In an article on the BBC web site (‘Catholic Church tested in Brazil’ by Gary Duffy, Sao Paulo) the Pentecostals are mentioned.

The Pentecostal churches, referred to here under the umbrella title of “evangelicals” – which includes other Protestant churches – are a powerful force in Brazil, with growing media empires, significant political representation, and more than 24 million followers.

Brazil still enjoys the position as the largest Catholic country in the world, with some 125 million followers recorded in 2000.

But according to the US Pew Forum on Religion and Public life, successive Brazilian censuses show the Catholic share of the population decreased by 4.1% in the 20 years from 1960 to 1980, and dropped almost three times as much in the next 20 years.

By contrast, the number of Protestants increased by 2.6% between 1960 and 1980, but more than tripled the rate of increase in the following 20 years.

The country’s best-known RC priest, known to everyone as Padre Marcelo. The former aerobics teacher turned cleric is now very popular.

He conducts “charismatic”-style masses. The article goes on to claim that one form of response from the Catholic Church to this growing challenge has been, “To imitate at least some of the spontaneous style of the Pentecostal services.”