Pentecostal Christian Leads Effort to Impeach Brazilian President

Veronica Neffinger | iBelieve Contributor | Updated: Apr 26, 2016

Pentecostal Christian Leads Effort to Impeach Brazilian President

A Pentecostal Christian is leading the effort to impeach Brazil’s left-leaning Workers’ Party president, leading some to take note of the growing influence evangelicals have in the country.

CBN News reports that Eduardo Cunha, a Pentecostal Christian, is leading the effort to impeach President Dilma Rousseff who is accused of mismanaging finances and spending government funds recklessly in order to maintain support.

Although Rousseff has defended such measures as standard conduct for Brazilian government, Cunha and others believe she should be impeached.

Although Brazil is a traditionally Catholic country, the power Cunha has been able to amass shows that evangelicals are becoming more of a presence in the country.

Brazilian historian Karina Bellotti told the Christian Science Monitor that "during the last roll call vote for the continuation of the process of impeachment in the lower house, several politicians dedicated their vote 'for God.'" 

"Some of them were Catholic, but most were evangelical, from the Pentecostal churches," she added.

Brazil is estimated to have about 45 million Pentecostals.

"Brazil is at the vanguard of the global trend of the Pentecostalization of Christianity," as well as "the epicenter of world Christianity, with the largest Pentecostal population," Andrew Chesnut, author of Born Again in Brazil, told the Christian Science Monitor.

Brazil’s lower Chamber of Deputies has voted in favor of impeaching Rousseff. A majority vote of Senators is now needed to complete the process. The vote is expected to take place by mid-May.

If the majority vote of Senators is gained, Rousseff would be subjected to a trial, and suspended while the trial takes place, in which case Vice President Michel Temer, a Maronite Christian, would take over leadership of the country.

Publication date: April 26, 2016



Pentecostal Christian Leads Effort to Impeach Brazilian President