Religious Tourism and Religious Monuments: the Politics of Religious Diversity in Brazil

This article addresses the issue of religious tourism and the controversies around the construction of new religious monuments in Brazilian cities. First, I analyze a recent call made by the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism to all cities aiming at “the strengthening of religious tourism”. The results of that call show that “religious tourism” has been a way for Catholicism to maintain its hegemony at a moment when the presence of other religious groups is increasing in Brazil. In the second part, the article focuses on the case of the Brazilian town of Imbituba where a 46-m-high Catholic monument is being constructed on a hill. The municipality’s response to the protests of local Evangelical communities against the Santa Paulina’s monument has been the building of another religious monument. This second monument, located in the city center, represents a Bible. I analyze the official discourses by the municipal authorities to show how they reinforce the idea of a Christian identity. Both monuments and tourist sites are approached as entry points to discuss broader issues related to religious diversity and its urban governance.