Colonial, Imperial, and Early Republican Periods

The Catholic Church arrived in Brazil with the first Portuguese settlers, and quickly established itself as a key social institution of the colonial period. However, the Church did not reach the level of institutional strength that it enjoyed in much of Spanish America, and quickly suffered from a chronic shortage of priests, leading to the proliferation of vibrant popular and syncretistic religious beliefs and practices. Following the Napoleonic Wars and the eventual establishment of an independent monarchy in Brazil, the ties between the Brazilian Church and state became increasingly close. However, this only reinforced the institutional weakness of the church, as it became dependent on the patronage of the Emperors and competed with Freemasonry for the favor of the court. At the same time, its declining influence in the everyday life of Brazilians grew more pronounced. The late 19th century witnessed the beginnings of a clerical reaction, as the Vatican began to reaffirm its authority and pushed for increasing centralization of the Church. This provoked a series of confrontations with the regime, which contributed to the weakening of the Empire, which was overthrown and replaced by a republic in 1889. Over the next few decades, the Church gradually moved toward a new relationship with the state, seeking to expand its influence among elites and to impose an orthodox Catholicism on society. The strengthening of the Brazilian state under Getulio Vargas, who ruled in one way or another from 1930-54, corresponded to the high-water mark of this type of interaction between Church and State.