A new report released Thursday shows that more people in Latin America are becoming Protestant or dropping religion altogether.

In just one generation, the number of people who identify themselves as Catholic has plummeted.

Latin America is a region that has been known for Catholicism around the world. The region accounts for nearly 40 percent of the global Catholic population.

Throughout the 1960s, at least 90 percent of Latin Americans were Catholic.

A recent report found that only 69 percent of Latin Americans still consider themselves Catholic, with 19 percent of the people switching to more conservative Protestant churches while 8 percent describe themselves as agnostic or religiously unaffiliated.

Last year's election of an Argentine as pope to head the Catholic Church has led to conflicting feelings in Latin America.

"While it is too soon to know whether Pope Francis can stop or reverse the church's losses in the region, the new survey finds that people who are currently Catholic overwhelmingly view Francis favorably and consider his papacy a major change for the church," the report said.

"But former Catholics are more skeptical about Pope Francis. Only in Argentina and Uruguay do majorities of ex-Catholics express a favorable view of the pope."

A recent USA Today study shows that more countries in Latin America are adopting changes in social issues such as laws legalizing abortion, gay marriage and the decriminalization of marijuana.

Pew Study research received a variety of reasons on why people are abandoning the Catholic Church. The most common answer was people saying they wanted a more personal connection with God.

More than half of the people who switched from the Catholic Church to Protestant churches say their new church reached out to them.

About 22 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. are now members of Protestant churches, compared to 19 percent in Latin America.