Paraguay

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church entered with Spanish colonization, establishing the Asunción diocese in 1547. The institutional presence of the Church, however, remained weak for centuries.

Mainstream Protestantism

The first British missionaries—Methodist Episcopalians and Anglicans—entered Paraguay in 1886. German Lutherans arrived in 1893, followed by U.S. Seventh-Day Adventists in 1900. American Disciples of Christ and Baptists entered the country in 1916 and 1920, respectively. The Orthodox Church arrived in Paraguay with Russian and Ukrainian immigrants in 1918 and 1925. Russian Mennonites arrived in 1930, followed by Mennonites from Canada and Europe during World War II. None converted Paraguayans in great numbers.

Pentecostalism and Neo-Pentecostalism

U.S. Assemblies of God missionaries arrived in 1945, while the Church of God (Cleveland) opened its mission in 1954. Until the 1990s, Pentecostal success was limited. What was more successful was a local brand of Pentecostalism, El Pueblo de Dios (The People of God), founded in 1963. Brazilian neo-Pentecostal churches, emphasizing faith healing and prosperity, started using old cinemas in the mid-1990s as meeting places. The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and God Is Love attracted a modest membership.

Marginal Christians

The Jehovah's Witnesses arrived in 1924 and had 11,805 members by 2002. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints opened its mission in 1950. They claimed 50,256 members by 2002, but only 9,374 self-identified as Mormons in the census. Both eagerly seek to proselytize and with some degree of success.

Other World Religions and Transnational Religious Movements

Other global world religions in Paraguay are Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. All arrived with immigrants, and none proselytized beyond their own ethnic group. The Jews established their first synagogue in 1917.

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