at a more specific breakdown, and found that the aforementioned figures were augmented by the older Hispanics. They reported that the younger generation and those who speak more English than Spanish are less likely to be identify as Catholic and are less likely to oppose the legalized abortion or gay “marriage.”

The English-language article summarizing the findings of the story also reported that 55 percent of the young adults 18 to 29 identify as Catholics. Of the older generation, those 65 and older, 80 percent of those polled identified as the Catholic. Of the younger demographic, 46 percent said that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The study also found that 49 percent of the Latinos who speak more English than Spanish are in favor of legalized abortion, a number which is comparable to the opinion of the general public.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a division of the Pew Research Center, confirmed to the CNA that the Univision/AP study results are relatively similar to their December 2009 study of Hispanic youth.

The Pew study also reported that “Latinos tend to be more conservative than other Americans on the social issues such as the abortion and the gay marriage,” which correlates to the Univision/AP study’s findings. Also, “among young Latinos, there are notable differences by generation, with the foreign born and second generation more conservative than the third and higher generations.”