Brazil

Brazil, the largest country in South America and the only one in which Portuguese is the main language, is host to a variety of religions. To understand this religious diversity, it is necessary to take into account the meeting of many different cultures since colonial times. First there was the encounter of Catholicism, the dominant religion brought by the Portuguese, with the religions of the Amerindians. Then came the African element, and contacts with the African religions later produced the Afro-Brazilian religions. Some Jews and Protestants were also part of this initial scenario. Since the end of the 19th century, Kardecist Spiritism is part of this broad spectrum of religions. More recently, Protestantism had a considerable impact. The numbers of people who declare not to ...