Posted on 05/03/2007 12:50:55 PM PDT by siunevada
CARAPICUIBA, Brazil (Reuters) - For years, Ronaldo da Silva's daily routine consisted of drinking himself into a stupor until he passed out on a sidewalk.
Now he spends his days praying and singing with hundreds of fellow Christians at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Carapicuiba, a sprawling shantytown on the outskirts of Sao Paulo where Pentecostal congregations are found on just about every block.
"I'd probably be dead or in jail if it weren't for this church," said da Silva, a 38-year-old former Catholic who claims God cured him of epilepsy and helped him straighten out his life when he converted to Pentecostalism a decade ago.
Conversions like da Silva's are increasingly common all over Brazil, where a boom in evangelical Protestantism is steadily chipping away at the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church.
The trend, which is playing out all across Latin America, poses a major challenge for Pope Benedict, who arrives in Brazil on May 9 for a five-day visit largely aimed at blunting the decline of Catholicism in this continent-sized nation.
Although Brazil still has more Catholics than any other country in the world, with about 125 million, the percentage of believers that practice the Vatican's brand of Christianity has been dropping rapidly in the last three decades.
When the late Pope John Paul II visited Brazil in 1980, 89 percent of Brazilians identified themselves as Catholic. By 2000, when the last census was taken, the share of Catholics in the population had fallen to 74 percent.
The number of evangelical Protestants nearly tripled in the same period to 26 million, or about 15 percent of the population.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
were i to apply it to you alone that might be a retort,
however it’s crystal clear when looks at protestantism in general the great reason protestants ‘quote’ [what they call]scripture so much is their intention to change its meaning.
how does that go about a lie repeated often enough?
Oh, puleeese. Eucharist is a weekly part of my life, outside the Catholic Church
But is it considered the body of Christ? I don’t believe so. We have specially blessed holy wafers. Doesn’t other religions just use bread?
I know a lot of Protestants who don’t take seriously the Lord’s day by going to Mass. Catholics are the ONLY religion where it is a sin to miss Mass and that is a shame. Many protestants just go and have fun and this thing called fellowship.
Actually, because of demographics, it’s VERY difficult to turn around declining church memberships; usually long after attendance rates rebound, because non-attendees often habitually renew their membership.
Looks like the pentecostalists and restorationists who make up most of the “protestant” denominations have been simply picking the low-hanging fruit of unevangelized, nominal Christians, specializing in class warfare, get-rich-quick schemes (”manna evangelists”), fraudulent miracles, maipulating social isolation.
One whack job on Puerto Rico, with about a million followers, is openly declaring himself the anti-Christ!
And since 2000, it has fallen to... 74 percent.
Still pretty healthy if you ask me. Who wants to be crowded up in Heaven anyway. If you ask me that is 15 percent less people who will be taking my space in Heaven. I hope the Earth’s Catholics get down to 50 percent extremely good people so only 50 percent of the people get to Heaven and I will have a nice open space for myself and those in my family who are Catholic. Thank God immediate family is, but unfortunately my Grandmother on my mothers side was Baptist so she did not get in. OK most of it was satire but this subject always gets the blood boiling with everyone and I wanted to make some light humor for all. Hope I succeeded. lol.
>> Perhaps if so many in the Church hierarchy down there would have spent the last few decades promoting Catholic orthodoxy and moral law instead of socialist politics (”liberation theology”), they wouldn’t have this problem. <<
True, but I’d also simply blame the lack of evangelization that had occured down there before JP2; some diocese had but a single priest per 25,000 or more nominal “Catholics.” JP2 has successfully cracked down on liberation theology, unlike most ecclesial denominations, and helped boost vocations.
Having lived and worked with an interdenominational mission in Brazil during the late 80’s, I am very happy to read this. Many so-called devout Catholics in Brazil were, as I recall, in reality enthusiastic practitioners of the various voodoo-like sects such as Macumba and Candomblé; probably quite a few nominal Pentecostals and other Protestants as well.
LOL .. Reread that sentence.. Are you saying that you don't believe the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to turn "just" bread into the body of Christ.... oh, but he can do it with you "specially blessed holy wafers".. I'm sure Jesus used "holy wafers" ..
I'm sorry for the sarcasm .. that is soooooo bizarre to me. WHO makes the bread the body of Christ?? It's the Holy Spirit. Not whomever blessed your special wafers.
And, NO, not all other churches use "just bread". And we aren't a different RELIGION.. if you are Christian.
They apparently realized Mary ain't their Mother...
Jesus will forgive sins only thru an ordained Catholic priest???
Why WOULD a Protestant go to Mass?? Catholics are the ONLY religion where it is a sin to miss Mass and that is a shame.
It's not a sin, honey, it's just against the Catholic rules.. so they CALL it a sin. Many protestants just go and have fun and this thing called fellowship.
1 John 1:3 ..and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship, with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
(pssssssssst .. it's biblical)
Geeeeez .. sorry about my HTML above .. and I accidently checked the “do not preview” box .. LOL
Oh .. nevermind... I can't think of anything to say that wouldn't be a total sarcasm .. **shaking head**
It would appear they believe that, huh?
Perhaps they finally realize their first love, savior, redeemer, and Lord ..... is her SON.
No need to know your doctrine since it seems to vary from Catholic to Catholic...
I did however quote from another's post and I responded...Has nothing to do with whetehr I know your doctrine or not...
But since you involved yourself, what is it??? Does Jesus forgive my sins without the benefit of one of your priests if I go directly to Jesus, or am I required to confess to an officially ordained Catholic priest to have my sins forgiven of God???
The high priest in Christ's church is Jesus. The forgiver of our sin's. He's big enough, and CLOSE enough, to forgive sins personally.
Believe what you will .. worship where you want. I have faith that my relationship with Jesus is worth more than any man-made dogma that some institution can guilt me into falling for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.