Brazil

Messianism, the expectation of sudden intervention by a divine or superhuman being in human history, has been connected with Brazil since its colonization. The diverse religious movements following apocalyptic prophecies have been so persistent that recent scholars have interpreted the salvific theme to be integral to the Luso-Brazilian cultural identity. Although some groups may have roots in indigenous religions, the most noted messianic movements appeared in the nineteenth century as the outgrowths of popular Catholic emphasis on the approaching cataclysmic end of time, the exclusive redemptive kingdom of the Last Days, and the Second Coming of Jesus.

In the sixteenth century, several religious movements exhibited aspects often associated with messianic groups. Coastal Tupi-Guarani tribes undertook dramatic migrations under shamanic guidance, seeking a utopian "land without evil." Similarly, Portuguese immigrants, native Brazilians, and biracial colonists in Bahia joined in the Santidade ("Holiness") movement; directed by leaders called Pope and Mother of God, the community expected an imminent cosmic disaster and reversals in the power structure. Later rural movements, such as the twentieth-century devotees of the Beato of Caldeirão (Pedro Batista da Silva) and of Padre Cícero, also followed prophetic leaders who articulated contemporary discontent and promised remedies for social and spiritual needs.

Messianic movements interweaving Christian revelations and Portuguese folklore began in the early 1800s in the Northeast, in marginal communities faced with political upheavals. Three movements, the first led by Silvestre José dos Santos at Rodeador, Pernambuco, in 1817, the second by João Antônio dos Santos and João Ferreira at Pedra Bonita in the 1830s, and the third by Antônio "Conselheiro" Maciel in Canudos in the 1890s, drew upon the legends of Portuguese Sebastianismo. Each community awaited the return of King Sebastião (1557–1578) to overthrow local religious and secular order and establish an earthly paradise with his triumphant angelic army. Armed militia extinguished each of these groups, yet their messianic influence continues in the Northeast, where Antônio Conselheiro himself is now considered a savior.

Messianic movements have also occurred in southern Brazil. In Rio Grande do Sul, a small community formed in the 1870s to follow Jacobina Maurer as the new Christ, and in 1910 a "holy war" was launched in Santa Catarina, aiming military and religious force against the new laws of the republic. Although the latter Contestado Rebellion ended in battle in 1914, its themes persist in regional beliefs.

See alsoCatholic Church: The Colonial Period; Catholic Church: The Modern Period.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Euclides Da Cunha, Rebellion in the Backlands, translated by Samuel Putnam (1944).

Abelardo F. Montenegro, Antônio Conselheiro (1954).

René Ribeiro, "O episódio da Serra do Rodeador 1817–20: Um movimento milenar e sebastianista," in Revista de Antropologia 8 (1960): 133-144.

Donald Warren, Jr. "Portuguese Roots of Brazilian Spiritism," in Luso-Brazilian Review 5 (1968): 3-34.

Ralph Della Cava, Miracle at Joaseiro (1970).

Jovelino P. Ramos, "Interpretando o fenômeno Canudos," in Luso-Brazilian Review 11 (1974): 65-83.

Maria Isaura Pereia De Queiroz, O Messianismo, no Brasil e no mundo, 2d ed. (1976).

Hélène Clastres, Terra sem mal, translated by Renato Janine Ribeiro (1978).

José Carlos De Ataliba Nogueira, Antônio Conselheiro e Canudos: Revisão Histórico, 2d ed. (1978).

Carole A. Myscofski, When Men Walk Dry: Portuguese Messianism in Brazil (1988).

Todd A. Diacron, Millenarian Vision, Capitalist Reality: Brazil's Contestado Revolution, 1912–1916 (1991).

Robert M. Levine, Vale of Tears: Revisiting the Canudos Massacre in Northwestern Brazil, 1893–1897 (1992).

Additional Bibliography

Arruda, João. Canudos: Messianismo e conflicto social. Fortaleza, Brazil: Editora UFC, 2006.

Lopreato, Christina da Silva Roquette. Milagres da fé: Messianismo e repressão política no Brasil dos anos 70. Campinas, Brazil: Editora da Unicamp, 1999.

Pessar, Patricia R. From Fanatics to Folk: Brazilian Millenarianism and Popular Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004.

Thomé, Nilson. Os iluminados: Personagens e manifestações místicas e messianicas no Contestado. Florianópolis, Brazil: Insular, 1999.

                                    Carole A. Myscofski