Catolicismo

Missão e Influência no Brasil e no Continente Latino-Americano

Abstract

Catholicism exerted a great influence on the social, political, economic and cultural formation of Brazil and Latin America. The study of the influence of the Catholic Church in the Latin continent and in Brazil aims to analyze the main characteristics of Catholicism and its contributions to Brazilian and Latin American society. The expansion of the Catholic Church in Brazil and Latin America occurred before the Protestant religions, together with the discovery of American lands, a fact that strengthened its influence on local culture and society not only in the field of religiosity, but also of politics, customs and social and economic practices. The Catholic tradition has been mixed with the religious syncretism of the Latin American continent since the Jesuits, and the participation in the social and political field is notorious, influencing the local culture in a positive or negative way, according to its performance. Currently, the Catholic Church has sought to maintain its majority presence in society, however, there are several types of Catholicisms inserted in religion, some accepted by the church and others formed by components and ecclesiastical base that are involved in social and political issues that influence the spiritual and cultural life and interfere in the social, economic and political field of Latin American and Brazilian society.