Roman Catholicism In Brazil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roman Catholicism In Brazil - Essay Example the impact of the next aspect of the Brazilian religious marketplace to be considered: the Catholic church’s declining power and influence relative to other traditions. (p. 245) The erosion of Roman Catholicism’s longstanding dominant status in Brazil’s religious marketplace over recent decades is most evident in the dwindling of the Catholic rank and file. For instance, census data showed that from the 1970s up to the present, the Catholics’ share of the population was dipping in contrast to the steady rise of the Protestant percentage. The most reliable estimates place the Catholic population in the country to have dropped to a staggering 75%. (Smith and Prokopy, p. 246) This decrease seem to reflect that which some called as a veritable internal diaspora in which Catholics by the thousands have switched their primary allegiance to evangelical Protestantism, Pentecostalism, Umbanda, Afro-Brazilian traditions of Kardecism. Also, this has encouraged what came to be known as privatized type of Catholicism, wherein the faithful, instead of strictly adhering to church teachings, continued to have only irregular contact with the priests bec ause of their shortage. There are some critics who view this sea of change in the Brazilian religious economy was the Catholic hierarchy’s shift to a more tolerant stance regarding religious pluralism. One should remember that that during the preconciliar period, Afro-Brazilian traditions and Umbanda were systematically denounced by the press, often at the instigation of the Catholic hierarchy. Whether there are some valid issues in regard to the exodus of some Catholics towards other denominations or not, the fact remains that Brazilians have a deep sense of religiosity. In this regard, we go back to how popular Catholic traditions are hardly episodic, fortunately they are also not routinized. (Reily 2002, p. 213) Furthermore, while popular Catholicism stands in opposition to the centralized official church, it is