RELIGION-BRAZIL: Catholics Compete Using Popular Media

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 13 1999 (IPS) - Celebrations this week reveal that the Catholic Church of Brazil is using popular music to compete with the protestant denominations and other religious sects, which grew quickly after adopting new mass communication methods.

An estimated 170,000 people gathered at Maracaná football stadium in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the Day of Our Mother ‘Aperecida,’ Brazil’s patron saint. The stars of this religious event were the singing priests, especially Marcelo Rossi, whose records have been hits.

At least 15,000 of the faithful were unable to enter the stadium, where maximum capacity within safety limits is 122,500 people, said Francisco de Carvalho, stadium manager. Fights and disturbances broke out as people tried to find seats.

In Aparecida, a city 170 km from Sao Paulo and home to the patron saint, 130,000 pilgrims converged on the giant Basilica built in the 1930s to honour the Black Virgin, Brazil’s most adored saint.

There, the attraction was Roberto Carlos, who has been a popular Brazilian singer since the 1960s when he led the national rock movement. He now appeals to all ages with his romantic ballads.

But devotion to the saint does not necessarily require musical stimulus. On the day of the virgin in 1975, 250,000 faithful visited the Basilica.

In Brazil, the Virgin Mary is known as ‘Aparecida’ (Appeared) because her image appeared on a black sculpture in a local river in 1917.

This year, the great pilgrimage began Saturday. From then until Tuesday, a national holiday, nearly 280,000 people passed through the Aparecida sanctuary, estimates the Archdiocese.

The local archbishop, cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider, said the total visitors for this year will likely reach 7.8 million, five percent more than in 1998. It would make the National Sanctuary of Aparecida the principal Catholic pilgrimage destination in the world as this century draws to an end, he declared.

The central issue of the pilgrimage, which will continue next weekend, seems to be unemployment. Many of Aparecida’s faithful made the journey to ask the saint to help them find work or to prevent layoffs.

Catholic celebrations were held in most of the nation’s cities. Generally, events incorporating popular music or theatre were organised by priests who are part of the Charismatic Renewal movement, which is attempting to re-ignite Catholicism’s popularity among young people.

Competition among religions in Brazil is especially evident in the communications arena. There is growing use of music that has rhythms, melodies and verses easily learned by church-goers, but now the battle is being waged through radio and television broadcasts.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God led off the competition when it bought the largest evangelical radio network in the country, with more than 120 stations. The church also owns a television station and several newspapers.

The Catholic Church is attempting to organise a network among the 60 radio stations belonging to its members. Last year the Church made its way onto cable television, but not to the open channels which have a larger audience.

In Sao Paulo, churches control at least 20 of the 61 local radio stations. They also buy time on other stations and encourage community or “pirate” radio, which broadcast without legal authorisation, according to experts.

Leaders in the religious media market so far are sects founded in the last two decades, with obvious commercial leanings, such as the Universal Church or the Peace and Life Christian Community.

The Catholics, at a disadvantage despite representing 70 percent of Brazil’s population, are putting together their response. In addition to radio, they plan to set up a news agency with 300 journalists and free news services, according to Jayme Chemello, president of the Brazilian Episcopal Conference.

Competition also occurs in mass communication techniques. The Universal Church, for example, chooses its reverends based on their abilities to emotionally move large audiences with their sermons.

The Catholic Church is terrible at communicating its message, which is why its 140 radio stations throughout the country have few listeners, commented Antonio Kater Filho, a supporter of the Catholic charismatic movement.

Kater is trying to teach the Church techniques he uses as a business manager – which led him to write the book “Applied Marketing for the Catholic Church.”