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Catholic Church in Brazil
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Catholic Church in Brazil
The Brazilian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Brazil, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome, and the influential National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Portuguese: Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil - CNBB). It is composed of over 400 primary and auxiliary bishops and archbishops. There are 44 ecclesiastical provinces, which have 275 dioceses, eparchies, ordinariates, and territorial prelatures in Brazil. The primate of Brazil is Dom Sérgio da Rocha.
The Catholic Church is the largest denomination in the country, where 119 million people, or 56.75% of the Brazilian population, were self-declared Catholics in 2022. These figures made Brazil the single country with the largest Catholic community in the world.
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 81% of Brazil's population was raised Catholic, but only 61% identified as Catholic in that year, a difference of 20 percentage points. One of the challenges faced by the Catholic Church in Brazil is the loss of adherents to Protestant churches and to irreligion. The 2022 Brazilian census found that 56.7% of Brazilians identified as Catholic, a decrease of 8.4 percentage points from 2010, when 65.1% of the population aged 10 and older identified as Catholic. During the same period, Protestants increased from 21.6% to 26.9%. In 1991, 83.34% of Brazilians identified as Catholics. In a Datafolha survey conducted at the end of 2024, approximately 50% of the surveyed population identified as Catholic, while 25% identified as Protestant.
According to the Pontifical Yearbook of the Holy See, in 2025, the number of members of the Brazilian Catholic Church is disputed compared to official government records, purporting a rebound of the population. The Brazilian Catholic Church reported having 182 million faithful, out of an estimated population of 212 million inhabitants, or 86% of the population. However, these Vatican statistics are not generally recognized, as they were not documented in the previous national census of 2022. Although they are self-reported data, the statistics of other Brazilian Christian denominations after the 2022 census have neither been challenged nor considered invalid, as is the case with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil or the Assemblies of God in Brazil, for example.
According to the tradition, the first Catholic mass celebrated in Brazil took place on 26 April 1500. It was celebrated by a priest who arrived in the country along with the Portuguese pirates and explorers to claim possession of the newfound land. The first diocese in Brazil was erected more than 50 years later, in 1551.
Brazil's strong Catholic heritage can be traced to the Iberian missionary zeal, with the 15th-century goal of spreading Christianity. The church missions began to hamper the government policy of exploiting the natives. In 1782 the Jesuits were suppressed, and the government tightened its control over the church.
Catholicism was the predominant faith during colonial rule, then in 1824 became the official religion of an independent Brazil which also guaranteed freedom of religion for its citizens. The Brazilian government has been secular since the constitution of 1891 and the church has remained politically influential. In the late 19th century, the Catholic population of Iberian origin was reinforced by a large number of Italian Catholics who immigrated to Brazil, as well as some Polish and German Catholic immigrants. In 1889 Brazil became a republic and approved a constitution separating the church from the state, a trend followed by all of the country's seven republican constitutions. Prior to that, during the Empire of Brazil, Catholicism was the official religion of the country. In practice, separation of church and state in the country is weak as government officials generally avoid taking actions that may offend the church which represents a large majority of citizens.
A recent example of the church's influence over political questions was the change conducted by the federal government in the Third National Program of Human Rights in regard to its proposal to legalize abortion, after pressure from the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops. That particular change, along with others, was denounced by the Amnesty International. Nevertheless, the government kept issues contrary to church teaching in the program, such as its support for same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption.
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Catholic Church in Brazil
The Brazilian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Brazil, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome, and the influential National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Portuguese: Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil - CNBB). It is composed of over 400 primary and auxiliary bishops and archbishops. There are 44 ecclesiastical provinces, which have 275 dioceses, eparchies, ordinariates, and territorial prelatures in Brazil. The primate of Brazil is Dom Sérgio da Rocha.
The Catholic Church is the largest denomination in the country, where 119 million people, or 56.75% of the Brazilian population, were self-declared Catholics in 2022. These figures made Brazil the single country with the largest Catholic community in the world.
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 81% of Brazil's population was raised Catholic, but only 61% identified as Catholic in that year, a difference of 20 percentage points. One of the challenges faced by the Catholic Church in Brazil is the loss of adherents to Protestant churches and to irreligion. The 2022 Brazilian census found that 56.7% of Brazilians identified as Catholic, a decrease of 8.4 percentage points from 2010, when 65.1% of the population aged 10 and older identified as Catholic. During the same period, Protestants increased from 21.6% to 26.9%. In 1991, 83.34% of Brazilians identified as Catholics. In a Datafolha survey conducted at the end of 2024, approximately 50% of the surveyed population identified as Catholic, while 25% identified as Protestant.
According to the Pontifical Yearbook of the Holy See, in 2025, the number of members of the Brazilian Catholic Church is disputed compared to official government records, purporting a rebound of the population. The Brazilian Catholic Church reported having 182 million faithful, out of an estimated population of 212 million inhabitants, or 86% of the population. However, these Vatican statistics are not generally recognized, as they were not documented in the previous national census of 2022. Although they are self-reported data, the statistics of other Brazilian Christian denominations after the 2022 census have neither been challenged nor considered invalid, as is the case with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil or the Assemblies of God in Brazil, for example.
According to the tradition, the first Catholic mass celebrated in Brazil took place on 26 April 1500. It was celebrated by a priest who arrived in the country along with the Portuguese pirates and explorers to claim possession of the newfound land. The first diocese in Brazil was erected more than 50 years later, in 1551.
Brazil's strong Catholic heritage can be traced to the Iberian missionary zeal, with the 15th-century goal of spreading Christianity. The church missions began to hamper the government policy of exploiting the natives. In 1782 the Jesuits were suppressed, and the government tightened its control over the church.
Catholicism was the predominant faith during colonial rule, then in 1824 became the official religion of an independent Brazil which also guaranteed freedom of religion for its citizens. The Brazilian government has been secular since the constitution of 1891 and the church has remained politically influential. In the late 19th century, the Catholic population of Iberian origin was reinforced by a large number of Italian Catholics who immigrated to Brazil, as well as some Polish and German Catholic immigrants. In 1889 Brazil became a republic and approved a constitution separating the church from the state, a trend followed by all of the country's seven republican constitutions. Prior to that, during the Empire of Brazil, Catholicism was the official religion of the country. In practice, separation of church and state in the country is weak as government officials generally avoid taking actions that may offend the church which represents a large majority of citizens.
A recent example of the church's influence over political questions was the change conducted by the federal government in the Third National Program of Human Rights in regard to its proposal to legalize abortion, after pressure from the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops. That particular change, along with others, was denounced by the Amnesty International. Nevertheless, the government kept issues contrary to church teaching in the program, such as its support for same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption.
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