Religion
Similar to many other countries, Brazil is a melting pot of a diversity of religions. Approximately 90% of the country’s population is subscribed to some religious idea and only 1% of the whole country’s population does not believe in a god. Roman Catholicism was introduced to Brazil when European settlers arrived with the aim of ‘civilizing’ the local native people. They built churches and brought religious leaders into the country to educate the young and old about the religion. The Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to a wide variety of syncretistic practices. During the colonization period, the people in the country had no freedom of religion. Everyone was bound to the Roman Catholic faith and were forced to pay taxes to churches. However, the religion was kept as the official religion even after the freedom of religion was introduced to Brazil.
However, the religion now faces a major problem of declining popularity. The 2010 census shows that 65% of the Brazilian population consider themselves as Catholic, down from the 90% in 1970. Some sociologist of religions feel that Catholicism in Brazil is more of a tradition than a religious practice. Although it is a fact that many Brazilian Catholics still make a point to carry out their baptizing and marriages in Catholic churches, only 20% of them actually attend and participate in church activities regularly.
The rapid change in the 21st century led to a growth of Protestantism (over 22.2%) and irreligion. Fifteen million Brazilians declared themselves non-religious in 2010. Protestantism in Brazil largely originated from American missionaries. A Protestant is any person who rejects the authority of the Catholic Churches. Irreligion, on the other hand, can come in many different forms: the absence of a religion, indifference towards a religion, a rejection of religion or hostility towards a religion.
However, the religion now faces a major problem of declining popularity. The 2010 census shows that 65% of the Brazilian population consider themselves as Catholic, down from the 90% in 1970. Some sociologist of religions feel that Catholicism in Brazil is more of a tradition than a religious practice. Although it is a fact that many Brazilian Catholics still make a point to carry out their baptizing and marriages in Catholic churches, only 20% of them actually attend and participate in church activities regularly.
The rapid change in the 21st century led to a growth of Protestantism (over 22.2%) and irreligion. Fifteen million Brazilians declared themselves non-religious in 2010. Protestantism in Brazil largely originated from American missionaries. A Protestant is any person who rejects the authority of the Catholic Churches. Irreligion, on the other hand, can come in many different forms: the absence of a religion, indifference towards a religion, a rejection of religion or hostility towards a religion.