Religious Question

The Religious Question (Portuguese: Questão Religiosa) was a crisis between the Catholic church and the state apparatus of the Brazilian Empire. It led to the imprisonment of two bishops and contributed to the downfall of the government of José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco.

Although Catholicism was the state religion of Brazil, and Portugal before it, the Catholic clergy had for a time been perceived as understaffed, undisciplined and poorly educated, with a consequent loss of respect for the Church.

The Imperial government wanted to reform the church and appointed a series of well educated, reforming bishops. Although these bishops agreed with the government on the need to reform, they did not share Pedro II's views on the subservience of the Church to government and were influenced by Ultramontanism which emphasised loyalty to the Papacy over loyalty to the civil powers.

One of the new generation of bishops was the bishop of Olinda, Dom Vital. He was consecrated a bishop in 1872. He was keen to ensure that the Papal ban of Freemasonry was taken seriously. All forms of Freemasonry had long been forbidden to all Catholics under pain of excommunication, although it was felt by some Brazilian Masons that they did not share the anti-clericalism of Latin Freemasonry. There had been some tension earlier in Rio de Janeiro, where a priest had been suspended due to his Masonic membership, although after pressure from the Prime Minister the priest was reinstated.

Lay Fraternities and Sodalities ((in Portuguese) irmandades) played an important part in Brazilian life fulfiling a charitable role and were also important in conferring social status. They were attached to churches and would often have their own chapels, including some of the most important buildings in Olinda's diocesan seat of Recife. Freemasonry was relatively common among members of the Lay Fraternities.

...
Wikipedia