LOS ANGELES--Nearly 20 percent of Hispanics across the U.S. have converted from Catholicism to evangelical Christianity in the last 10 years, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.
The shift marks a new direction for Hispanics who have historically been committed to Catholicism, according to Charisma News Service.
The appeal of evangelical Christianity, according to the Daily News is a "no-nonsense" approach to living drug- and alcohol-free, godly lives.
Pedro Villarreal, pastor at the evangelical Iglesia del Dios Vivo in Los Angeles, whose congregation has grown 15 percent over the last year, said Hispanics are coming for something better, noteably, he said, peace, security and a spiritual experience.
"We are growing because people needed something more," Villarreal said.
Sundays at La Iglesia En El Camino worshipers reportedly fill the church to capacity and overflow into hallways.
According to the Daily News many Latinos who converted from Catholicism say the strict moral code demanded by evangelical preachers is the main attraction.
"Here, lives are transformed. You are rehabilitated," said Juan Zelaya, 31, who told the Daily News he changed his lifestyle after hearing a sermon at El Camino.
