States can differ based on whether or not they guarantee equal treatment under law for followers of different religions, whether they establish a state religion (and the legal implications that this has for both practitioners and non-practitioners), the extent to which religious organizations operating within the country are policed, and the extent to which religious law is used as a basis for the country's legal code.
Additionally, similar practices (such as having religious organizations register with the government) can have different consequences depending on other sociopolitical circumstances specific to the countries in question.
[1][2] While no country in South America has an official state religion, some confer preferential treatment to the Catholic Church.
[8] Despite this, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Roman Catholic Church was not granted the status of official religion by the constitution or any federal legislation.
[9] A 2011 poll conducted by the Gino Germani Research Institute of the University of Buenos Aires on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League and Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas showed that a majority of Argentines held antisemitic sentiments or prejudices.
[11] Religious organizations are required to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the exception of the Catholic Church, whose registration is waived due to an agreement between the Bolivian government and the Holy See.
[11] Some smaller churches in the evangelical Christian community have refused to register with the government, citing concerns for their privacy.
[12] Religious freedom has been part of Brazil as law since January 7, 1890, codified by a decree signed by President Deodoro da Fonseca in the then-newly established Republic.
[6] According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, arsonists attacked Baptist and Catholic churches in the primarily indigenous Mapuche communities in the rural Araucania Region in 2017.
As of the end of 2017, a trial was still pending for the arson suspects, and the regional government verbally committed itself to helping rebuild the churches.
[6] Leaders of the Jewish community have expressed concerns about incidences of antisemitic vandalism and social media posts targeting Jews.
[6] The Colombian Constitution of 1991 guarantees freedom of religion and maintains that all religious faiths are equally free before the law.
[16] Freedom of religion in Ecuador is guaranteed by the country's constitution, and the government generally respects this right in practice.
The law at all levels protects this right in full against abuse, either by governmental or private actors, and the constitution provides for conscientious objection to military service.
[21] In the past, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi messages and symbols, including graffiti, have appeared; the government investigated but did not identify suspects.
[24] Many Peruvians continue to have problems with Christian religious groups who impose their culture on those populations who have different beliefs and ways of life.
[23] Many minority groups have said that they were pleased with adjustments made by the government in 2011 and 2016 to reduce favoritism toward the Catholic Church and relax organization registration requirements.
[2] The Jewish community has been targeted by antisemitic rhetoric on Uruguayan websites and social media;[2] a teacher was found guilty of Holocaust-denial in 2022.
Church representatives alleged that this was particularly controversial because the government had previously approved statues of Confucius and Yemọja along the road.
Jewish community leaders have accused state-funded media and some government officials of engaging in antisemitic rhetoric.