Protestantism in Brazil

Protestantism in Brazil began in the 19th century and grew in the 20th century. The 2010 census reported that 22.2% of the Brazilian population was Protestant, while in 2020 the percentage was estimated to have risen to 31% of the population,^[1] over 65 million individuals, making it the second largest Protestant population in the Western world. Another 2020 study from the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated that Brazil's Protestant population was 15.12%.^[2]

Brazilian Protestantism is primarily represented by Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and a smaller proportion of Baptists. The remainder is made up of Lutherans, Adventists, Presbyterians and other mainline Protestant traditions.

Since 2010, the number of Catholics in Brazil has dropped by an average of 1.2% per year; conversely, the number of Evangelicals has grown by 0.8% per year.^[3]

Protestantism was first practiced in Brazil by Huguenot travelers attempting to colonize the country while it was under the Portuguese colonial rule. These attempts, however, would not persist.

A French mission sent by John Calvin was established in 1557 on one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, where the France Antarctique colony was founded. On March 10 of the same year, these Calvinists held the first Protestant service in Brazil and, according to some accounts, the first in all the New World.^[4]

Varieties of Protestantism were often introduced by immigrants from Europe but over the last three decades, the number of Neo-Pentecostal churches such as the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has grown significantly.

In the 19th century, while the vast majority of Brazilians were nominal Catholics, the nation was underserved by priests, and for large numbers of people religion did not play an important role in daily life.^[5] Protestantism in Brazil largely originated with European immigrants as well as British American missionaries following up on efforts that began in the 1820s.

The first Anglican chapel began to offer services to English-speaking people in Rio de Janeiro in 1822. In the same city, the Prussian consul sponsored the founding of a German and French Reformed congregation in 1827, which today is a Lutheran church.

Among missionaries, Methodists were most active, along with Presbyterians and Baptists. The Seventh-day Adventists began in 1894, and the YMCA was organized in 1896. The missionaries promoted schools, colleges and seminaries, including the liberal arts Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo, and an agricultural school. The Presbyterian schools in particular later became the nucleus of the governmental system. In 1887 Protestants in Rio de Janeiro formed a hospital.

The missionaries largely reached a working-class audience, as the Brazilian upper class was wedded either to Catholicism or to secularism. By 1914, Protestant churches founded by U.S. missionaries had 47,000 communicants, served by 282 missionaries. In general, these missionaries were more successful than they had been in Mexico, Argentina or elsewhere in Latin America.^[6]

The first Seventh Day Baptists soon appeared in Brazil. They expanded in territory and Brazil became home to one of the world's highest Seventh Day Baptist populations.^[7]

The Catholic Church was disestablished in 1890, and responded by increasing the number of dioceses and the efficiency of its clergy. Many Protestants came from a large German immigrant community and they were mostly Lutheran, but they were seldom engaged in proselytizing and grew by natural increase. Most Protestants came from missionary activities sponsored by the United States and Europe. By 1930, there were 700,000 Protestants, and increasingly they were in charge of their own affairs.

In 1930, the Methodist Church of Brazil became independent of the missionary societies and elected its own bishop. Protestants were largely working-class, but their networks helped accelerate their upward social mobility.^[8][9]

Protestantism, which has resisted syncretism more than other Christian churches have in the diverse country,^[10] established a significant presence in Brazil during the first half of the 20th century and grew during the second half. Protestants accounted for fewer than 5% of the population until the 1960s, but by 2000 made up over 15% of those affiliated with a church. Pentecostals and Charismatic groups account for most of this expansion.

With their emphasis on personal salvation and moral codes as well as a less ideological approach to politics, these groups have developed a broad appeal, particularly among the booming urban migrant communities. The political consequences of this shift are still poorly understood, as the fragmentation of the Protestant community after the late 1970s has weakened it as a vehicle for direct political action.

After centuries of persecution under Portuguese colonial rule, which was successful in consolidating Catholicism in the country, Protestant denominations have seen a rapid growth in their number of followers since the last decades of the 20th century.^[11]

At the time of the 2000 census, 15.4% of the Brazilian population was Protestant. Recent research conducted by the Datafolha institute shows that 31% of Brazilians are Protestants.^[12] The 2010 census found that 22.2% were Protestant,^[13] while a 2020 survey from ARDA estimated a 15.12% Protestant population.^[2]

Until the late 1970s, the majority of Brazilian Protestants were Lutherans, Presbyterians, or Baptists; however, the Pentecostals, especially from neo-charismatic churches linked to the prosperity doctrine, have grown significantly in number since then.

There is also a Seventh-day Adventist educational system with over 475 elementary schools, 67 secondary schools, two colleges and a university.^[14][15] The rich and the poor remained traditional Catholics, while most Evangelical Protestants were in the new lower-middle class, known as the "C class" (in a A–E classification system). A 2015 survey in Brazil found that the majority of prisoners may be Evangelicals.^[16]

Evangelical Protestantism has, since its introduction to Latin America by American missionaries,^[17][18] been deeply involved in Brazilian and international politics;^[19][20] their influence has even been implicated in the attempted 2022 Brazilian coup.^[21] In the Brazilian National Congress, there is the Evangelical Caucus, a loosely organized group of Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal lawmakers in the Brazilian government and legislature. If considered a political party, the Evangelical Caucus would be the third largest in the Brazilian government, surpassed only by the Brazilian Democratic Movement and the Workers' Party.^[22]

It was reported that 70% of evangelical Protestants voted for President Jair Bolsonaro in 2018 Brazilian general election.^[23]

According to 2010 IBGE census, the following were the biggest Protestant denominations in Brazil.^[25] Only those with more than half a million members are listed.

• Pentecostals: 25,370,484

Assemblies of God (Assembléias de Deus): 12,314,410 (6.5%) (Classic Swedish-Brazilian Pentecostal denomination.)

General Convention of the Assemblies of God (affiliated with the US Assemblies of God, Springfield, MO): 3.6 million.

National Convention of the Assemblies of God (also known as the Madureira Ministry of the Assemblies of God): 2.5 million.

Other independent Assemblies of God: 1.9 million

Christian Congregation in Brazil (Italian-Brazilian Pentecostals): 2,289,634 (1.3%)

O Brasil para Cristo(Brazil for Christ): 2,196,665

Foursquare Gospel Church Igreja do Evangelho Quadrangular (Classic Pentecostals in US, but second-wave Pentecostals in Brazil): 1,808,389 (0.8%)

• Baptists: 3,723,691 (1.9%)

Brazilian Baptist Convention (stemming from the US Southern Baptists and BWA body member): 1.4 million adherents

National Baptist Convention (Charismatics Baptists and BWA body member): 1 million.

Independent Baptist Convention (Scandinavian Baptists): 400,000.

Brazilian Seventh Day Baptist Conference: 4,953

Other Baptists: 300,000

• Adventists: 1.8 million (1.0%)

Seventh-day Adventist Church: 1.6 million^[26][27]

Promise Adventist Church (Brazilian Pentecostal Adventists): 150,000

Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement: 50,000

Other Adventists: 100,000

• Lutherans: 1 million (0.6%)

Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil: 634,286

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil: 243,093

Other Lutherans

• Reformed churches: 2.5 million^[28]

Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 1,011,300

Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 85,000

Renewed Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 131,000^[29]

Conservative Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 6,000^[30]

Fundamentalist Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 1,800

United Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 3,466

Evangelical Reformed Church in Brazil: 2,500

Reformed Churches in Brazil

Hungarian Reformed Church

Protestant Church of Brazil

Swiss Evangelical Church

Arab Evangelical Church

Evangelical Congregational Church in Brazil: 50,000

United Congregational Churches in Brazil: 50,000

Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil^[31]

Comunhão Reformada Battista no Brasil – reformed baptists in Brazil

• Methodists: 340,963 (0.201%)

Methodist Church of Brazil (affiliated to US United Methodist Church): 200,000

Wesleyan Methodist Church (Brazilian Pentecostal Methodists): 100,000

Other Methodists: 40,000

• Religion in Brazil
• Evangelicalism in Brazil
• Methodist Church in Brazil

• Birman, Patrícia, and Márcia Pereira Leite. "Whatever Happened to What Used to Be the Largest Catholic Country in the World?," Daedalus (2000) 129#2 pp. 271–290 in JSTOR
• Burdick, John. " Why is the Black Evangelical Movement Growing in Brazil?" Journal of Latin American Studies (2005) 37#2 pp 311–332.
• Chesnut, R. Andrew. "The Salvation Army or the Army's Salvation?: Pentecostal Politics in Amazonian Brazil, 1962-1992," Luso-Brazilian Review (1999) 36#2 pp 33–49
• Chesnut, R. Andrew. Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty (1997) excerpt and text search
• Corten, Andre. Pentecostalism in Brazil: Emotion of the Poor and Theological Romanticism (1999) excerpt and text search
• Freston, Paul. "Neo-Pentecostalism" in Brazil: Problems of Definition and the Struggle for Hegemony," Archives de sciences sociales des religions (1999) 44#105 pp. 145-162 in JSTOR
• Londono, Diana. "Evangelicals in Brazil," Hemispheric Affairs Dec. 5, 2012
• Willems, Emilio. "Protestantism as a Factor of Culture Change in Brazil," Economic Development and Cultural Change (1955) 3#4 pp. 321–333 in JSTOR

• "Brazilian Evangelical Rally Draws 3 Million". Beliefnet.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2006.
• Pope Visits Brazil, Church Loses Ground - ABC News
• Catholic Church Losing Followers in Droves - Inter Press Service
• Rising Protestant tide sweeps Catholic Brazil - Reuters
• Protestants making inroads in Brazil, world's most populous Catholic country - WWRN
• Census reveals more Protestants in Brazil - latinamericanstudies.org
• Brazilians embrace Protestant faiths - BBC News
• Pope heads to Brazil where church losing ground - USA Today
• Pragmatic Protestants Winning Converts in Brazil - The New York Times