Panel: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON (IN)EQUALITIES: RACE, NATION, AND SECULARISM



912.3 - DECHURCHED EVANGELICALS AND NEW MODES OF RELIGIOUS LIFE: A BRAZILIAN FORM OF SECULARIZATION?

AUTHORS:
De Vasconcelos H.M. (Pontificia Università San Tommaso d'Aquino—Angelicum ~ Rome ~ Italy)
Text:
The term secularization usually brings to mind Western Northern countries, especially in Europe. When the topic is Latin America, people tend to think of Uruguay rather than Brazil. After all, Brazil is predominantly Christian, still mostly Catholic. It is well-known, however, that the Catholic tradition is declining while the Evangelical(s) tradition(s) is growing there; demographers claim Evangelicals will become Brazil's largest religious group in the coming decades. Whether or not this happens, a watchful eye will notice the growth of other movements: people with no religion who nevertheless hold beliefs, and Dechurched Evangelicals. Without going into the question of the intersection between these two groups—for instance, the extent to which they identify with one another—, the aim of this paper is to ponder to what extent the Dechurched Evangelicals' way of life constitutes a Brazilian form of secularization—perhaps closer to what has been called neosecularization—in which believers, not finding in their churches a way to live out the Christian faith, choose to leave their religious institutions and live their lives, including their faith, in a secular lifestyle. Perhaps here we can identify a secularization à la brasileira.