Latin America - Essay Example

of the of the of the Latin America The Roman Catholic culture and heritage are deep-rooted in Brazil from centuries. This heritage can be attributed to the Iberian Missionary zeal of the fifteenth century. These Iberian missionaries strived hard to spread Christianity in the nation by attracting the infidels. The North and South American continents were considered to be the New World. The Christian missionaries had taken the opportunity to promote Christianity in this New World among the native Amerindians and African slaves (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). The earlier missions promoted conversions in the continents, and later on subjected the populace to the horrors of the Inquisition. Roman Catholicism was well established in the colonies, and in the nineteenth century, a large number of Italian Catholics immigrated to Brazil. This immigration had fortified the place of Roman Catholicism among the local populace. The subsequent immigration of Polish Catholics and German Catholics, further entrenched Roman Catholicism in Brazil (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). In the republican administration, religion was not given much importance in the administration. As such no state is based on religion. Despite this theoretical perception, there was no strong separation of the church and the state. No government official would intervene in the activities of the church or attempt to offend the church. As such, government officials were chary of initiating any sort of action against the church in general. In Brazil, there is a mixture of different forms of beliefs, which is termed as Syncretism (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). Brazil is rife with syncretism, due to the merging of Roman Catholic beliefs with a number of Afro – Brazilian religious groups. This practice was the consequence of religious persecution and similarities in different religions. Umbanda or candomblé are the most popular and accepted examples of this phenomenon. Umbanda ranges from macumba, which is a form of necromancy to Kardecian spiritualism (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). In Brazil, 5% of the population comprises of Kardecian spiritists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews and Mormons. A substantial 15% of the population do not subscribe to any particular religious belief. The recent decades have seen the unbridled growth of the Protestant religion. The evangelical component of the population increased to 6.6% in 1980 from 3.7% over a period of 20 years. Their numbers increased to 28.2 million or 19.2% of the population, according to the 1991 census (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). It has been contended that many Brazilians are atheists, who believe in self – gratification. Consequently, crime and poverty have increased in Brazil. The Catholic Church has been ineffective in its religious propaganda and activities in Brazil, and its reputation has diminished due to some of its priests being pedophilic. In order, to regain its lost glory the Catholic Church is conducting public relations campaigns, instead of promoting the spirit and necessity of religion (GTY). Furthermore, the church ignores the importance of membership of believers. This widens the gap between Brazil and the other Latin American nations. The Catholic Church of Brazil failed to maintain the balance in the region. Moreover, the number of pedophile cases against the Church is increasing and the courts are awarding huge amounts as compensation. Consequently, the Catholic Church has become impoverished and is nearing bankruptcy (GTY). The reduction in the number of Roman Catholics in Brazil is to the rival forces of other faiths in Latin America. The Vatican is losing ground in the region, which is dominated by poverty, economic turmoil and frequent violence. Victims of these vicissitudes have lost faith in Catholicism, which is an inflexible religion. Some theologians claim that the urbanization of these areas has influenced people to forsake Catholicism, with its rigid dogmas (Prada). The Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro submitted a report in the year 2003 with regard to the current developments in the Catholic Church. According to that report, there are one hundred and twenty – five million Catholics in Brazil. There has been a decline in the percentage of Catholics in the total population, from 92% in 1970 to 73% in 2005. Many of these Catholics do not attend Church regularly. Thus, the church has to prevent this depletion. This decline in churchgoing is due to the invasions of the evangelical Protestants. The latter comprise sixteen percent of the total population (Prada). The major reasons for this decline have been the loss of interest in Catholicism and the migration of people. For instance, most of the rural people in Brazil have migrated to urban areas, like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The local parish in the major cities is unable to make these migrants attend church or accept church membership. In addition, people are in favor of homosexuality, birth control, biotechnology and the participation of women in the rites of the Church, which have been proscribed by the Catholic Church (Prada). Almost, 50% of the Brazilian evangelicals follow the Assembly of God. In addition, there are evangelical variants like the Christian Congregation, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Quadrangular Evangelicals and Brazil for Christ. These religious denominations stress fraternity and ceremonies that require the participants to chant and sing religious pieces (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). Amongst these, the fundamentalists have gained considerable members and they enjoin upon their members narrow dress regulations and the eschewing of vices like drinking, gambling and smoking. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, these religious groups have rapid growth, and they frequently, separate in order to form new groups (Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism). In the late eighteenth century, France emerged as the strongest proponent of liberalism and democracy. These ideas spread to Latin America, and their effect was to assist in the task of disassociating religion from politics. The outcome of these developments was strife between the conservatives and the liberals. The former ardently believed that they duty bound to support the church and its political actions, in exchange for its patronage. However, the liberals were out to destroy the strangle hold of the church on society. The church was bestowed with land, it enjoyed special legal rights; it controlled education, marriage and citizen registrations (Sigmund). All this changed due to the efforts of the liberals, and areas like cemeteries, marriage, education and registration of citizens were rightfully brought under the control of the government. The church opposed these moves tooth and nail, which resulted in serious skirmishes and wars, in some countries like Mexico and Guatemala. The 1917 Mexican Revolution involved such anti – church moves, which had arisen due to the reforms initiated by Simon Bolivar and Benito Juarez. (Sigmund) However, by the 20th century, the schism between the anti – clerical liberalists and the conservative supporters of Catholicism became a thing of the past. A strong Christian Democratic movement came to the fore, which usurped power in some Latin American countries, like Costa Rica, Chile and Venezuela. This new movement, attempts to promote religious freedom, human rights and democracy along with Christianity (Sigmund). The Catholic Church in Latin America is losing followers. Such depletion of members could ultimately lead to the eradication of Catholicism in Latin America. At present, Latin America houses almost fifty percent of the total Catholics in the world. However, recent studies reveal that their numbers are gradually decreasing. As such, Brazil, with one hundred million Catholics, has the largest Catholic population in the world. Several studies have shown that on an annual average, a half million Catholics change their religion. Another nation with similar statistics is Mexico, which has the second largest number of Catholics, at 88% of its 102 million strong population (Cevallos). Works Cited Brazil Religion Roman Catholicism. 12 October 2008 . Cevallos, Diego. RELIGION-LATIN AMERICA: Catholic Church Losing Followers in Droves. 13 October 2008 . GTY. Too late....at least for Brazil. 14 May 2007. 13 October 2008 . Prada, Paulo. Catholicism challenged in Brazil. 08 April 2005. 13 October 2008 . Sigmund, Paul. Latin America From A Catholic Perspective. October 1998. 12 October 2008 . Read More