Scalon

"Brazil, with a population in excess of 180 million, occupies almost half the South American continent. As an industrial nation it ranks eighth in the world, yet it has its own internal third world. It is the largest Catholic country in the world, though our data suggest that religious affiliation is also somewhat unstable. Seventy-one percent of Braziliansare Catholic; 11 percent are Protestants (mostly Evangelical, Baptist, Adventists and members of the Assemblies of God); 11 percent have no religious affiliation but believe in God (a choice that the standard Brazilian questionnaire permits); 6 percent belong to cults (a collection of some25 groups, most of which have less than 1 percent of the population);and less than 1 percent say that that they do not have a religious affiliation and do not believe in God." ¹(13)

*

pagan religious beliefs which Orthodox Catholics in Brazil do not find inconsistent with their beliefs.² (14)

*

"However, Catholicism has a higher rate of retention than do any of the other religious groups. More than two-fifths of those who were raised Protestant are no longer Protestant, which is what one would expect of sect like groups. The Catholic Church picks up 16 percent of those who were raised Protestants. Obviously religious change in Brazil is frequent."³ (14)

claims that on issues of doctrine and moral practice, Protestant converts are "in many respects...better Catholics than are Brazilian Catholics."⁴ (14)

"The appeal of Protestantism to those who were raised Catholics in Brazil certainly cannot be attributed to a relaxed sexual ethic." ⁵(14)

suggests that the reason why converts might be attracted to protestantism is the higher demand/ intensity, the same factors might put off those raised in protestantism.⁶ (14)

*

"Brazil, then, is a country where the Catholic imagination and its unfortunate links to superstition and syncretism are very strong. The converts to Protestantism tend to reject these elements of Catholicism either as a cause or a consequence (or a possible combination) of their conversion. In their intense and devout fundamentalist Protestantism,"⁷ (15)

*

"Nonetheless Protestantism is making some progress, a growth that is threatened by the inability to hold two-fifths of the children of converts." ⁸(15)

1M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 13.

2M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 14.

3M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 14.

4M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 14.

5M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 14.

6M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 14.

7M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 15.

8M Scalon & A Greeley, 'Catholics and Protestants in Brazil', America (August 18-25 2003), 13–15, 15.