Costa Ricans move towards secularism

The Catholic Church may be losing its grip on the Central American country of Costa Rica. At present, Costa Rica is one of the few Western countries to have an official state religion.

But a poll conducted by Unimer, for the newspaper La Nacion, showed that 47% of the Costa Rican population would rather live in a secular state – up from 41% two years ago. 30% of those questioned said they didn't mind if Costa Rica has an official religion or is secular, while 23% supported having the Catholic Church as an official religion (down from 27% in 2011).