Protestants in Puerto Rico
Encyclopedia
History
Before the islands of Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
came under United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sovereignty in 1898, Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
was forbidden under Roman Catholic Spanish rule. In Montaña, Aguadilla
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
, a group called "los bíblicos" met clandestinely under the direction of Antonio Badillo. Many freethinkers and Protestants belonged to Masonic lodges, as many in the older generation still do. In 1872, the first Protestant church was established in Puerto Rico, when Bishop W. W. Jackson, from the Anglican dioceses of Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
provided for the creation of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, followed several years later by All Saints Anglican Church in Vieques
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands...
.
Soon after the change of sovereignty, United States Protestant denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
s agreed to divide the island in order to facilitate missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
penetration. The two existing Anglican churches in Ponce and Vieques served as the basis for a new diocese of the Episcopal Church of the United States, which has since had six diocesan bishops. Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
s and Disciples of Christ started the missionary work. While the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
appointed the governors
Governor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, these denominations were influential in government policies. After the 1940s this changed; nevertheless Protestantism kept growing, particularly Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
, which grew mostly among the poor and the rural.
Institutions
Mainline Protestants started educational and health institutions. Presbyterians founded InterAmerican UniversityInteramerican University of Puerto Rico
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico —or Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico in Spanish, and often referred as "Inter"— is a private university system in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1912 in San German, Puerto Rico. The University has campuses in Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas,...
http://www.iauniversity.net, with 11 campuses and 40,000 students, and Ashford Presbyterian Hospital in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
s founded Adventist University near Mayagüez
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...
. In 1907, the Episcopal Church established St. Luke's Hospital in Ponce, the centerpiece of a multi-hospital health services organization today. An interdenominational Seminary, Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico was begun in 1909. There is a Council of Churches, founded by the cooperating denominations of the original community agreement. In 1940, Juanita Garcia Peraza
Juanita García Peraza
Juanita Garcia Peraza, also known as "Mita" was the founder of the "Mita congregation", the only Protestant religion of Puerto Rican origin.-Early years:...
and her followers founded the "Mita" congregation, the only Protestant religion of Puerto Rican origin.
Present situation
Estimates of the Protestant population vary greatly. The CIA factbook, estimates that 85% of the population is Roman Catholic while the remaining 15% are Protestants and other religions. Pollster Pablo Ramos stated in 1998 that the population was 38% Roman Catholic, 28% Pentecostal, and 18% were members of independent churches. Protestants, collectively added up to almost two million people. "The conclusion is that Puerto Rico is no longer predominantly Catholic."Another researcher gave a more conservative assessment of the proportion of Protestants: "Puerto Rico, by virtue of its long political association with the United States, is the most Protestant of Latin American countries, with a Protestant population of approximately 33 to 38 percent, the majority of whom are Pentecostal. David Stoll calculates that if we extrapolate the growth rates of evangelical churches from 1960-1985 for another twenty-five years Puerto Rico will become 75 percent evangelical."