Carol7
05-09-2007, 05:59 PM
Brazil has more Catholics than any other country in the world
Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo for a five-day visit to the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation.
It is his first visit to Latin America since becoming Pope in April 2005.
He is to perform a series of open air Masses before travelling to Aparecida for the focus of the visit, a major conference of Latin American bishops.
There he is expected to touch on the growing challenge the Catholic Church faces from evangelical groups.
According to a recent study, some 64% of Brazilians are Catholic, but this number represents a 10% fall compared to 10 years ago and contrasts with an upsurge in converts to evangelical churches.
Abortion debate
Pope Benedict is to open the bishops' conference, the first such meeting for 15 years, on Sunday.
The two-week forum will bring together almost 200 bishops and cardinals from across Latin American and the Caribbean.
It is expected to set out the Church's agenda and policies in the region for the coming years.
The conference comes only weeks after legislators in Mexico City voted to legalise abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Talking to journalists on the plane, Pope Benedict backed Mexico City church officials who said that that politicians who supported the law and medical workers who performed abortions would be excommunicated.
"This excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon (church) law which says that the killing of an innocent child is incompatible with receiving communion," he said.
The subject is also up for debate in Brazil. The health minister has recently said he would like to see discussion on abortion - currently permitted only in limited circumstances - a suggestion that has already prompted a vigorous response from senior clergy.
Defections
But the Pope said it was the issue of Catholics choosing to join evangelical churches that was "our biggest worry", and would be discussed at the conference.
"We need to find a convincing response," he said.
Pope Benedict is sure of a warm welcome from the Catholic faithful in Brazil, says the BBC's Simon Watts.
But his problems is that both he and the local Catholic hierarchy are more conservative than most Brazilians.
To the converts, the evangelicals offer the chance of redemption now, rather than in the after-life, as well as a social network and help with problems like drink or drugs.
In contrast, Catholic rituals can seem stuffy and out-of-touch with day-to-day reality for most Brazilians, our correspondent adds.
Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo for a five-day visit to the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation.
It is his first visit to Latin America since becoming Pope in April 2005.
He is to perform a series of open air Masses before travelling to Aparecida for the focus of the visit, a major conference of Latin American bishops.
There he is expected to touch on the growing challenge the Catholic Church faces from evangelical groups.
According to a recent study, some 64% of Brazilians are Catholic, but this number represents a 10% fall compared to 10 years ago and contrasts with an upsurge in converts to evangelical churches.
Abortion debate
Pope Benedict is to open the bishops' conference, the first such meeting for 15 years, on Sunday.
The two-week forum will bring together almost 200 bishops and cardinals from across Latin American and the Caribbean.
It is expected to set out the Church's agenda and policies in the region for the coming years.
The conference comes only weeks after legislators in Mexico City voted to legalise abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Talking to journalists on the plane, Pope Benedict backed Mexico City church officials who said that that politicians who supported the law and medical workers who performed abortions would be excommunicated.
"This excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon (church) law which says that the killing of an innocent child is incompatible with receiving communion," he said.
The subject is also up for debate in Brazil. The health minister has recently said he would like to see discussion on abortion - currently permitted only in limited circumstances - a suggestion that has already prompted a vigorous response from senior clergy.
Defections
But the Pope said it was the issue of Catholics choosing to join evangelical churches that was "our biggest worry", and would be discussed at the conference.
"We need to find a convincing response," he said.
Pope Benedict is sure of a warm welcome from the Catholic faithful in Brazil, says the BBC's Simon Watts.
But his problems is that both he and the local Catholic hierarchy are more conservative than most Brazilians.
To the converts, the evangelicals offer the chance of redemption now, rather than in the after-life, as well as a social network and help with problems like drink or drugs.
In contrast, Catholic rituals can seem stuffy and out-of-touch with day-to-day reality for most Brazilians, our correspondent adds.