"Bye bye, Brasil": o declínio das religiões tradicionais no Censo 2000

Abstract

SWIFT social changes are occurring in Brazil's religious milieu. Although these changes are mainly cultural, there is an important demographic dimension as well. It is precisely to highlight the greater sociological significance of this inescapable component that we chose the viewpoint of the demographic decline of three religions: Catholicism, Lutheranism and Umbanda. These are momentous sociocultural mutations, as described by 2000 demographic Census, founded on data that was checked and double checked by highly qualified technical personnel. Thus, the figures have the comparative advantage of being highly trustworthy, unlike the quantitative data normally conveyed by the media, not rarely originating from religious sources of (dis)information.