, native_name_lang = pt , image = Basilica of Aparecida - Aparecida 2014 (4).jpg , imagewidth = 230px , alt = , caption = The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in

Aparecida Aparecida is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is located in the fertile valley of the River Paraíba do Sul on the southern (right) bank. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The popula ...

It is the second largest church in the world, after

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. , abbreviation = , type =

National polity A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...

, main_classification =

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, orientation =

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, scripture =

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, theology = Catholic theology , polity = Episcopal , governance = CNBB , structure = , leader_title =

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, leader_name = Francis , leader_title1 =

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, leader_name1 = Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo , leader_title2 =

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

, leader_name2 = Sérgio da Rocha , fellowships_type1 = , fellowships1 = , division_type = , division = , division_type1 = , division1 = , division_type2 = , division2 = , division_type3 = , division3 = , associations = , area =

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, language =

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, headquarters = , origin_link = , founded_date = c 1500 , founded_place = Colonial Brazil,

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

, separated_from = , parent = , merger = , absorbed = , separations =

Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church , image =Emblema da Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira.png , imagewidth = , caption =Emblem of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church , main_classification = Western Christian , orientation =Independent Catholic , polity = Episcopa ...

, merged_into = , defunct = , congregations_type = , congregations = , members = 123 million - 127 million - 134 million - 140 million , ministers_type = , ministers = , missionaries = , churches = , hospitals = , nursing_homes = , aid = , primary_schools = , secondary_schools = , tax_status = , tertiary = , other_names = , publications = , website
CNBB
, slogan = , logo = , footnotes = Catedral da Sé em São Paulo

The Brazilian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Brazil, is part of the worldwide

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, under the spiritual leadership of the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and the influential

National Conference of Bishops of Brazil The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Portuguese: Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil, CNBB) brings together the Catholic Bishops of Brazil, as the Code of Canon Law, "jointly exercise certain pastoral functions on behalf of the fai ...

( pt, Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil - CNBB), composed of over 400 primary and auxiliary bishops and archbishops. There are over 250

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s (both of the Latin and Eastern rites) and other territorial jurisdictions in Brazil. The

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

of Brazil is Dom Sérgio da Rocha. The Catholic Church is the largest denomination in the country, where 123 million people, or 64.6% of the Brazilian population, are self-declared Catholics. tp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Censos/Censo_Demografico_2010/Caracteristicas_Gerais_Religiao_Deficiencia/tab1_4.pdf censo 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2012. These figures make Brazil the single country with the largest Catholic community in the world.Country Studies
"Brazil - Roman Catholicism"
source: Rex A. Hudson, ed. ''Brazil: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1997.Scalon, Maria Celi
"Catholics and Protestants in Brazil"
''America Magazine''. 18 August 2003.

History

According to the tradition, the first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

celebrated in Brazil took place on 26 April 1500. It was celebrated by a priest who arrived in the country along with the

explorers to claim possession of the newfound land. The first diocese in Brazil was erected more than 50 years later, in 1551. Brazil's strong Catholic heritage can be traced to the Iberian missionary zeal, with the 15th-century goal of spreading Christianity. The Church missions began to hamper the government policy of exploiting the natives. In 1782 the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

were suppressed, and the government tightened its control over the Church. Catholicism was the predominant faith during colonial rule, then in 1824 became the

official religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a th ...

of an independent Brazil which also guaranteed

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

for its citizens. The Brazilian government has been secular since the Constitution of 1891 and the Church has remained politically influential. In the late 19th century, the Catholic population of Iberian origin was reinforced by a large number of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Catholics who immigrated to Brazil, as well as some

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Catholic immigrants. In 1889 Brazil became a republic and approved a constitution separating the Church from the State, a trend followed by all of the country's seven republican constitutions. Prior to that, during the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...

, Catholicism was the official religion of the country. In practice, separation of Church and state in the country is weak as government officials generally avoid taking actions that may offend the Church which represents a large majority of citizens. A recent example of the Church's influence over political questions was the change conducted by the federal government in the Third National Program of Human Rights in regard to its proposal to legalize

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, after pressure from the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops.

Agência Brasil Agência Brasil (ABr.) is the national public news agency, run by the Brazilian government. The agency was founded in 1990 and it's part of the public media corporation Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), created in 2007 to unite two governme ...

“Para CNBB, mudanças no PNDH 3 revelam sensibilidade”
. ''iG Último Segundo''. 13 May 2010. That particular change, along with others, was denounced by the Amnesty International. Nevertheless, the government kept issues contrary to Church teaching in the Program, such as its support for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and

same-sex adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child (stepchild adoption). Joint adoption by same-sex coup ...

. In the late 20th century the Church's

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...

movement, which focuses on the poor as the primary recipients of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

's message, helped in the quest for social justice.Almeida, Rodrigo
“Benedict XVI in Brazil: raising the Catholic flag”
Open Democracy. 8 May 2007. The church organized ecclesiastical base communities throughout the country to work for social and political causes at the local level. Despite the support of the higher clergy for the military, the progressive wing managed to make the Church practically the only legitimate focus of resistance and defense of basic

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

during military rule, as well as a main advocate for social rights and human dignity in the Constitutional Assembly of 1987–1988. When then Cardinal Ratzinger became responsible for the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...

, he launched a successful campaign against the liberation theology, and the conservative wing of the Church gained power. Catholics then saw the rise of the

Catholic Charismatic Renewal The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches. The Renewal has been described as a "current of grace". It began in 1967 when Cath ...

movement, as a way to counter the rapid growth of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

in the country. According to Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, “pentecostalism no longer is something confined outside the Catholic Church, it is now firmly within the form of various charismatic tendencies and movements”. During his five-day visit to Brazil in May 2007 Pope Benedict XVI canonized

Frei Galvão Anthony of St. Ann Galvão, O.F.M. ( pt, Antônio de Sant'Anna Galvão, ), commonly known in Brazil as Frei (Friar) Galvão (; May 13, 1739 – December 23, 1822), was a Brazilian friar of the Franciscan Order. One of the best-known religious fi ...

, who became the first Brazilian-born saint. Both the Pope's visit and the canonisation aimed at reinvigorating the local church. Brazil was also the first foreign country visited by Benedict's successor

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Demographics

According to a 2007 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, more than 60 percent of the urban population of Brazil claims a Catholic affiliation. A 2020 poll by

Datafolha Datafolha is Grupo Folha's polling institute, founded in 1983 as the research department of Empresa Folha da Manhã S. A., and later on became a separate company able to serve external clients, from 1990. In 1995, it became a separate business unit ...

suggests that the Catholic population is closer to 50 percent of the country and decreasing, with

Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...

groups growing as a proportion.- 50% dos brasileiros são católicos, 31%, evangélicos e 10% não têm religião, diz Datafolha. 2020
Retrieved February 7, 2022. Religious syncretism is widespread among Brazilian Catholics. There is an overlay of

Afro-Brazilian religions African diaspora religions are a number of related Pagan beliefs that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. They derive from Pagan traditional African religions with some in ...

(like Candomblé,

Quimbanda Quimbanda () is an Afro-Brazilian religion practiced primarily in the urban city centers of Brazil. Quimbanda practices are typically associated with magic, rituals with Exus, and Pombagiras spirits. Quimbanda was originally contained under the ...

and

Umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th ce ...

) with Catholic beliefs and practices, which many Catholic Brazilians do not find inconsistent with their faith.Country Studie
"Brazil - Other Religions"
source: Rex A. Hudson, ed. ''Brazil: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1997. An example is the Feast of Bonfim, a ritual in which mães-de-santo gather to wash the stairs of the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim in Salvador, Bahia. Catholics are far more likely to believe in good luck charms, fortune-tellers, faith-healers and

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

than are converts to Protestantism. Religious change in Brazil is frequent. According to polling institute

, as of July 2013, approximately 57% of those aged over 16 years old were Catholic, while evangelicals constituted 28%. According to ''America Magazine'' in 2003, Brazilian Catholics have the highest score in the world on the image of God as a loving Father. They are also more likely to see

human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

as good rather than corrupt, and the world as good rather than evil. Brazilian Catholics are less likely to believe in the literal, word-for-word interpretation of the

than Protestants. They are also more likely to accept

premarital sex Premarital sex is sexual activity which is practiced by people before they are married. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. Since the Sexual Revolutio ...

, cohabitation before marriage,

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

and

. About 40% attend Masses at least once a month—approximately the same level as that of American Catholics. Almost 75% pray every day, but only 12% engage in Church activities; only 26% say they are "very religious". More than one out of five of those who were raised Catholics leave the church, most of them taking on no religious affiliation or

. However, Catholicism has the highest rate of retention. More than two-fifths of those who were raised Protestant are no longer Protestant; the Catholic Church picks up 16% of those who were raised Protestants. By race, 66.4% of whites are Catholic, along with 58.2% of blacks, 59.9% of East Asians, 64.1% of browns, and 50.7% of American Indians.

Catholicism by state

Catholicism by state capitals

Education

As the largest Catholic country in the world, Catholic education has a great tradition in Brazil. The

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

founded the first schools in the country, with the aim of evangelizing Native-Brazilians. In the late 18th century, Portuguese minister

Marquis of Pombal Count of Oeiras () was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated July 15, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, head of the Portuguese government. Later, through another roy ...

attacked and expelled the Jesuits from Portugal and its overseas possessions. He seized the Jesuit schools and introduced educational reforms all over the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. Since then, public schools have been secular, but private Catholic schools are among the best in the country. According to the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, there are more than 30 Catholic universities in Brazil. The first was the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, founded by

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...

on 1931. The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro is the best private university in the country, and behind only the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

in the

State of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...

. The

Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais The Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, PUC-MG) is a private and non-profit Brazilian Catholic university in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais. In 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013 and ...

had been chosen by the Ministry as the best private university, and the best in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, the previous year. In 1969, the

Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, PUC-SP), locally known as ''PUC'' or the ''Catholic University'' ('), is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is one of the larg ...

became the first higher education institute in Brazil to offer a

post-graduation Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

course."Uma história da PUC-SP"
(in Portuguese). PUC-SP official website. Retrieved 21 February 2010.

Organization

In Brazil, there are a total of 275 particular churches—consisting of 44 archdioceses, 216 dioceses (2 of which are Eastern rite eparchies under Latin jurisdiction), 9 territorial prelatures, the Archeparchy of São João Batista em Curitiba and the Eparchy of Imaculada Conceição in Prudentópolis under the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...

, the Armenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Latin America and Mexico, the

Ordinariate for the Faithful of Eastern Rites in Brazil The Ordinariate of Brazil for the faithful of the Eastern rite or Brazil of the Eastern Rite (Portuguese language, Portuguese: Ordinariato para os Fiéis de Ritos Orientais no Brasil) is an ordinariate (diocese-like structure of the Catholic Ch ...

, the

Military Ordinariate of Brazil The Military Ordinariate of Brazil ( pt, Ordinariado Militar do Brasil) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church. Immediately exempt to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Catholics serving in the Brazilian Armed F ...

, and the

Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney The Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney ( la, Administratio Apostolica Personalis Sancti Ioannis Mariae Vianney) was established on 18 January 2002 by Pope John Paul II for traditionalist Catholic clergy and laity with ...

Notable people

* Pedro I of Brazil * Pedro II of Brazil * Princess Isabel *

Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies Dona Teresa Cristina (14 March 182228 December 1889), nicknamed "the Mother of the Brazilians", was the Empress consort of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, who reigned from 1831 to 1889. Born a Princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sici ...

Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short sto ...

References

External links

National Conference of Brazilian Bishops
{{South America in topic, Catholic Church in, groupstyle=background-color:gold, titlestyle=background-color:gold

Brazilian culture