Religion in the Megacity
Catholic and Protestant Portraits from Latin America
"Mega-cities" - sprawling urban centres - are now home to most Latin Americans. This work contrasts religion in two such cities - Sao Paulo in Brazil and Caracas in Venezuela. In Brazil, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, under Cardinal Arns and progressive Catholics, was a rallying point for resistance to the military dictatorship. Sao Paulo is also a city in which Pentecostal Protestant churches have enjoyed explosive growth. The author aims to give a sense of what is happening within both the Catholic and Protestant communities. Venezuela's capital city is very different. Characterized by one Protestant missionary as a "secular city", Caracas is a place where relative wealth and consumer lifestyles have proved obstacles to the spread of Christianity. Here, both Protestant and Catholic churches face quite different challenges to those in Sao Paulo.
Series: Latin America Bureau Books
Published: 1997
Pages: 216
Paperback: 9781899365111