The FIFA World Cup has given Brazil’s increasingly strong evangelical movement a chance to go out and canvas for more believers among soccer fans thronging the country.
One group went to proselytize on Rio’s tourist magnet of Copacabana Beach, a gathering place for hedonistic hordes enjoying their soccer rituals.
As Brazil prepared to see off Colombia to march into the semi-finals, about 100 evangelicals descended on the beach to seek converts.
Photo: AFP
As they formed a circle, the cry went out: “Alleluia! Jesus saves us!”
A prayer was followed by an enthusiastic “Glory to the Lord!” and a round of applause.
Military police on guard duty in front of FIFA’s luxuriant Copacabana Palace Hotel headquarters, wary of any sign of disturbance, looked on with curiosity.
Many of the group brandished banners in English and Portuguese with slogans like “Jesus is the solution for you!”
With hundreds of thousands of foreign and local tourists packing Rio for the tournament, the group see a heaven-sent opportunity to recruit a few for their own team.
“We are going to preach the world of God and hand out 10,000 flyers. We are a lively and dynamic church,” pastor Paulo Solimar of the Assembly of God Church in the Cantagalo slum told reporters.
The evangelicals also handed out about 15,000 small bilingual books entitled Brazil, history, facts and football curiosities. The work contains anecdotes about the game and tidbits of information on soccer stars like Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Lionel Messi.
There is also an article by former Brazil, Real Madrid and AC Milan star Kaka, a Christian, who indicates that “the true sense of victory is having Jesus in my life.”
Most of the group say their evangelical faith does not clash with soccer, and that they “don’t miss a single Brazil game.”
“I support the Selecao to the end,” said one of the faithful, Ivanildo de Oliveira, using the local word for the national team.
However, celebrate a soccer victory with a drink? Out of the question.
Brazil has the world’s largest number of Catholics — about 123 million out of a population of 200 million.
However, the evangelical movement and neo-pentecostal offshoots are making sizeable inroads, and now claim more than 40 million members. According to Brazil’s statistical institute IBGE, that is an increase of 61 percent between 2001 and 2010.
These new members include some high-profile names such as 22-year-old soccer megastar Neymar.
Evangelicals and Pentacostals also account for about 15 percent of the 513 members of the Brazilian Congress.
Given their current rate of growth Catholics are on the path to being in the minority by 2040.
Solimar attributed the success of the new movements to their ability to plug into “people’s spiritual hunger and especially that of the poorest, who are suffering and more open to the gospel.”
Poor Brazilians are also attracted by churches claiming that they can cure social ills and lead them out of poverty.
Not all of the people who met the groups had a positive view of the evangelicals.
Psychoanalyst Zelia and psychologist Uieva refused to accept a religious leaflet.
“I’m really afraid of the rise of the evangelicals, their rigidity and their suffocating morality,” said Uieva, who says that she follows no religion.
“They have a dogmatism which just doesn’t interest me,” Zelia said.
Some accuse the evangelicals of intolerance toward gay people and of demonizing Afro-Brazilian rites such as Candomble.
When offered “Jesus’ help,” one beggar responds by asking for “three reais [US$1.30] for the bus.”
The evangelicals advise him to get in touch with his local Assembly of God church.
The youngest members of the group are the offspring of evangelical parents. Others have life experiences that led them to “want to help others.”
“I come from the Penha Favela where I was trafficking drugs, prostituting myself,” said Albertino, 29. “I felt lonely, empty. Then, 10 years ago, Pastor Marcelo helped me to leave that life behind. I want to save other people.”
Today, he says, he is “married and a father.”
On Saturday, the day before the World Cup final at the Maracana, 1,200 evangelicals plan to encircle the soccer stadium to “send a message of peace to the world.”
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