Catholicism collapsing in Chile.

According to the 2024 census, Catholicism collapses in Chile

The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics reveal a drastic change in the country's religious identity. Archbishop Rebolledo calls for a response based on self-criticism, renewal, and the centrality of the Gospel. The Church seeks to rediscover its essential mission.

The results of the national census conducted in Chile in 2024 have revealed a profound change in the country's religious landscape: less than 55% of citizens over the age of 15 identify as Catholic. In just twenty years, this figure has dropped 16 percentage points, representing a significant shift in a country that had traditionally been considered majority Catholic.

The data, released by the National Institute of Statistics, also show an increase in the number of people who declare themselves to have no religion: more than one in four Chilean adults. This trend is part of a broader transformation affecting several Latin American nations, where religious pluralism and the rise of secularism are altering the social and spiritual fabric of once homogeneously Catholic communities.

Faced with this panorama, the Archbishop of La Serena and president of the Chilean Episcopal Conference, Monsignor René Rebolledo Salinas, has called for a reflective and hopeful response. In an opinion piece published in the newspaper La Tercera, he stated: "These figures challenge us," and stressed the need to discuss them in all spheres of ecclesial life.

Rebolledo ruled out minimizing the data or interpreting them as a transitory phenomenon. He proposed, instead, a profound discernment based on "self-criticism and spiritual attention." The archbishop emphasized that belonging based on cultural tradition is no longer enough. “Faith today,” he affirmed, “is not inherited, it is embraced. It must be proposed, not imposed.”

For the prelate, the future of the Church does not depend on recovering structures of power or social influence, but on a renewed experience of the Gospel. He called for centering ecclesial action on “the centrality of Christ, the joy of the Gospel, and a meaningful proximity to people's daily struggles.”

The distancing of many, especially young people, is not so much due to conscious rejection as to indifference. In this context, Rebolledo proposes a pastoral renewal that appeals to authenticity and closeness: “We need simpler communities, more prayerful, creative, credible, and supportive of those who suffer.”

The Archbishop also acknowledged that the wounds caused by sexual abuse within the Church have been a significant factor in the loss of credibility. “There are many reasons for disaffection,” he confessed, “but our responsibility in the abuse crisis is among them, and it is no small one. These crimes have caused a deep wound.”

Rebolledo recalled Pope Francis's intervention in 2018, when he convened the Chilean bishops in Rome to address the crisis head-on. Since then, he said, important steps have been taken: prevention training for pastoral workers, accompaniment of victims, and internal reforms. “It will never be enough,” he acknowledged, “but we are on that path.”

Despite the challenge, the archbishop's message was not one of discouragement. On the contrary, he called the faithful to a new evangelizing impulse. “This is a moment to renew ourselves in what is essential,” he concluded, “to reach out to those who have distanced themselves, not with judgment, but with humility, compassion, and credible witness.”

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