Catedral Presbiteriana do Rio de Janeiro 01

Protestantism in Brazil began in the 19th century and grew in the 20th century. The 2022 census reported that 26.8% of the Brazilian population was Protestant, over 47 million individuals, making it the second largest Protestant population in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. Another 2020 study from the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

estimated that Brazil's Protestant population was 15.12%. Brazilian Protestantism is primarily represented by

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

churches, and a smaller proportion of

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. The remainder is made up of

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

, Adventists,

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

and other mainline Protestant traditions.

History

Origins

Protestantism was first practiced in Brazil by

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

travelers attempting to colonize the country while it was under the Portuguese colonial rule. These attempts, however, would not persist. A French mission sent by

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

was established in 1557 on one of the islands of

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay (, , ) is an oceanic bay in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro (city), Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, a ...

, where the

France Antarctique France Antarctique (formerly also spelled ''France antartique'') was a French colony in Rio de Janeiro, in modern-day Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio. The colony quickl ...

colony was founded. On March 10 of the same year, these

Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

held the first Protestant service in Brazil and, according to some accounts, the first in all the New World. Varieties of Protestantism were often introduced by immigrants from Europe but over the last three decades, the number of Neo-Pentecostal churches such as the

Universal Church of the Kingdom of God The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG; ; , IURD) is an international Evangelical Neo-charismatic movement, Neo-charismatic Christian denomination with its headquarters at the Temple of Solomon (UCKG), Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, B ...

has grown significantly.

1820s to 1945

In the 19th century, while the vast majority of

Brazilians Brazilians (, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian nationality law, Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, ...

were nominal Catholics, the nation was underserved by

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

s, and for large numbers of people religion did not play an important role in daily life. Protestantism in Brazil largely originated with European immigrants as well as

British American British Americans usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and also the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Gibraltar). It is prima ...

missionaries following up on efforts that began in the 1820s. The first

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

began to offer services to English-speaking people in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 1822. In the same city, the Prussian consul sponsored the founding of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and French Reformed congregation in 1827, which today is a Lutheran church. Among

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

, Methodists were most active, along with

and

. The Seventh-day Adventists began in 1894, and the YMCA was organized in 1896. The missionaries promoted schools, colleges and seminaries, including the liberal arts

Mackenzie Presbyterian University Mackenzie Presbyterian University (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie'') is a private university in São Paulo, Brazil. The Mackenzie Presbyterian University is an institution of higher learning that has a st ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, and an agricultural school. The Presbyterian schools in particular later became the nucleus of the governmental system. In 1887 Protestants in Rio de Janeiro formed a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

. The missionaries largely reached a working-class audience, as the Brazilian upper class was wedded either to Catholicism or to secularism. By 1914,

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

es founded by U.S. missionaries had 47,000 communicants, served by 282 missionaries. In general, these missionaries were more successful than they had been in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

or elsewhere in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. The first

Seventh Day Baptists Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a theology common to Baptists, profess the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, perform the conscious b ...

soon appeared in Brazil. They expanded in territory and Brazil became home to one of the world's highest Seventh Day Baptist populations. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was disestablished in 1890, and responded by increasing the number of dioceses and the efficiency of its clergy. Many Protestants came from a large German immigrant community and they were mostly Lutheran, but they were seldom engaged in proselytizing and grew by natural increase. Most Protestants came from missionary activities sponsored by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. By 1930, there were 700,000 Protestants, and increasingly they were in charge of their own affairs. In 1930, the Methodist Church of Brazil became independent of the missionary societies and elected its own

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. Protestants were largely working-class, but their networks helped accelerate their upward social mobility.

Since 1945

Protestantism, which has resisted syncretism more than other

Christian church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

es have in the diverse country, established a significant presence in Brazil during the first half of the 20th century and grew during the second half. Protestants accounted for fewer than 5% of the population until the 1960s, but by 2000 made up over 15% of those affiliated with a church. Pentecostals and

Charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

groups account for most of this expansion. This expansion has historically been attributed to the efforts of American missionaries, entrepreneurs and politicians (including the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

) with expanding evangelical theology in South America as a counter to

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and other movements including Latin American Catholicism's growing liberation theology. After centuries of persecution under Portuguese colonial rule, which was successful in consolidating Catholicism in the country, Protestant denominations have seen a rapid growth in their number of followers since the last decades of the 20th century. Until the late 1970s, the majority of Brazilian Protestants were Lutherans, Presbyterians, or Baptists; however, the Pentecostals, especially from neo-charismatic churches linked to the prosperity doctrine, have grown significantly in number since then. Through the 20th century efforts of the

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabba ...

, Brazilians developed a Seventh-day Adventist educational system with over 475 elementary schools, 67 secondary schools, two colleges and a university. The rich and the poor remained traditional Catholics, while most Evangelical Protestants were in the new lower-middle class, known as the "C class" (in a A–E classification system). A 2015 survey in Brazil found that the majority of prisoners may be Evangelicals. At the time of the 2000 census, due to evangelism and missionary work, 15.4% of the Brazilian population began to identify as Protestant. Research conducted by the Datafolha institute showed that an estimated 31% of Brazilians became Protestants as of 2020. The 2010 census found that 22.2% were Protestant, while a 2020 survey from ARDA estimated a 15.12% Protestant population, down from Datafolha's studies. With the growth of Evangelicalism and Pentecostal churches across Brazil, however, as of 2023, there has been an increase in religious intolerance toward non-Protestants;

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

religious leaders and institutions have been targeted and destroyed, sparking numerous interfaith protests. An Afro-Brazilian priestess was also murdered. As of 2024, Evangelicals were labeled as the most intolerant of religious groups in Brazil.

Politics

Evangelical Protestantism has, since its introduction to Latin America by American missionaries, been deeply involved in Brazilian and international politics; their influence has even been implicated in the attempted 2022 Brazilian coup, where 70% of evangelical Protestants voted for President

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

2018 Brazilian general election General elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress of Brazil, National Congress and Governor (Brazil), state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election (and for the gubernatorial electi ...

. In the Brazilian National Congress, there is the Evangelical Caucus, a loosely organized group of Protestant,

, and

lawmakers in the Brazilian government and legislature. If considered a political party, the Evangelical Caucus would be the third largest in the Brazilian government, surpassed only by the

Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement (, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, with the most numbers of senators, ...

and the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

. As of 2025, Evangelicals, like some Catholics, have begun reconsidering religion as important political factors.

Demography

According to 2010

IBGE The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil. IBGE performs a decennial national cen ...

census, the following were the biggest Protestant denominations in Brazil. Only those with more than half a million members are listed. *

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...

: 25,370,484 :

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

(Assembléias de Deus): 12,314,410 (6.5%) (Classic Swedish-Brazilian Pentecostal denomination.) : General Convention of the Assemblies of God (affiliated with the US

, Springfield, MO): 3.6 million. : National Convention of the Assemblies of God (also known as the Madureira Ministry of the Assemblies of God): 2.5 million. : Other independent Assemblies of God: 1.9 million :

Christian Congregation in Brazil The Christian Congregation in Brazil () was founded in Brazil by the Italian-American missionary Luigi Francescon (1866–1964), as part of the larger Christian Congregation (Pentecostal), Christian Congregation movement. History Louis Frances ...

(Italian-Brazilian Pentecostals): 2,289,634 (1.3%) : O Brasil para Cristo(Brazil for Christ): 2,196,665 : Foursquare Gospel Church ''Igreja do Evangelho Quadrangular'' (Classic Pentecostals in US, but second-wave Pentecostals in Brazil): 1,808,389 (0.8%) *

: 3,723,691 (1.9%) : Brazilian Baptist Convention (stemming from the US Southern Baptists and BWA body member): 1.4 million adherents : National Baptist Convention (Charismatics Baptists and BWA body member): 1 million. : Independent Baptist Convention (Scandinavian Baptists): 400,000. : Brazilian Seventh Day Baptist Conference: 4,953 : Other Baptists: 300,000 * Adventists: 1.8 million (1.0%) :

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

: 1.6 million : Promise Adventist Church (Brazilian Pentecostal Adventists): 150,000 :

Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a Protestant Christian denomination in the Sabbatarian Adventist movement that formed from a schism in the European Seventh-day Adventist Church during World War I over the position its European church ...

: 50,000 : Other Adventists: 100,000 * Lutherans: 1 million (0.6%) : Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil: 634,286 : Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil: 243,093 : Other Lutherans *

Reformed churches Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian ...

: 2.5 million : Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 1,011,300 : Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 85,000 : Renewed Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 131,000 : Conservative Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 6,000 : Fundamentalist Presbyterian Church in Brazil: 1,800 : United Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 3,466 : Evangelical Reformed Church in Brazil: 2,500 : Reformed Churches in Brazil : Hungarian Reformed Church : Protestant Church of Brazil : Swiss Evangelical Church : Arab Evangelical Church : Evangelical Congregational Church in Brazil: 50,000 : United Congregational Churches in Brazil: 50,000 : Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil. : Comunhão Reformada Battista no Brasil – reformed baptists in Brazil * Methodists: 340,963 (0.201%) : Methodist Church of Brazil (affiliated to US

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

): 200,000 : Wesleyan Methodist Church (Brazilian

Methodists): 100,000 : Other Methodists: 40,000

References

External links

*
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Protestants making inroads in Brazil, world's most populous Catholic country
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Brazilians embrace Protestant faiths
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Pragmatic Protestants Winning Converts in Brazil
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Protestantism In Brazil Demographics of Brazil