SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s new president, José Antonio Kast, has joined a growing list of right-leaning Latin American leaders. Not only is he conservative — he’s openly religious as well.
Kast — who took office March 11 — is a practicing Catholic and part of the Schoenstatt movement, an international community devoted to the Virgin Mary. As a staunchly conservative former lawmaker, the 60-year-old father of nine opposed the sale of the emergency contraceptive pills in 2009. He has also spoken out against same-sex marriage and abortion, positions he emphasized during his 2021 presidential bid.
“We are inviting you on a journey to recover values for a proper and healthy life,” Kast said on election night last December. “It requires everyone’s commitment.”
Supporters of abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights are wary as Kast takes office. Even if there are no immediate policy changes, they worry that it will be more difficult to make advances with their causes.
Kast won 58% of the vote after pledging to crack down on crime and deport immigrants without legal status. As part of a broader regional trend, other conservative leaders such as El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei have risen to power on different priorities, including security and economic reform.
Kast’s positions also align in part with those of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration welcomed his victory.
Here’s a look at Kast’s religious background and how his faith resonates with some Chileans in a country often described as increasingly secular.
A shifting religious landscape
Chile has seen a decline in Catholic affiliation in the past two decades, along with other Latin American countries. According to a 2024 Latinobarómetro report, the proportion of Catholics across the region fell from 80% in 1995 to 54% in 2024.
In Chile, 45% of the population identified as Catholic while 37% said they had no religion and about 12% identified as Protestant.
According to Luis Bahamondes, a religion scholar at the University of Chile, the Catholic Church was one of the country’s most trusted institutions during the 1990s. However, a series of social transformations and sexual abuse scandals eroded that perception. “It became one of the most questioned institutions and one of the least trusted,” Bahamondes …
