A Nation at a Crossroads: Far-Right Evangelical-Induced Democratic Decline in Brazil

Born in Rio de Janeiro on January 20, 1958, Silas Malafaia, arguably Brazil’s most famous evangelical leader, came from humble beginnings. With his mother working as a teacher and his father transitioning from military officer to pastor, Malafaia grew up in an environment that foreshadowed his eventual turn toward religious leadership. Following in his father’s footsteps, Malafaia founded a popular evangelical program, Vitória em Cristo, which later led him to establish the Victory in Christ Association (AVEC). With a rapidly expanding number of churches under the association’s control, Malafaia became extraordinarily wealthy. AVEC churches are known for preaching the prosperity gospel, as evidenced by the group’s central headquarters having 120 debit withdrawal machines for supporters to use for tithing. Malafaia and AVEC are among the many pastors and church organizations that symbolize the rising influence of Evangelicalism in Brazil.

While Evangelical denominations account for only one-third of the Brazilian population, they are expanding their influence in the country. Appealing primarily to lower-income, working-class Brazilians, small Evangelical churches emphasize a personal relationship with God and provide the psychosocial support needed to address poverty and other social issues. Among all Evangelical denominations in the country, the Pentecostal faith has been expanding rapidly in recent years. With Pentecostals specifically estimated to outnumber the number of Catholics in the country by 2036, this demographic change not only represents a religious reshaping of the country but a political change. 

Holding widely conservative political views that emphasize a personal relationship with God, Brazilian evangelical groups “tend to be much more conservative and against progressive values.” Silas Malafaia explicitly advocates for the criminalization of LGBTQ+ activity, confirming fears that evangelical political influences will cause a decrease in rights for many marginalized communities within the country.

The evangelical movement in Brazil received a major boost through the election of former disgraced President Jair Bolsonaro. Running under a banner of “Brazil above everything, God above all,” Pentecostal Evangelicals were Bolsonaro’s largest voting base, as he received 60 per cent of the evangelical vote.  By focusing on controversial social issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, Bolsonaro and other prominent Brazilian politicians activate religious conservative factions in the country to consolidate support. The unification of key political leaders and evangelical groups has paid dividends for the conservative agenda. In 2022, Bolsonaro’s legislative plans included key evangelical demands such as limiting the constitutional rights of Indigenous people and allowing greater gun ownership.

The most significant result of the growing evangelical influence on Brazilian politics is catalyzing democratic rot through political polarization. The Evangelical Parliamentary Front (FPE) consolidated legislative power between various evangelical political groups. It is now one of the most powerful parliamentary blocs in the country. Formally institutionalized in 2015, the group holds roughly 40 per cent of the country’s parliamentary seats. Extremely right-wing, this bloc has played a major role in pushing back against justice and anti-corruption efforts that have come forth in the wake of Bolsonaro’s presidency.

Following the country’s landmark 2022 election, in which Bolsonaro was defeated by left-wing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country has been mired in political gridlock. Fueled by misinformation and the belief that the election was stolen, Bolsonaro supporters attempted an insurrection on January 8, 2023. The plot, in which Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia, also included plans to kill President Lula as well as Chief Supreme Court Justice de Moraes. Roughly 1400 Bolsonaro supporters invaded the country’s main institutions and vandalized them, including the Supreme Court, the Brazilian Congress building, and the Planalto Presidential Palace. What is especially noteworthy about these events was how evangelical leaders fueled the hate targeted at Lula and others accused of rigging an election that was classified by international observers as both free and fair.

Many influential figures within the evangelical community urged their supporters to join the attack on the Brazilian capital, using religious ideology to justify violent political incursions. Many of the Bolsonaro loyalists who stormed the capital were part of the born-again evangelical movement, with footage of the insurrection including videos of Bolsonaro supporters reciting “Christian prayers and singing hymns while storming buildings.” While many evangelical groups in the country condemned the violence that occurred during the coup, there have also been outspoken critics of the legal proceedings that followed.

Following the events of January 8, Bolsonaro was put on trial for his complicity in leading his supporters to cause massive damage to the country’s capital and put opposition leaders at risk. The president was arrested on November 22, 2025, due to fears of a flight risk, and has since been found guilty of leading an insurrection that includes a lengthy 27-year jail sentence. During his trial, many of the disgraced president’s vocal supporters included his Christian right-wing base. This included Silas Malafaia, who has argued in favour of Bolsonaro throughout the proceedings as a staunch ally.

While it may seem that Brazilian democracy has triumphed through both Bolsonaro’s defeat in 2022 and a successful trial against him and his role in the country’s coup, the situation for Brazil’s politics is anything but certain. With Lula’s support extremely low among the country’s evangelical population, the president has faced considerable pushback from the country’s Christian conservative constituency in enacting his progressive agenda. While Lula has attempted to appeal to evangelicals in the country by pledging his support for religious freedom, the FPE bloc in parliament has served as a major obstacle to enacting the reforms on which he campaigned. In addition, having won by razor-thin margins in 2022, pro-democracy forces in the country’s politics will once again have to make the case to the public as the country goes to the polls again in 2026.

While current polls show that Lula leads potential right-wing rivals ahead of the 2026 election, increasing political polarization in the country has led to fears about further political violence. Although Lula enjoyed early high approval ratings, recent concerns about the country’s economy, rising tensions with the United States, and domestic issues have caused Lula’s support to stagnate. As Brazil moves towards the 2026 elections, the growing assertiveness of evangelical political forces leaves the country’s democratic prospects far from secure. Even if Bolsonaro remains in jail, the social and religious dynamics that enabled his rise to prominence persist, posing ongoing challenges to South America’s largest democracy.

Edited by Allison Dera

Featured Image: Repair Workers Scale the Roof of the National Congress, in the aftermath of the attempted insurrection in January 2023. “Reparação após ato de vandalismo no Congresso Nacional” by  Agência Senado is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License