Jesus Christ!

This is definitely a Catholic country! This is probably a very belated conclusion for me to reach, since I was born and raised here. However, for some strange reason, three weeks ago I was inundated with a series of encounters that made me realize that again (or perhaps for the first time in my life).

As you might recall, I visited my grandma in Santos. As I was leaving the city, the conversation with the taxi driver on my way to the bus station took a wild turn. I was asking about his family and his kids (just because I was curious about social mobility in Brazil). The driver started talking about his grandson and this created an opportunity for him to tell me that women are blessed to have the ability to bear a child. At some points, I had the impression that he thought it was unfair to men not to have the same privilege. Of course, he did not put it that way because it was God's will, according to him. This, of course, led to a whole conversation about God, and Christ, and how he died for us, and etc. I silently listened to a 15 minutes monologue about the topic and was mesmerized by his excitement. Luckily, we reached our destination before he was done talking and I had a chance to scape without being asked what is my opinion about the topic.

I then went to Rio, to teach there. The second encounter was in a store at the airport. As I was inquiring about beach shorts (because I have none and I have no idea how to buy them), I was prompted by the following question:

- Are you Catholic?

The salesperson, out of the blue, asked that. She was anxiously waiting for an answer while I was holding two pairs of beach shorts and staring at her. The conversation went more or less as follows:

M - Why do you ask?

SP - Just because you are so calm.

M - Do you mean Catholic people are calmer than other religious people?

SP - Oh, no. We are all sons of God. We all believe in Christ!

- Moment of silence -

I was at this point thinking that I know a number of people who would easily be offended by the sentence. However, if you check the numbers in Brazil, you will see that non Christian religions are not well represented here, what makes some people assume that everyone believes in Christ. Moreover, only 7% of the population consider themselves agnostics or atheists. I guess she never came across one of them...

My moment of silence gave the girl an opportunity to go off on a monologue about God, Christ and everything else. Do you see a pattern here? I really don't know what's up with these monologues. I might look like a really good listener or someone who is really religious...

While she was talking, I could not help but wonder what would be her reaction to hear that there are people who do not believe in Christ, and there are even those who do not believe in God (or at least not in the same God she believes), but I decided to do this little experiment in another opportunity.

The third encounter was shortly thereafter. As soon as I arrived in the apartment in Rio, I decided to do some grocery shopping. There is a small supermarket right around the corner, which is very convenient. On my way out, however, I noticed a little altar on the top of the wall by the cashiers with Jesus and a saint, as you can see:



I did not ask anyone because I was done with the monologues at this point.

My fourth and most interesting encounter with religion happened, ironically, in the university. I am participating in a reading group at the Catholic University in Rio and when I arrived there for the first meeting, I was surprised to find coffee (which is a topic that deserves more posts...) and a crucifix in the class room.



The good thing was that there was no monologue this time. Instead, I had an interesting conversation about that with my friend who is organizing the group. During this conversation, I found out that there is also a crucifix in the main room of the Brazilian Supreme Court despite the fact that our Constitution declares the separation between State and Church. (picture coming as soon as I have a chance to go to Brasília, my hometown)

The most predictable encounter was the famous Christ the Redeemer in Rio. I went there with my sister, who came to Rio for a quick visit. The views of the city are incredible from the top of the Corcovado (the mountain where the statue is), what makes it really worth a visit even for non Christians.




The most interesting part of all this is to know that despite public displays of Christian faith (and lots of monologues on the topic) a large portion of the Brazilian population does not practice the religion. Around 80% of the population declare themselves Catholic (which means they are baptized and married in the church) but only 10% attend masses regularly and participate in church activities. Who needs church with these images everywhere, and with people's ability to talk endlessly about the topic?