Can Pope Francis help keep Latin America Catholic?

From Reuters: 

Despite a high-profile first year as the head of the Vatican, Pope Francis has not been able to stem the tide of fellow Latin Americans turning away from Catholicism and toward Evangelicalism, or secularism in more prosperous countries.

The number of Roman Catholics in Latin America, a historical stronghold, dropped to 67 percent in 2013, from 80 percent in 1995, a survey by Chile-based pollster Latinobarometro showed on Wednesday.

“In the recent data we don’t see an impact in the number of Catholics following the arrival of Pope Francis at the head of the Church,” Latinobarometro said, but added it was still too early to fully gauge the impact of the Argentine Pope elected in March of last year.

Still, it appears the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires is shoring up confidence in his flock.

Around 78 percent of Catholic Latin Americans said they trusted the Church last year, up from 69 percent in 2011, although the jump in confidence for Evangelical Christians was even higher.

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