Religion in Brazil

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Although over seventy percent of the population declared themselves Roman Catholic in the last census (year 2000)^[1], Brazilian religions are very diversified and inclined to syncretism – the union, or attempted fusion, of different systems of thought or belief. In recent decades there has been a great increase of new Pentecostal churches which has decreased the numbers adhering to both the Roman Catholic Church the Afro-Brazilian religions^{[citation needed]}.

About ninety percent of Brazilians declared some sort of religious affiliation in the most recent census^[2].

Contents 1 Overview 2 Christianity 2.1 Catholicism 2.2 Protestantism 2.3 Others 3 African and Indigenous Religions 4 Other Religions 4.1 Judaism 4.2 Islam 5 Beliefs 6 Table of Religions in Brazil 7 References 8 See also

[edit] Overview

Distribution of the Brazilian population according to their religions and faiths[1]
Religion	Population (million)	Proportion (%)
Roman Catholicism	130	74%
Protestantism	25	15.4
No religious affiliation, agnostics and atheists	12	7.4%
Spiritism	2.2	1.3%
Afro-Brazilian Religions		0.3%
Other religions		1.7%

[edit] Christianity

[edit] Catholicism

Brazil has the largest number of Catholics in the World^[1].

Roman Catholicism has been Brazil's main religion since the beginning of the 16th century. It was introduced among the Native Brazilians by Jesuits missionaries and also observed by all the Portuguese first settlers.

During colonial times there was no freedom of religion. All Portuguese settlers and Brazilians were compulsorily bound to the Catholic faith and forced to pay taxes to the church. After the Brazil's independence, the first constitution introduced freedom of religion in 1824, but the Catholicism was kept as the official religion. The Imperial Government paid a salary to Catholic priests and, by his turn, influenced the appointment of bishops. The political-administrative division of the municipalities accompanied the hierarchical division of the bishoprics in "freguesias" (parishes). There was also some hindrances to the construction of temples and cemeteries that not belonged to the the Catholic Church too. The first Republican Constitution in 1891 separated religion from state and made all religions equal in the Codes of Law, but the Catholic Church remained very influential until the 1970s. For example, due to the strong opposition of the Catholic Church, divorce was not allowed in Brazil until 1977 even if a separated couple observed a different religion.

The Catholicism practiced in Brazil is a religion full of popular festivities rooted in centuries-old Portuguese traditions, but also heavily influenced by African and Native Brazilian usage. Popular traditions include pilgrimages to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida (Nossa Senhora Aparecida), the patron saint of Brazil, and religious festivals like the "Círio de Nazaré" in Belém and the "Festa do Divino" in many cities of Central Brazil. Areas that received many European immigrants in the last century, specially Italian and German, have Catholic traditions closer to that practiced in Europe.

The largest proportion of Catholics is concentrated in Northeast (79.9%) and South (77.4%) regions. The smallest proportion of Catholics is found in the Center-West region (69.1%). The State of Piauí has the largest proportion of Catholics (90.03%) and the State of Rio de Janeiro has the smallest one (56.19%). Among the state capitals, Teresina has the largest proportion of Catholics in the country (86.09%), followed by Aracaju, Fortaleza, Florianópolis and João Pessoa^[3][4].

[edit] Protestantism

Brazil also has many other offshoots of Christianity. These include neo-Pentecostalists, old Pentecostalists and Traditional Protestants (most of them Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists) predominantly from Minas Gerais to the South. In the same region, mainly Minas Gerais and São Paulo, large sections of the middle class, about 1-2% of the total population, is Kardecist, sometimes pure, sometimes in syncretism with Roman Catholicism. Protestantism is generally the only religion in Brazil relatively free of syncretism. Centers of neo-Pentecostalism are Londrina in Paraná state, as well the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte (capital of Minas Gerais), especially the suburban and nearby areas of these cities. Lutherans are concentrated mostly in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and in contryside regions of the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.

Brazil has a large number of Jehovah's Witnesses (about 1,100,000).

There is also an important presence of Seventh-day Adventists.

The largest proportion of Protestants is found in North (19.8%), Central-West (18.9%) and Southeast (17.5%) regions. Among the state capitals, Rio de Janeiro has the largest proportion of non-Pentecostal Protestants in the country (10.07%), followed by Vitória, Porto Velho, Cuiabá and Manaus. But Goiânia is the state capital with the largest proportion of Pentecostal Protestants in the country (20.41%), followed by Boa Vista, Porto Velho, Belém and Belo Horizonte^[5][6].

[edit] Others

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims a membership of over 1 million,^[7]

Eastern Orthodox Christian population is only 50,000; made of churches brought over by waves of Lebanese, Syrian, Armenian, Greek, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants in the past century.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] African and Indigenous Religions

Afro-Brazilian religions are syncretic religions such as Candomblé that have many followers, mainly Afro-Brazilians. They are concentrated mainly in large urban centers in the Northeast, such as Salvador (Bahia), Recife, or Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast. The capitals of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina have a great number of followers too, but in the South of Brazil the most common African influenced Ritual is Almas e Angola, which is an Umbanda like ritual. Nowadays in Santa Catarina's capital there are over 70 "Terreiros", which are the places where the rituals run. In addition to Candomblé which is the survival of West African religion, there is also Umbanda which blends Spiritism, Indigenous and African beliefs. There's still lots of prejudice about "African cults" in Brazil's south, but there are lots of Catholics, Protestants and other kinds of Christians who also believe in the Orishas, so they use to go both to Churches and Terreiros.

Candomblé, Umbanda, Batuque, Xango, and Tambor de Mina, were originally brought by black slaves shipped from Africa to Brazil. These black slaves would summon their gods, called Orixas, Voduns or Inkices with chants and dances they had brought from Africa. These cults were persecuted throughout most of Brazilian history, largely because they were believed to be pagan or even satanic. However, the Brazilian republican government legalized all of them on the grounds of the necessary separation between the State and the Church^[when?].

In current practice, Umbanda followers leave offerings of food, candles and flowers in public places for the spirits. Candomblé terreiros are more hidden from general view, except in famous festivals such as Iyemanja Festival and the Waters of Oxala in the Northeast.

From Bahia northwards there is also different practices such as Catimbo, Jurema with heavy Indigenous elements. All over the country, but mainly in the Amazon rainforest, there are many Indians still practicing their original traditions. Many of their beliefs and use of naturally occurring plant derivatives are incorporated into African, Spirtitualists and folk religion.

[edit] Other Religions

There are small populations of people professing Judaism (86,000), Islam (27,000), Buddhism (215,000)^{[citation needed]}, Shinto, Rastafarian and a few other religions. Except the Jews, most of the other people who practice these minority religions are 20th century immigrants from East Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, or of recent immigrant descent.

Seven percent of the population consider themselves agnostics or atheists. One of the most unusual features of the rich Brazilian spiritual landscape are the sects which use ayahuasca (an Amazonian entheogenic tea), including Santo Daime, União do Vegetal, and Centro de Cultura Cósmica.

[edit] Judaism

The first Jews arrived in Brazil as cristãos-novos (New Christians) or conversos, names applied to Jews or Muslims who converted to Catholicism, most of them forcibly. According to the Inquisition reports, many New Christians living in Brazil during colonial times were condemned for secretly observing Jewish customs^[8]. These reports should not be taken as too much reliable: since the Inquisition confiscated the earthly goods of its victims, it had a direct interest in denouncing and convicting them.

In 1630, the Dutch conquered portions of northeast Brazil and permitted the open practice of any religion. Many Jews came from the Netherlands to live in Brazil in the area dominated by the Dutch. Most of them were descendants of the Portuguese Jews who had been expelled from Portugal in 1497. In 1636, the Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue, the first synagogue in the Americas was built in Recife, the capital of Dutch Brazil^[8]. The original building remains to this day^[9], but the Jews were forced to leave Brazil when the Portuguese-Brazilians retook the land in 1654^[10].

The first Jews that stayed in Brazil and openly practiced their religion came when the first Brazilian constitution granted freedom of religion in 1824, just after the independence. Curiously they were mainly Moroccan Jews, descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had been expelled from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497.

The first wave of Sephardic Jews was overmatched by the bigger wave of Ashkenazi Jews immigration that came in the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century mainly from Russia, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. Another last significant group came fleeing Nazism or the destruction that followed World War II.

There are about 96,000 Jews^[11] in Brazil. The largest proportion of Jews is found in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro^[12].

[edit] Islam

According to the Census, there are around 27,000 Muslims in Brazil^[1], although they claim to number between 700,000 and three million^[13].

Islam in Brazil may be presumed to have first been practiced by African slaves brought from West Africa, but they left no descendants that practiced their faith^{[citation needed]}.

Today, the Muslim population in Brazil is made up of mostly Arab immigrants and their descendants. There are approximately fifty-five mosques and Muslim religious centers^[13]. The largest proportion of Muslims is found in São Paulo and Paraná states^[13].

[edit] Beliefs

A 2007 poll, made by Datafolha and published in newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, asked diverse questions about the beliefs of the Brazilian people. In this poll, 64% reported to be Catholics, 17% Pentecostal Protestants, 5% non-Pentecostal Protestants, 3% Kardecists or Spiritists, 3% followers of other religions, 7% non-religious or atheists. Less than 1% reported to follow Afro-Brazilian religions^[14][15][16]

Belief in God and the Devil

• 97% Of Brazilians reported to believe in God; 2% have doubts and 1% do not believe in God.
• 75% Reported to believe in the Devil, 9% have doubts and 15% do not believe in the Devil.
• 81% Of non-religious reported to believe in God.

About Jesus Christ

• 93% Reported they believe Jesus Christ rose after death; 92% that the Holy Spirit exists; 87% in the occurrence of miracles; 86% that Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin; 77% that Jesus will return to Earth at the end of time; 65% that the sacramental bread is the body of Jesus; 64% that after death some people go to Heaven; 58% that after death some people go to Hell and 60% that there is life after death.

Belief in saints

• 57% Believe there are saints.
• 49% Pray to a saint (68% among self-declared Catholics and 76% among followers of Umbanda).
• 18% Pray to Our Lady of Aparecida (26% among Catholics); Saint Anthony, Saint Expeditus (5% each), Saint George (3%), Saint Jude, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Joseph (2% each).

About the Catholic priests

• 51% Believe some priests respect chastity, 31% most, 8% none and 4% they all do.
• 66% That priests should be allowed to marry (59% among Catholics and 94% among followers of Candomblé).
• About the sexual abuse scandals involving priests, 38% believe some of the complaints are true, 30% most are, 21% all are and 4% none of them.

About different religions

• About the sentence "Catholics do not practice their religion", 19% reported to agree completely and 41% agreed, but not completely.
• About the sentence "the Protestants are misled by their priests", 61% agreed (77% among the Kardecists, 67% among Catholics and 45% among Protestants).
• About the sentence "Umbanda is a Devil thing", 57% agreed (83% among Evangelical Protestants, 53% among Catholics and 12% among Umbandists).
• About the sentence "Jews only think about money", 49% agreed.
• About the sentence "Muslims advocate terrorism", 49% agreed.

[edit] Table of Religions in Brazil

Distribution of the Brazilian population according to their religions and faiths (data from the demographic census of 2000)^[17]
Some rows in the table that show "(total)" are actually sub-totals of subsequent rows, which are lighter and marked with a dot ( . ) at left. The faiths and groups of faiths are organized by descending number of followers.

Religion or faith			Total		"by region"				"by gender"
					urban		rural		men		women
			contingent	%	contingent	%	contingent	%	contingent	%	contingent	%
(total)			169.872.856	100,00	137.925.238	100,00	31.947.618	100,00	83.602.317	100,00	86.270.539	100,00
Roman Catholics (total)			125.518.774	73,89	98.939.872	71,73	26.578.903	83,20	62.171.584	74,37	63.347.189	73,43
·	Roman Catholic Church		124.980.132	73,57	98.475.959	71,40	26.504.174	82,96	61.901.888	74,04	63.078.244	73,12
·	Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church		500.582	0,295	430.245	0,312	70.337	0,220	250.201	0,299	250.380	0,290
Greek Orthodox Church			38.060	0,022	33.668	0,024	4.392	0,014	19.495	0,023	18.565	0,022
Protestant Churches (total)			26.184.941	15,41	22.736.910	16,48	3.448.031	10,79	11.444.063	13,69	14.740.878	17,09
·	Missionaries - traditional protestantism (total)		6.939.765	4,085	6.008.100	4,356	931.665	2,916	3.062.194	3,663	3.877.571	4,495
·	·	Baptist	3.162.691	1,862	2.912.163	2,111	250.528	0,784	1.344.946	1,609	1.817.745	2,107
·	·	Seventh-day Adventist Church	1.209.842	0,712	1.029.949	0,747	179.893	0,563	538.981	0,645	670.860	0,778
·	·	Lutheran Church	1.062.145	0,625	681.345	0,494	380.800	1,192	523.994	0,627	538.152	0,624
·	·	Presbyterian	981.064	0,578	904.552	0,656	76.512	0,239	427.458	0,511	553.606	0,642
·	·	Methodist Church	340.963	0,201	325.342	0,236	15.620	0,049	146.236	0,175	194.727	0,226
·	·	Congregational	148.836	0,088	125.117	0,091	23.719	0,074	64.937	0,078	83.899	0,097
·	·	other	34.224	0,020	29.630	0,021	4.593	0,014	15.642	0,019	18.582	0,022
·	Pentecostal (total)		17.617.307	10,37	15.256.085	11,06	2.361.222	7,391	7.677.125	9,183	9.940.182	11,52
·	·	Assembly of God	8.418.140	4,956	6.857.429	4,972	1.560.711	4,885	3.804.658	4,551	4.613.482	5,348
·	·	Christian Congregation of Brazil	2.489.113	1,465	2.148.941	1,558	340.172	1,065	1.130.329	1,352	1.358.785	1,575
·	·	Universal Church of the Kingdom of God	2.101.887	1,237	1.993.488	1,445	108.399	0,339	800.227	0,957	1.301.660	1,509
·	·	International Church of the Foursquare Gospel	1.318.805	0,776	1.253.276	0,909	65.529	0,205.5214	545.016	0,6526445	773.789	0,897
·	·	God is Love Pentecostal Church	774.830	0,456	649.252	0,471	125.577	0,393	331.707	0,397	443.123	0,514
·	·	Igreja Cristã Maranata	277.342	0,163	266.539	0,193	10.803	0,034	117.789	0,141	159.553	0,185
·	·	Brazil for Christ Pentecostal Church	175.618	0,103	159.713	0,116	15.904	0,050	76.132	0,091	99.485	0,115
·	·	Igreja Tabernáculo Evangélico de Jesus	128.676	0,076	120.891	0,088	7.785	0,024	51.557	0,062	77.119	0,089
·	·	Igreja Cristã de Nova Vida	92.315	0,054	91.008	0,066	1.307	0,004	35.352	0,042	56.964	0,066
·	·	Other	1.840.581	1,084	1.715.548	1,244	125.033	0,391	784.359	0,938	1.056.222	1,224
·	no institutional links (total)		1.046.487	0,616	945.874	0,686	100.612	0,315	454.087	0,543	592.400	0,687
·	·	Pentecostal	336.259	0,198	305.734	0,222	30.525	0,096	144.707	0,173	191.552	0,222
·	·	Other	710.227	0,418	640.140	0,464	70.087	0,219	309.380	0,370	400.847	0,465
·	Other evangelical		581.383	0,342	526.850	0,382	54.532	0,171	250.657	0,300	330.725	0,383
Kardecist Spiritism			2.262.401	1,332	2.206.418	1,600	55.983	0,175	928.967	1,111	1.333.434	1,546
Other Christian (total)			1.540.064	0,907	1.441.888	1,045	98.175	0,307	646.264	0,773	893.800	1,036
·	Jehovah's Witnesses		1.104.886	0,650	1.045.600	0,758	59.286	0,186	450.583	0,539	654.303	0,758
·	Latter Day Saints (Mormons)		199.645	0,118	195.198	0,142	4.446	0,014	92.197	0,110	107.448	0,125
·	Other		235.533	0,139	201.090	0,146	34.443	0,108	103.484	0,124	132.049	0,153
Umbanda			397.431	0,234	385.148	0,279	12.283	0,038	172.393	0,206	225.038	0,261
Buddhism			214.873	0,126	203.772	0,148	11.101	0,035	96.722	0,116	118.152	0,137
New Eastern Religions (total)			151.080	0,089	145.914	0,106	5.166	0,016	58.784	0,070	92.295	0,107
·	Church of World Messianity		109.310	0,064	106.467	0,077	2.843	0,009	41.478	0,050	67.831	0,079
·	Other		41.770	0,025	39.447	0,029	2.323	0,007	17.306	0,021	24.464	0,028
Candomblé			127.582	0,075	123.214	0,089	4.368	0,014	57.200	0,068	70.382	0,082
Jews			86.825	0,051	86.316	0,063	509	0,002	43.597	0,052	43.228	0,050
Esoteric Traditions			58.445	0,034	55.693	0,040	2.752	0,009	27.637	0,033	30.808	0,036
Islamic			27.239	0,016	27.055	0,020	183	0,001	16.232	0,019	11.007	0,013
Spiritism			25.889	0,015	24.507	0,018	1.382	0,004	10.901	0,013	14.987	0,017
Native Brazilian Traditions			17.088	0,010	6.463	0,005	10.625	0,033	9.175	0,011	7.913	0,009
Hinduism			2.905	0,002	2.861	0,002	43	0,000	1.521	0,002	1.383	0,002
Other religions			15.484	0,009	13.243	0,010	2.241	0,007	7.393	0,009	8.091	0,009
Other Eastern Religions			7.832	0,005	7.244	0,005	588	0,002	3.764	0,005	4.068	0,005
No religion			12.492.403	7,354	10.895.989	7,900	1.596.414	4,997	7.540.682	9,020	4.951.721	5,740
No declaration			383.953	0,226	312.011	0,226	71.943	0,225	206.245	0,247	177.708	0,206
Undetermined			357.648	0,211	310.720	0,225	46.929	0,147	159.191	0,190	198.458	0,230

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Roman Catholicism in Brazil
• Protestantism in Brazil
• Islam in Brazil
• Judaism in Brazil
• Bahá'í Faith in Brazil

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