Religion in Brazil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brazil's main religion since the 16th century has been Christianity, predominantly Roman Catholicism. This religion was introduced by the missionaries who accompanied the Portuguese explorers and settlers of Brazil. Brazil has the largest number of baptized Roman Catholics on Earth — about 80% of Brazilians claiming to be Catholics. However, about 20% of the population of Brazil actually attends Mass on a regular basis.

Popular traditions of Roman Catholicism in Brazil include pilgrimages to the Appeared Lady, Senhora Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil. Other prominent festivals include Círio in Belém and the Festa do Divino in central Brazil.

Brazil also has many other offshoots of Christianity. These include neo-Pentecostalists, old Pentecostalists and Evangelicals, 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 as the state capitals of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais.

See also: Demographics_of_Brazil#Religion and Roman Catholicism in Brazil

[edit] African & Indigenous Religions

African syncretic religions such as Candomblé have millions of 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 Kardecist 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 Churchs and Terreiros.

Candomblé, 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.

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 deriviatives are incorporated into African, Spirtitualists and folk religion.

[edit] Other Religions

Buddhism, Shinto, Judaism, Islam and a few other religions are observed by approximately 5% of the total population of Brazil. Most of the people who practice these minority religions are 20th century immigrants from East Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, or of recent immigrant descent. Fifteen percent of the population consider themselves agnostics or atheists, while the remainder call themselves Christians. One of the most unique features of the rich Brazilian spiritual landscape are the sects which use ayahuasca (an Amazonian entheogenic tea), including Santo Daime, União do Vegetal, and Cultura Cosmica.

Brazil might appear to be a devout country, but things are a little bit more complex. In the latest IBGE poll, results showed that about 10% of Brazilians declared themselves to be non-religious (with just 1% declaring themselves atheists) and some 70% of Catholics stated that they were non-practicing.

[edit] Hinduism

Most of the Brazilian Hindus are ethnic East Indians. Significant numbers of White Brazilians have converted to Hinduism in the past few decades, while many others have Hindu leanings, the most prominent feature being the practise of Yoga. 2000 census recorded 2,979 Hindus in Brazil.

Also see: Hinduism_in_South_America, Brazilian (Portugese) Link