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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 Neo-Pentecostal churches, which has decreased the number of members to both the Roman Catholic Church and the Afro-Brazilian religions[citation needed]. About ninety percent of Brazilians declared some sort of religious affiliation in the most recent census[2].
[edit] Overview
[edit] Christianity[edit] CatholicismMain article: Roman Catholicism in Brazil  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 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] ProtestantismBrazil 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 countryside 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] OthersThe 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 ReligionsThere 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 Main article: Islam in Brazil According to the Census, there are around 27,000 Muslims in Brazil[1] 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. Scholars note that Brazil received more enslaved Muslims than anywhere else in the Americas.[13] 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[14]. The largest proportion of Muslims is found in São Paulo and Paraná states[14]. [edit] BeliefsA 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[15][16][17]
[edit] Table of Religions in Brazil
[edit] References
[edit] See also
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