JOY! Magazine

Bolivia finally gives Evangelicals the same rights as Catholics, making it easier for evangelicals to establish legal recognition

Evangelicals in Bolivia received a major religious freedom boost from the same administration that banned evangelism last year. Months after Evo Morales criminalised proselytising—before swiftly (ANDEB), called the law “a qualitative leap in the development and understanding of this fundamental freedom that is inseparable from the freedoms of worship, conscience, and thought.” Bolivia’s 10-year-old constitution declares a separation between church and state and established the country as a secular state. But the government had taken years to enumerate on the rights offered to religious minorities like Protestants and followers of the country’s indigenous faiths. The new legislation will make it easier for evangelicals and the country’s indigenous religions to establish legal recognition. These legal rights will also allow the government to regulate and tax the groups, said Lino Cárdenas, president of the constitutional committee of Bolivia’s chamber of deputies. According to a 2014 report, 77 % of Bolivians are Catholic and 16 % are Protestant. Yet, like most of Latin America, the latter population is growing and 60 % of Protestants say they were born Catholic.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from JOY Magazine

JOY Magazine2 min read
Pastor Appreciation
I am so glad that you are giving us this opportunity to show our appreciation for our pastors! I would like to thank the Lord for pastor Mike Rumble, the man who led our whole family to the Lord 42 years ago. I was a 13-year-old teenager at the time,
JOY Magazine4 min read
GOD’S JUDGEMENT Is The Lord Giving Signs?
Several times in the Bible God spoke through clear signs, for example the plagues and the writing on the wall. However, it is not only in the Bible that God speaks so clearly. American author and Messianic Jewish pastor, Jonathan Cahn, points to two
JOY Magazine2 min read
A Life Restored In Christ
Zorah Herman, a native of Cape Town, was raised in a Christian household. Her role models are her parents, Trudy and Andrew Herman, with whom she shares a tight-knit bond along with her younger brother, Zeeke. As she navigated through her final year

Related