Ватикан и бразильское пятидесятничество: сотрудничество или соперничество?

Abstract

The article discusses the features of the expansion of Pentecostalism in Brazil and the reaction of the Holy See to the loss of the flock during the pontificate of Pope Francis. A supporter of the development of interreligious, including ecumenical dialogue, calling all Christians “almost brothers” and maintaining contacts with evangelical movements, the Bishop of Rome partly thereby complicated the competition between Pentecostalism and Catholicism in a country with an absolute majority of the Catholic population. Despite the measures actively taken by the pontiff to turn the Catholic “ecclesiastical winter” into an “ecclesiastical spring” and condemn proselytism, Pentecostalism continues to acquire more and more new adherents. In the rivalry with Catholicism, Pentecostalism gains the upper hand due to better work on the ground, the personal charisma of religious leaders, a wide propaganda campaign promising instant personal transformation through “the baptism in the Holy Spirit” (actually the promise of a miracle), a sense of security born from close interaction between members of the community and the control of preachers in the targeted distribution of financial assistance. In cultural terms, Pentecostalism claims to become a replacement for Catholicism in the Brazilian cultural code, turning belonging to evangelicalism into a semiotic “icon”. By reducing rebellious and revolutionary sentiment, evangelism is associated with the risk of conformity. Despite the adaptation of Pentecostalism to Brazilian conditions, one should not underestimate the possibility of using it as an instrument of influence for the globalist ideology and the United States.