The Roman Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, and claims over a billion members, representing approximately half of all Christians[note 2] and one-sixth of the world's population. The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches ( church has a dominant presence in religion in Bolivia. National Institute of Statistics in its 2001 survey showed the following religious affiliation in Bolivia: Catholic 77.99%, Protestant 19.46%, No religion 2.44%, and Other 0.11%. While a vast majority of Bolivians are Catholic, a much smaller portion of the population participates actively. Religion was traditionally the domain of women in Bolivian society. Men felt no obligation to attend church or to practice their religion. The absence of clergy Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from the hopapos κλήρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "heritage". Depending on the religion, clergy usually take care of the ritual aspects of the religious in the rural areas fueled the development of an Andean The Andes are the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200 km (120 mi) to 700 km (430 mi) wide (widest between 18° to 20°S latitude), and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft) folk-Catholicism Folk Christianity is defined differently by various scholars. Definitions include "the Christianity practiced by a conquered people;" Christianity as most people live it - a term used to "overcome the the division of beliefs into Orthodox and unorthodox;" Christianity as impacted by superstition as practiced by certain among Indians The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, First Nations, Amerigine, and by Christopher Columbus' geographical mistake Indians, modernly disambiguated as the American Indian. In the decades following the Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII on October 11, 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on December 8, 1965. At least four future pontiffs took part in the council's opening session: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who on (1962-65), the church tried to make religion a more active force in social life.
Contents |
