Conservative Christian Competitors: Pentecostals and Charismatic Catholics in Latin America's New Religious Economy

In Latin America's religious economy, the most remarkable trend over the past several decades has been the rise in popularity of two Christian denominations—Pentecostalism and, more recently, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Both groups offer their adherents pneumacentric worship, which involves direct communion with the Holy Spirit and intervention to heal suffering. Their success points to the decline of the traditional Catholic Church from its hegemony in the Latin American religious marketplace, and in increasing demand among the region's religious consumers for a conservative brand of Christian worship.