Religion: Latin Apostasy

Most Americans take it for granted that Latin America is solidly Catholic. Not so, says a Latin American expert who is also a good Roman Catholic. Writing in the Holy Name Journal (circulation 25,000), official U.S. publication of the Holy Name Society, Writer-Lecturer Richard Pattee weighed the solid south of Latin American Catholicism, and found it wanting.

Basically, said Writer Pattee, Latin America has two types of Catholicism: 1) "the black dress and the mantilla"—the "sentimental brand practiced in large measure by pious older ladies" and on Sundays by "the younger women, dressed more to please the younger men than God";...

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