"The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a neo-Pentecostal religious group originally from Brazil, has attracted a great deal of attention since it was founded by Pastor Edir Macedo in 1977. Part of that attention is due to the group’s and its leaders’non-traditional religious practic
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es, which include syncretic versions of Christian Pentecostal, shamanistic, and Afro-Brazilian Umbandan rituals. A great deal of scrutiny, however, centers on the fact that since the UCKG purchased TV Record in the early 1990s, the group has become a major player in the very desirable and profitable Brazilian broadcasting market. This paper examines the rise of UCKG as a major media player in Brazil, and also sheds some light into the Church’s attempts at globalizing (or at least expanding) its television and radio holdings to other countries and regions." (Abstract)
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"Esta pesquisa propõe-se a demonstrar como uma terceira onda de recatolização brasileira está sendo constituída, liderada por uma nova face da Renovação Carismática Católica: o catolicismomidiático, cujo emblema é o fenômeno Pe. Marcelo Rossi. O estudo identifica as mutações culturais
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que alavancam a consolidação dessa recatolização, suas semelhanças com o neopentecostalismo protestante e os conflitos intra-eclesiais gerados por essa ofensiva de reinstitucionalização, inspirada e legitimada no pontificado de João Paulo II. Alerta-se, também, para os traços - neointegristas - e - exculturados - que tendem a redesenhar outra fase do catolicismo, a qual vem fermentando nos últimos trinta anos. No âmago dessa discussão, encontram-se os dilemas e os paradoxos que emergem na relação histórica entre a Igreja e a modernidade, quando a primeira apropria-se da cultura midiática, através do uso religioso dos meios de comunicação de massa, no afã de adaptar-se aos sinais dos tempos. A tese consta de três partes: a primeira captura as interfaces da vertiginosa ascensão do jovem sacerdote com a cultura de consumo; a segunda esboça os traços do catolicismo midiático e a maneira como ele configura imaginários, subjetividades e sociabilidades religiosas, veiculando-as na rádio, televisão, internet e cinema, além de analisar os desdobramentos sociais dessas práticas pastorais; e a terceira aproxima o leitor à dinâmica interna de uma instituição milenar, experiente na arte de gerenciar diferenças, negociar hegemonias e de manter um equilíbrio sistêmico. No seu conjunto, esta reflexão ambiciona sugerir a relevância do fenômeno religioso na sociedade contemporânea." (Resumo)
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"One characteristic of Brazilian neo-Pentecostal ministries that draw on the Faith Movement is an accentuation of performative and metonymic linkages between supernatural power and ritual. While sharing elements with a broader transnational Faith movement, this Prosperity theology and its associated
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practices emerge out of the contemporary sociocultural context of Brazilian 'popular' religions as they relate to a consumer economy. The paper addresses the role of particular kinds of objects and material media in the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Such symbolic media configure a distinctly Pentecostal projection of local-global relations. The analysis also considers an example of temple architecture and the construction of a Biblical theme park by the Universal Church in Rio de Janeiro. The symbolic and metonymic treatment of physical space builds up connections between believers, temporality, certain forms of historicity, and sacred geography in a way that resonates with other activities in the Church." (Abstract)
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"Starting out from a celebrated 1995 controversy which arose from a late-nigt incident on Brazilian TV, the relationaships between neo-Pentcostalism and establishe culture are explored. Taking into account traditions of legal rhetoric and of political adherence, the paper shows that what appears at
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one level as a religious conflict is at another level a conflict over political power, over the rhetoric and imagery of power, and for control of the popular imaginary." (Abstract)
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