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Catholic Church in Peru

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Through Rome

Catholics compose an estimated 76% of Peru's population, according to the 2017 census. In 2020, there were over 3,000 priests and over 9,000 nuns serving across 1,670 parishes; the church also ran 136 hospitals and homes for the old and infirm.

The Holy See and the government of Peru concluded a pact regulating their relations and certain aspects of the Church's status in Peru on 26 July 1980.

Peru has produced two famous saints, St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres, as well as two Blesseds, Ana de los Ángeles (Ana Monteagudo Ponce de León) and Antonia Luzmila Rivas López (María Agustina).

In 2025, Pope Leo XIV, an American who migrated to Peru in 1985 and who also spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru, would become the first Pope with Peruvian citizenship.

Demographics

Catholicism has been decreasing for many decades. According to the different census, in 1940, 98.5% of the Peruvian population adhered to Catholicism, decreasing to 94.6% in 1981 and to 81.3% in 2007.

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