Religion in Bolivia

Bolivia according to statistics is mostly Christian with 97% of its population, the other 3% follow other religions such as Andean-folk catholicism. Especially in rural areas where there are no churches and no religious influences Catholicism has been mixed with tribal traditions and other polytheism and spirituality. Many indigenous people who have native ancestors still believe in the Pachamama and Inti, as well as many gods for the sky, mountains and others. The Pachamama is mother earth, a goddess for fertility and presides over harvesting and planting. Inti is Pachamama's husband, the sun. Many Catholic influences are seen in modern Quechua and Aymara religions, the fact that they know have included heaven and hell in their beliefs and the concept of time and space has changed from the perception of it as independent cycles to spiral cycles.


Now a days their religions have been adapted and modified by catholicism but they mainly consisted on polytheisms very similar or descending from Inca beliefs and religions. In Bolivia there is still a lot of Inca descending traditions, and are still practiced by many descendants from native Americans, the culture in Bolivia is based around our ancestors, the Inca empire one of the main ones. Cults to earth and many beliefs like the "Challa" for good luck have remained, many times people with problems resort to native gurus who use ancient religions and prepare herbal medicines and rituals to cure you. If you want you can find a lot of tradition from these religions hidden in between the dominant catholicism. Most Bolivians are Catholics now but we still respect ancient traditions, most people have no problem unless its something extremely radical like sacrificing a llama for example. It is not only ancient traditions we see, an example of the Catholic tendency in Bolivia is that of praising "La Virgen de Cotoca" and "La Virgen de Copacabana". We have grown into a very cultural country and people respect the Aymara, Quechua, and Guarani derivatives of religions as well as Catholicism.

There is obviously a lot of controversy between strong believers of each religion, as there is with any two religions, but most people have no option but to accept the fact that Bolivia's history obliges any Bolivian to face the truth and live among our differences in culture.