BRAZIL -- Brazil, considered to have the world's largest Catholic population, has seen more people turn to Protestant faiths during the last decade, according to the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics.
The number of people who declared themselves Catholic in the 2000 census was down 10 percent from 1991, to 73.8 percent of Brazil's 170 million people, the institute reported May 10 to the BBC News.
Those claiming to be members of Protestant religions grew to 15.4 percent, up from 9 percent in 1991. The number of people who said they had no religion rose to 7.3 percent from 4.8 percent.
Evangelical denominations, including the Assembly of God and Universal Kingdom of God, started expanding their reach in Brazil in the early 1990s, according to the institute. Roman Catholic Church officials in Brazil told the BBC News they did not consider the numbers alarming.
