View from the pews

New study shows comparison of Catholic and Protestant Latinos

What church we attend influences our stands on political moral issues like the degree of support or opposition to the Iraq War, a recent study points out. The report by the Center for the Study of Latino Religion in the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies is titled, Faith and Values in Action: Religion, Politics and Social Attitudes Among U.S. Latinos. The study analyzes data from the Pew Hispanic Center’s 2004 National Survey of Latinos. Researchers also reported that divisions among Latinos would grow as their numbers in the United State do. Turns out that non-Catholic Latinos were more likely to be Republican and conservative on social issues than the Catholics were. However, researchers say that despite religious and political divides, Latino Protestants and Catholics agree that issues like health care, the economy and education are more pressing than the issues about which they disagree.