The dynamics of religious affiliations in Brazil between 2000 and 2010: diversification and changing process of hegemony

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of religious affilia­tions in Brazil between 2000 and 2010, focusing on four major religious groups: Roman Catholics, evangelicals, without religion, and all others. The number of Catholics adherents, which was already falling in relative terms, declined in absolute numbers for the first time in the last decade. People who declared to be evangelicals maintained the growth trend, both in absolute and relative terms. The number of people without religion continued to increase, representing the third biggest group in our analysis. The group of other religions, even small in aggregate, also increased. Brazil has been undergoing a process of religious diver­sification and a regional and demographic analysis of the population, according to the religious options, help understanding the ongoing process of change in the hegemony of Catholics and the greater plurality in the composition of religious affiliation in Brazil.