Situation of the Catholic Church in Brazil

Dear TIA,

Please refer to the article below.

May TIA remain in the protection of The Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary of The Sacred Heart and Her Immaculate Heart.

     A.E.


Brazil: Catholicism Becoming a Minority Religion
From the Rorate Caeli website 07/01/12

The graph below is based upon Graphs 36 and 37 in the report, published just a few days ago, for the 2010 Censo Demográfico of Brazil that was carried out by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística.

According to the 2010 census, the total population of Brazil as of August 1, 2010 was 190,732,694.

According to the same report, Catholics comprised 99.7% of the population in 1872. This went down to 91.8% by 1970. This gradual decline over a century, however, has been dwarfed by the continuing decline in the Catholic Church's share of the Brazilian population since then: 89% in 1980, 83% in 1991, 73.6% in 2000 and 64.6% in 2010. The largest gains have been registered by the Evangelicals, who grew from 6.6% in 1980, to 9% in 1991, to 15.4% in 2000, and to 22.2% in 2010 -- a growth rate that increased with every passing decade.

The state with the smallest percentage of Catholics was Rio de Janeiro, where only 48.5% of the population was Catholic as of 2010.

The census of 2010 officially confirmed what polls had foreshadowed as early as 2007: that Catholics would fall to about 64% of the population of Brazil.

If current trends continue, Brazil will cease to be a majority-Catholic country sometime between 2020 and 2025.

These latest statistics explode a myth that has become common in Catholic journalism in the last few years: the myth that Brazilian Catholicism has been saved from further Evangelical and Pentecostal inroads by the related phenomena of celebrity priests and "Charismatic Catholicism". Far from stopping these inroads, it looks far more likely that Brazilian Catholicism's embrace of Pentecostal-inspired forms of prayer and worship has only facilitated the loss of even more Catholics to Protestantism.

TIA

Regarding your recent movie review on For the Greater Glory:

Judith Mead & Marian Horvat's said: "The only miscasting was Peter O'Toole as an elderly foreign priest, who supposedly turned the wayward José onto the road of piety. Here is a case of misplaced artistic license. In reality José was a pious boy formed by upright Catholic parents, as you can read here. O'Toole's simpering affection for the young José seemed in very poor taste to us, given the present day pedophile crisis in the clergy. In addition, his gaze of terror in the face of death is unworthy of a Cristero martyr for the Faith."

If you watch the priest just before he is being killed the 'gaze of terror' on his face while looking up at the boy in the tower is one of great concern for the boy. He was mouthing the words for the boy to run because the priest did not want the boy to get caught nor did he want the boy to witness his death.

The 'gaze of terror' was not for himself but for the safety of the boy and the fear that the boy would get caught. And like I said before, Jesus 'trembled' in the garden.

     B.W.

Good Morning TIA,

I was wondering if any of you there at TIA know about planet X? Supposedly it is the tenth planet, with a long elliptical orbit that intersects ours. Planet X is supposed to pass by the earth late this year. It may (or may not ) bring a whole slew of chastisements of apocalyptic proportions with it.

Can you verify this information, or do you have any knowledge about it? It may be a hoax, or then again it may be a chastisement already on the way. I really don't know.

     God bless you,

     D.L.


TIA responds:

D.L.,

Thank you for your inquiry.

We don't know enough about Planet X to clarify your doubt. We are passing on your request to our readers to see if any of them can help you.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

Thank you for your time. I am trying to find CD's number 6 & 7, for ages 11-17. I cannot seem to find them on the site, but heard about them in the introduction CD.

Please advise as to where I might find these.I thank you for this much needed series.

     God bless TIA.

     Respectfully,

     H.C.


TIA responds:

H.C.,

Dr. Horvat still has not had the leisure to record tapes 6 and 7. As soon as she does, they will be included on our website and in our catalog.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondent desk

TIA,

Where can I find a complete English translation of Hebraeorm Gens on line or in a book or pamphlet?

     S.D.


TIA responds:

A quick search in the Internet gave us this partial translation from Latin to Spanish found on a forum of debates. We did not check the accuracy of the translation. But, we hope it will be easier for you to find a translator who works in Spanish rather than Latin.

We wish you success in your endeavor.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Good morning TIA,

Can you direct me to a place where I may obtain information about Isidore the farmer. I'm attempting to decipher a very old text published in 1649 that may  have been mis-identified as Seville's.

     Thank you!

     A.R.


TIA responds:

A.R.

You may find data on St. Isidore the Farmer or Isidore the Laborer here, here and here. For pictures, click here.

We hope these links will attend to your need.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk