Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil's Religious Arena

by John Burdick

For a generation, the Catholic Church in Brazil has enjoyed international renown as one of the most progressive social forces in Latin America. The Church's creation of Christian Base Communities (CEBs), groups of Catholics who learn to read the Bible as a call for social justice, has been widely hailed. Still, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that the CEBs are lagging far behind the explosive growth of Brazil's two other major national religious movements―Pentacostalism and Afro-Brazilian Umbanda .

On the basis of his extensive fieldwork in Rio di Janeiro, including detailed life histories of women, blacks, youths, and the marginal poor, John Burdick offers the first in-depth explanation of why the radical Catholic Church is losing, and Pentecostalism and Umbanda winning, the battle for souls in urban Brazil.

Genres: Religion, Brazil

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Garret Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important book that examines the religious arena of a suburb of Rio, specifically between three religions: Catholicism (the Christian Base Communities of liberation theology thread of Catholicism, Assembly of God Pentecostals, and Umbanda. Wonderful, ethnographic work on why CEBs have not had the success people initially thought, and why people are more attracted to Pentecostalism and Umbanda more that Catholic Liberation Theology.