Welcome to RITA:
Religion-In-The-Americas
BY REGIONS & COUNTRIES

Created and Maintained by PROLADES
(Programa Latinoamericano de Estudios Sociorreligiosos/
Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program)

Clifton L. Holland, Director
Apartado 1524-2050, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Telephone: (506) 283-8300; Fax (506) 234-7682
mailto:prolades@racsa.co.cr
www.prolades.com

TEXT IN SPANISH

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
OF PROLADES AND THE RITA DATABASE

HELP WANTED:
COUNTRY RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

TABLE ON RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION IN THE AMERICAS:
LATEST VERSION

THE RITA DATABASE CONTAINS INFORMATION
ABOUT ALL RELIGIOUS GROUPS
KNOWN TO EXIST IN EACH COUNTRY
OF THE FOLLOWING REGIONS,
WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENT AND
THE STUDY OF NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS (NRMS):

North America: Canada, USA and Mexico

Caribbean

Central America

South America

EACH RELIGIOUS GROUP HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED
BY PROLADES BASED ON A TYPOLOGY DEVELOPED BY
DR. J. GORDON MELTON, DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR
THE STUDY OF AMERICAN RELIGION (ISAR), IN THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN RELIGIONS
(DETROIT, MI: GALE RESEARCH, FIFTH EDITION, 1996).

THE BASIC DOCUMENT THAT CONTAINS OUR ADAPTATION OF
DR. MELTON'S TYPOLOGY AS APPLIED TO THE CONTEXT OF
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN REGIONS IS:
A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS

HERE IS AN OUTLINE OF THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM OF
THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENT:
FAMILY TREE

GRAPHICS OF ADHERENTS TO THE WORLD'S MAJOR RELIGIONS:
OVERVIEW 2000

PROFILES OF NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS (NRMs) IN
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN: PROFILES

Document Library on Religion-In-The-Americas

Links to other Internet Religion Pages

WE INVITE OUR RITA DATABASE VIEWERS
TO PARTICIPATE WITH US IN
THE PROCESS OF DOING PERIODIC UPDATES ON
THE INFORMATION FOR EACH COUNTRY.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BECOME AN IN-COUNTRY CORRESPONDENT
OR TO ACCEPT A FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT
FOR A PARTICULAR COUNTRY,
PLEASE COMMUNICATE WITH US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

DATA BASES OF LOCAL CHURCHES IN
SELECTED COUNTRIES & CITIES
ALSO ARE AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL OR PURCHASE

NOTE: THIS WEB SITE IS DESIGNED FOR

Quick Loading & Easy Viewing

SO THAT YOU WON'T WASTE TIME WAITING FOR FILES TO LOAD!

Created and Designed by Clifton L. Holland, Webmaster,
with Technical Assistance from Alan R. Young.