The world’s most populous Roman Catholic country, Brazil, will have a Protestant majority within 10 years, the International Mission Agency serving Pastors and Leaders (SEPAL) reports.
In a study released last month, SEPAL researcher Luis André Bruneto stated that by 2020 the number of Brazilian Protestants would total 109.3 million out of a projected population of 209.3 million, or 52.2 per cent. Statistics released by the Brazilian government census bureau and the Datafolha Institute show that as of 2010 the Protestant population stood at 57.4 million out of a population of 190 million, or 30 per cent.
Mr Bruneto told the Christian Post his estimates were based on the current annual growth rate of evangelical and Pentecostal churches of 7.42 per cent holding steady. The growth of Protestant churches will not come through mass conversion, he said, but by a “profound transformation in a society’s way of thinking, orientated by the influence of redeemed Christians.”
Brazil’s growing middle-classes were the most fertile ground for Protestantism, he noted. Protestants were “militant in evangelistic outreach, and are adopting rules that are less strict. Christian life is getting greater visibility in society where there is a greater flexibility of customs.”
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If it is true that between 2005-2011, the Diocese of Recife has grow, also we can forget the number point a drop between 2010 to 2011. According to the following links,
ReplyDeleteInformation from 2010 is 5250 total members - http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?com_mode=flat&com_order=0&storyid=11898
And, then, we can compare to the information in 2011 is 5,102 total members.
If the information is correctly, we can see the Diocese of Recife has drop of 148 members.