Themes

Religion in favelas

Religious life in Brazilian favelas spans the Catholic Church's long pastoral presence, Pentecostal Evangelical churches whose share of the population has grown rapidly since the 1990s, and the Afro-Brazilian traditions of Umbanda and Candomblé.

Brazilian favelas have been historically Catholic-majority communities with strong Afro-Brazilian religious traditions and a Protestant minority. Since the 1980s and accelerating from the 1990s, the religious composition has shifted substantially toward Pentecostal Evangelical churches. By the 2010 census, several large favelas had Evangelical pluralities or majorities; the 2022 census release will document the continued shift.

The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church's institutional presence in favelas was reorganized in the 1960s and 1970s under the influence of Latin American liberation theology. The Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil (CNBB) supported pastoral commissions that worked directly in favelas; the Comissão Pastoral da Terra and the Pastoral de Favelas became significant institutional channels. Bishops including Hélder Câmara in Recife, Paulo Evaristo Arns in São Paulo, and Antônio Batista Fragoso in northeastern Ceará were central figures in this period.

The Catholic presence in favelas today combines parish-based pastoral work, the Pastoral de Favelas in major dioceses, and lay-led ecclesial-base-community (CEB) initiatives. Through the 2000s and 2010s the Church's relative weight has declined as Evangelical churches have grown.

Pentecostal Evangelical churches

Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal Evangelical churches have grown rapidly in favelas since the 1980s. The Assembleia de Deus, the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, the Igreja Mundial do Poder de Deus, and a substantial number of smaller independent churches operate across Brazilian favelas. The pattern of growth reflects both national trends (Evangelical Brazilians as a share of population have grown from a small minority in 1980 to roughly a third in the 2020s) and specific local dynamics.

The growth has been the subject of substantial sociological research. Scholars including Ricardo Mariano, Patrícia Birman, and Christina Vital da Cunha have documented the social, economic, and political dimensions of the shift. The relationship between Evangelical churches and non-state armed actors in particular favelas has been a recurring research subject, with documented cases of armed groups requiring or favoring particular religious affiliations.

Afro-Brazilian traditions

Umbanda and Candomblé have substantial historical roots in Brazilian favelas, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and other Northeastern and Southeastern cities. Terreiros (Afro-Brazilian religious houses) have operated in many favelas over generations, and Afro-Brazilian religious leaders have been recognized community figures.

From the 2000s, documented cases of intolerância religiosa — religious intolerance, sometimes including violent attacks on terreiros — have emerged in particular favelas, in some cases attributed to armed actors with Evangelical affiliation. The Brazilian federal Ministério dos Direitos Humanos and state-level human-rights offices have tracked these cases, which remain a subject of legal and political debate.

What the data say

The IBGE census provides religious-affiliation data, including for aglomerados subnormais. The 2010 round documented Evangelical pluralities or majorities in several large favelas; the 2022 round will provide updated figures. Quality of these data varies because of complex self-identification and because of under-reporting of Afro-Brazilian affiliations.

What is contested

Two questions persist. The first is the appropriate analytical framing of Evangelical growth — whether it represents primarily religious conviction, social organization, economic logic, or a combination — and what it implies for the broader public-life of favelas. The second is the response to documented religious-intolerance incidents against Afro-Brazilian traditions, where legal and political mechanisms have not yet produced consistent protection.