Brazil is the world’s largest Catholic country, but it’s no longer Catholic majority. The 20th century saw an enormous rise in evangelical Christianity in Brazil, specifically Pentecostalism. Sociologist Andrew Johnson of Metro State University embedded himself in the prisons of Brazil to learn why the most marginalized people in the country are so drawn to the Pentecostal message. Then, we learn about the legacy of Catholicism and Protestantism in Brazil, and how the religious landscape has changed over time, from professor Andrew Chesnut of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Andrew Johnson, law enforcement and criminal justice professor at Metropolitan State University and author of If I Give My Soul: Faith Behind Bars in Rio de Janeiro, soon to be a documentary
Andrew Chesnut, professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty








































Religious studies professor Andrew Chesnut (right) holds the Brazilian flag