Religion
Main article: Religion in BrazilAbout 2/3 of the population are Roman Catholics. Catholicism was introduced and spread largely by the Portuguese Jesuits, who arrived in 1549 during the colonization with the mission of converting the Indigenous people. The Society of Jesus played a large role in the formation of Brazilian religious identity until their expulsion of the country by the Marquis of Pombal in the 18th century.
In recent decades Brazilian society has witnessed a rise in Protestantism. Between 1940 and 2010, the percentage of Roman Catholics fell from 95% to 64.6%, while the various Protestant denominations rose from 2.6% to 22.2%.
| Religion in Brazil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Roman Catholicism | 64.6% | |||
| Protestantism | 22.2% | |||
| No religion | 8.0% | |||
| Spiritism | 2.0% | |||
| Others | 3.2% | |||
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Brazil
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“The proper office of religion is to regulate the heart of men, humanize their conduct, infuse the spirit of temperance, order, and obedience; and as its operation is silent, and only enforces the motives of morality and justice, it is in danger of being overlooked, and confounded with these other motives.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“As soon as a religion comes to dominate, it has as its opponents all those who would have been its earliest disciples.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)