In our recent trip to Chile, I was surprised an the sheer number of churches that were scattered around the country. It’s sometimes difficult to get a gauge about how and where religion still factors in a country. As it happens, in 2026, Chile is in the midst of a profound and rapid shift in its religious identity. While it was once considered one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in Latin America, it is now one of the most secularized countries in the region.
The Catholic Church, historically the most powerful institution in Chile, has seen a dramatic drop in both membership and trust over the last decade. Shrinking Numbers: Recent data suggests that fewer than 45% of Chileans now identify as Catholic, down from over 70% in the late 1990s. Loss of Trust: This decline was accelerated by a series of high-profile clerical abuse scandals and the Church’s perceived disconnect from modern social issues (like the 2019–2020 social unrest). The fastest-growing group in Chile isn’t another religion, but the religiously unaffiliated (atheists, agnostics, and those who identify as “spiritual but not religious”).
The Youth Gap: This trend is driven heavily by younger generations who view traditional religious institutions as outdated or incompatible with Chile’s progressive social shifts (such as the legalization of same-sex marriage and the debate over reproductive rights). The world is changing, that’s for sure. Watch the video, above, courtesy of Slice Travel.
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