Religion in Brazil
[4] Brazil possesses a richly spiritual society formed from the meeting of the Catholic Church with the religious traditions of enslaved Africans and indigenous people.
[8][9] However, in another 2020 study by the Association of Religion Data Archives, 70.57% of the population were Catholic, 15.12% Protestant, 12.23% Independent, 0.12% Orthodox (Eastern or Oriental), and 0.09% unaffiliated Christian.
[10] In the 2010 census,[1] 64.63% of the population declared themselves as Catholic, 22.2% as Protestant, 8% as non-religious, and 5.2% as followers of other religions (mostly Spiritists or Kardecists who follow the doctrines of Allan Kardec, Umbandists, Candomblers, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and minorities of Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and other groups).
[12] The number of Umbandists and Candomblers could be significantly higher than the official census figure since many of them continue to this day to disguise their religion under "Catholic" syncretism.
[14] Religious intolerance is a crime in Brazil, and several laws ensure freedom of worship and protection for those who profess their faith.
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 Catholic faith practiced in Brazil is full of popular festivities rooted in centuries-old Portuguese traditions, but also heavily influenced by African and Native Brazilian usage.
Areas that received many European immigrants in the last century, especially Italian and German, have Catholic traditions closer to that practiced in Europe.
Among the state capitals, Teresina has the largest proportion of Catholics in the country (86.010%), followed by Aracaju, Fortaleza, Florianópolis and João Pessoa.
These include neo-Pentecostals, old Pentecostals, and Traditional Protestants (most of them Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists) predominantly from Minas Gerais to the South.
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.
[35][36] According to the Church's doctrine, these temples perform sacred ordinances such as vicarious baptism, celestial marriage, and family sealing, in addition to being places of learning and spirituality.
This initiative mobilizes members and volunteers in activities such as blood donation, food drives, support for natural disasters, health and education campaigns, and revitalization of public spaces.
They are concentrated mainly in large urban centers in the Northeast, such as Salvador, Recife, or Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast.
In addition to Candomblé which arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially that of the Yoruba, and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, there is also Umbanda, a syncretic Brazilian religion that blends African traditions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs.
Candomblé, Umbanda, Batuque, Xango, and Tambor de Mina are Afro-Brazilian religions influenced by the native cults 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.
In current practice, Umbanda followers leave offerings of food, candles, and flowers in public places for the spirits.
These religions have suffered increasing hostility from Protestant churches, with attacks on temples and the defacement of statues of the gods.
Japanese Buddhist sects like Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren Buddhism (most notably the Soka Gakkai), and Zen are the most popular.
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) is also present, since Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche founded the Khadro Ling center in Três Coroas, Rio Grande do Sul (where he lived until his death in 2002), and many other institutions across the country.
According to the Inquisition reports, many New Christians living in Brazil during colonial times were condemned for secretly observing Jewish customs.
[51] The original building remains to this day,[52] but the Jews were forced to leave Brazil when the Portuguese-Brazilians retook the land in 1654.
Fearing the example might be followed, the Brazilian authorities began to watch the malês very carefully and in subsequent years intensive efforts were made towards conversions to Catholic Christianity and erase the popular memory of and affection towards Islam.
There are as many as 1500 PIOs in the Indian community in Brazil, and only 400 NRIs since foreign nationals can acquire local citizenship without any discrimination after 15 years of domicile in this country.
One of the most unusual features of the rich Brazilian spiritual landscape are the sects that use ayahuasca (an Amazonian entheogenic tea), including Santo Daime, União do Vegetal, and Centro de Cultura Cósmica.
The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 42,100 Baháʼís in Brazil in 2010.
[61] There are, in Brazil, many followers of Japanese new religions like Oomoto, PL Kyodan, Seicho-no-Ie and the Church of World Messianity.
[citation needed] A 2009 poll, made by Datafolha and published in newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, asked diverse questions about the beliefs of the Brazilian people.
