Monday, July 2nd 2012 - 05:32 UTC

Catholic Church rapidly loosing ground to evangelists in Brazil

Less than two-thirds of Brazilians identify as Catholics, marking a record decline in what is considered to be the world's largest Catholic country, new figures showed Friday.

Only 64% of Brazilians identify themselves as Catholic shows the 2010 census

Just over 64% of the Brazilian population of 191 million identifies as Catholic, said the figures, taken from the 2010 census.

In the year 2000, when the last census was carried out, Catholics comprised almost 74% of the population, down significantly from almost 92% in 1970.

Meanwhile, the number of Brazilian Christian evangelists has risen, up roughly seven percentage points to 22.2% from 15.4% in 2000.

On the other hand 8% of Brazilians reported being atheist in 2010.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to travel to Brazil in July 2013 for a youth festival.
 

7 comments Feed

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1 GeoffWard2 (#) Jul 02nd, 2012 - 10:39 am Report abuse
It's my observation that the Evangelical church leaders request an even larger proportion of the earnings of the poor than the Catholics themselves.
Such is the entry price to heaven.
2 Forgetit86 (#) Jul 02nd, 2012 - 01:42 pm Report abuse
Bad news. Evangelical churches behave like a cult, trying to overtake every aspect of adhernts lives, including how they vote, what they read and kind of music they listen to. Uneducated guttersnipes, those evangelicals.
3 Drew Puli Wolf (#) Jul 02nd, 2012 - 06:01 pm Report abuse
I agree with both GeoffWard2 and Forgeti86 comments about the Evangelical Churches – it’s more about the money then Jesus, but in a country with a fertility rate less than 2 children per woman and a Woman President, the Catholic Church’s misogynistic views towards woman and birth control only aid in its decline. I think this Pope would rather have a much smaller ‘Pure’ church, than one that reflects the modern world.
4 LEPRecon (#) Jul 02nd, 2012 - 09:34 pm Report abuse
@3 - DPW

And all the kiddie fiddling in their ranks that the Church has been covering up for years hasn't helped either.
5 Fbear (#) Jul 02nd, 2012 - 11:58 pm Report abuse
Yes, I see a huge number of religious “outlets” in my area of the country, especially Jesu Cristo e O Senhor” (in huge letters), But I have seen nary a storehouse or any other type of social service centers. The evangelicals give little, the evangelicals taketh away. At least the Mormons in the area haved employment centers and social services, free for use by anyone, adherent or not.

By the way, TO THE HEADLINE WRITERS: Please get your English vocabulary right. The Catholica re not “loosing ground, but rather ”losing” ground. Loose and lose are different wordss with different meanings.
6 Ozgood (#) Jul 03rd, 2012 - 02:23 pm Report abuse
Is it surprising? I doubt it.

The evangelists have more to offer than preparation for the next world.

People need more than to be told that everyone is entitled to a seat at the table in the banquet of life. There is NOT enough food on the table
7 GeoffWard2 (#) Jul 03rd, 2012 - 04:03 pm Report abuse
[ Forgetit,
are you ok, old man?
I worry about my old mates when they lash out so uncharacteristically and on so many topics.
Geoff. ]

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