The Spring 2021 issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism analyzes the changing character of Catholicism in Brazil, home to the largest population of Catholics in the world. The issue emerges from meetings and conversation between Managing Editor Marc Loustau and lead author and curator Carlos Steil in São Paulo in late 2019. Through a pandemic that caused global suffering and disrupted and dislocated research projects, we are grateful for the team of international authors who committed themselves to writing, translating, and revising their research to prepare this issue of the Journal under challenging conditions.
In the issue, Steil and co-author Rodrigo Toniol draw on census data to describe a shrinking Catholic population that appears in contrast to the Catholic Church's ecclesiastical growth. The authors attribute the phenomenon to a cultural change driving more Brazilians to evangelicalism. Other articles explore more deeply Catholic faith practices that draw believers today: evangelization, environmentalization, and mega-events.
In This Issue
- Marc Roscoe Loustau, "Editor's Introduction"
- Carlos Alberto Steil and Rodrigo Toniol, "Strong Church, Weak Catholicism: Transformations in Brazilian Catholicism"
- Juliano F. Almeida, "Contemporary Brazilian Catholicism and Healing Practices: Notes on Environmentalism and Medicalization"
- Cecilia L. Mariz, Wânia Amélia Belchior Mesquita, and Michelle Piraciaba Araújo, "Young Brazilian Catholics Reaffiliating: A Case Study in the City of Campos, RJ, Brazil"
- José Rogério Lopes and André Luiz da Silva, "Religious Mega-Events and Their Assemblages in Devotional Pilgrimages: The Case of Círio de Nazaré in Belém, Pará State, Brazil"