美国国家公共电台 NPR--Evangelical Christian churches gain ground in majority Catholic Brazil

Evangelical Christian¹ churches gain ground in majority Catholic Brazil

Transcript²

Brazil is the world's largest Catholic country. But evangelical Christian churches are popping up everywhere, even in the jungle, and now about one-third of Brazil's population is evangelical.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Evangelical Christians³ now make up the fastest-growing religious movement in Brazil. And Brazil's president is counting on their support to win reelection. NPR's John Otis has more.

UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR⁴: (Singing in non-English language).

JOHN OTIS, BYLINE⁵: This is the Assembly of God Evangelical Church in Madureira, a working-class neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. About 500 people - the men in suits and ties, the women in dresses - are packed in here for the Sunday night service.

ABNER FERREIRA: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: Pastor⁶ Abner Ferreira works himself into a frenzy⁷ describing the power of God to save souls. He also delves⁸ into politics.

FERREIRA: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: In a quieter moment, Ferreira describes his recent meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro. He's a former army captain and right-wing populist who was elected in 2018 with massive support from evangelicals. After the service, I asked Ferreira about the president's appeal.

FERREIRA: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: He says that, like evangelicals, Bolsonaro supports conservative family values and opposes abortion⁹ and gay marriage. Last year, Bolsonaro named the first evangelical pastor to Brazil's Supreme¹⁰ Court. In Congress, about 20% of legislators are now evangelicals.

FERREIRA: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED CHURCHGOERS: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: Until recently, however, evangelicals had almost no political power. The Catholic Church has always been by far the largest denomination¹¹. Evangelicals, who believe the Bible is the ultimate moral authority and that lives must be transformed through a born-again experience, made up just a tiny fraction of the population. But amid mass migration¹² from the countryside to Brazilian cities that started in the 1950s, evangelical churches began sprouting¹³ up in poor, urban neighborhoods.

JULIANO SPYER: People are coming from all different sorts of places. They're disconnected from their families. And the church becomes this substitution for a family.

OTIS: That's Brazilian anthropologist¹⁴ Juliano Spyer. He says that in impoverished¹⁵ areas ignored by the government and the Catholic Church, evangelicals have stepped in to provide everything from spiritual guidance to daycare and afterschool sports programs.

SPYER: If you lose your job, there is an infrastructure¹⁶ for you to receive help. If your kid is involved with drugs, you can find a lawyer. So it's huge attractive being part of that organization.

OTIS: Among the faith's best known projects are drug rehabilitation¹⁷ centers.

(CROSSTALK)

OTIS: This one, about an hour west of Rio, houses more than 100 patients. One of the supervisors¹⁸, Carlos Faria (ph), is a former drug addict¹⁹ who was treated here. Faria says he was living on the streets of Sao Paolo when evangelical pastors²⁰ invited him into a church. Soon afterwards, he was admitted to the rehab center, where, Faria says, through the help of God, he kicked his cocaine²¹ habit.

CARLOS FARIA: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: "I was going through some very hard times," he says, "but I found refuge in Jesus Christ." Evangelicals now make up 31% of Brazil's population, according to the Datafolha polling firm. They're still outnumbered by Catholics, who make up 51%. But evangelicals are growing at a much faster clip. They're also more politically active than Catholics, says Anna Virginia Balloussier, who's writing a book about Brazilian evangelicals.

ANNA VIRGINIA BALLOUSSIER: The evangelical community is more engaged in everything they do. And so it's easier to mobilize people in evangelical churches right now.

OTIS: President Bolsonaro needs them to mobilize in October, when he's up for reelection. But largely due to Brazil's stagnant²² economy, polls show him trailing the main opposition²³ candidate, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. So Bolsonaro is ramping²⁴ up his efforts to court evangelicals.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: At this recent meeting with evangelical pastors, he insisted that God entrusted²⁵ in him a hard mission, the mission of leading Brazil.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PASTOR: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: The pastors responded with a standing²⁶ ovation²⁷ for Bolsonaro, and then by praying for him.

John Otis, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

7 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

8 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

9 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

10 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

11 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。

12 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

13 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

14 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

15 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

18 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

19 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

20 pastors   

n.（基督教的）牧师( pastor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers? 我们有没有尊敬牧师、宣教士，以及主日学的老师？ 来自互联网
• Should pastors or elders be paid, or serve as a volunteer? 牧师或长老需要付给酬劳，还是志愿的事奉呢？ 来自互联网

21 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

22 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

23 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

24 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

25 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

27 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。