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 ...
With some too much, and with others not much at all who have a solid faith.
AMEN!
The instructions were to and for
CHRISTIANS
. . . not some leadership elite.
Sheesh.
So . . . wolves . . .
Sounds like you are calling for a return to my fierce satire.
Excellent.
One of best narratives I’ve read on the topic.
No doubt.
That’s the way with Protie excesses and idols, too.
Ahhhh.
And throughout So & Central America, it was largely the same.
WAS.
I bet it is!
No, I don’t think so. God is moving in mysterious ways in ALL denominations, trying to get us to leave behind tradition and put on Christ. With all that’s going to happen in the near future, we will HAVE to put on Christ and Him alone to make it through—natural (supposedly) disasters, economic crisis, food shortages, oil shortages, attacks, probably nuclear, and on and on. I don’t think a lot of our barriers will matter much then.
No, I think you really mean to say Episcopal Priest. Presbyterians have ministers.
catholic in this sense means UNIVERSAL. It has NOTHING to do with the Catholic church. And she doesn’t stand alone. There are many brides of Christ and they aren’t all Catholic.
Oh, really? I thought He gave her to John to be HIS mother. Bible doesn’t tell me that she’s my mother. She’s mentioned very few times in scripture and not as a substitute for her Son.
Only Jesus can forgive sins. Nobody else has that power, not even a good Priest. Good grief.
You mean the Mormons are right and Jesus really is a polygamist?
I see.
Interesting.
I think there are more Evangelical Christians in China now, than in the USA, as well.
INDEED.
I KNOW I’m saved because I put my faith and trust in the SON, Jesus Christ and HE has made me righteous, not of myself but of HIM. I will not fall from grace unless I turn my back on Him and I’m not about to do that.
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