ewhat anomalous, the government having decided
to continue during their lives the stipends of the church functionaries
at the time of disestablishment. The census of 1890 divided the
population into 14,179,615 Roman Catholics, 143,743 Protestants, 3300 of
all other faiths, 7257 of no religious profession, and 600,000
unchristianized Indians. The increase of population through immigration
is overwhelmingly Catholic, and the nation must, therefore, continue
Roman Catholic whether the church is subsidized by the state or not. The
moral character of churchmen in Brazil has been severely criticized by
many observers, and the ease with which disestablishment was effected is
probably largely due to their failings. The church had exercised a
preponderating influence in all matters relating to education and the
social life of the people, and it was felt that no sweeping reforms
could be secured until its domination had been broken. The immediate
results of disestablishment were civil marriage, the civil registry of
births and deaths, and the secularization of cemeteries; but the church
retains its influence over all loyal churchmen through the confessional,
the last rites of the church, and their sentiment against the
profanation of holy ground. Formerly Brazil constituted an
ecclesiastical province under the metropolitan jurisdiction of an
archbishop residing at Bahia, with 11 suffragan bishops, 12
vicars-general and about 2000 curates. In 1892 the diocese of Rio de
Janeiro was made an archbishopric, and four new dioceses were created.
Three more have been added since, making twenty dioceses in all. In 1905
the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro was made a cardinal. The church has
eleven seminaries for the education of priests, and maintains a large
number of private schools, especially for girls, which are patronized by
the better classes. The church likewise exercises a far-reaching
influence over the people through the beneficent work of its lay orders,
and through the hospitals and asylums under its control in every part of
the country. A Misericordia hospital is to be found in almost every town
of importance, and _recolhimentos_ for orphan girls in all the large
cities. In no country have these charities received more generous
support than in Brazil. The Protestant contingent consists of a number
of small congregations scattered throughout the country, a few
Portuguese Protestants from the Azores, a part of the German colonists
s