Anglicanism, as a distinctive Christian tradition, began to develop from 1534 when
Henry VIII of England, driven by political and personal concerns, proclaimed the independence of the
Church of England from the
Holy See, rejecting
papal authority. The church claims itself as a continuation of the
primitive church, since it has not rejected the
Catholic and
Apostolic faith. Anglicanism soon spread to the
British colonies in the
New World. In Brazil, however, the official religion imposed by the Portuguese settlers was Catholicism and the early attempts by Protestant missionaries – French
Huguenots and Dutch
Calvinists – failed. The first Anglican to set foot in Brazil was
Henry Martin in 1805. His ship made a stop in
Salvador on its route to
India. He remained in the city for two weeks and communicated with Catholic priests in
French and
Latin. In 1810, Portugal and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, which allowed the Church of England to build chapels in Brazil. These were the first non-Catholic chapels in the country, intended exclusively for the attendance of
Anglo-Brazilians. Nevertheless, under the terms of the treaty, these chapels could not resemble religious temples and its Masses could only be celebrated in
English. The first Anglican Mass was celebrated later that year. In 1819, the first Anglican chapel, Christ Church, was established in
Rio de Janeiro. According to Silva, the early Anglican community did not oppose the
status quo; he points out that some Anglicans owned
slaves, despite the Church of England's opposition to the
slave trade. After the
Independence, the first
missionary activity began. In 1853,
William Cooper was sent to Brazil at the request of an Episcopalian from Rio de Janeiro, probably a member of the
American colony. Nevertheless, his ship sank at the
Caribbean Sea and he returned to the United States. In 1860 a Scottish priest, the Reverend Richard Holden, landed in
Belém. He was also sent by the
Episcopal Church to do missionary work. Holden conducted the most successful mission, remaining in the country for 12 years. He chose Belém as his work post due to the existence of a Bibles distribution station in the city and his expectation that the
Amazon River would be open to international navigation. In Belém, he tried to create an Anglican community, but was not successful. He used the local media to spread the church, writing newspaper articles that provoked the wrath of the Catholic bishop,
Antônio de Macedo Costa. Holden was responsible for the first Portuguese translation of the
Book of Common Prayer; he also wrote a dozen hymns — two of them featured in the 1962 hymnal. He traveled the tributary rivers of the Amazon to sell Bibles in riverside communities. In 1862, he moved to Salvador, where he also tried to spread Anglicanism through the press. His articles encountered strong opposition and he survived three assassination attempts. His strong personality and controversial preaching style also provoked opposition from the Episcopal Church, which had sponsored his trip to Brazil (although it was also in disarray due to the
American Civil War and defeated Confederates would soon arrive in Brazil with their slaves). In 1864, Rev. Holden accepted the invitation of Presbyterian
Robert Kalley to become a minister in the Fluminense Congregational Church in Rio de Janeiro. He later abandoned Anglicanism and became a
Dispensationalist. Anglican missions in Brazil began to flourish after 1889, when
the Republic was proclaimed and the country became officially
secular; this decriminalized the conversion of Catholics to Anglicanism and other churches and religions. In 1890, the priests
Lucien Lee Kinsolving and James Watson Morris were sent to Brazil from the
Virginia Theological Seminary. They established themselves in a rented house later known as the Mission House () in
Porto Alegre, where they held the first Anglican Mass in Portuguese on 1 June 1890. Three other American missionaries followed in 1891: Rev.
William Cabell Brown (who would leave in 1914 to become bishop in his native Virginia, but after completing translations of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer), Rev.
John Gaw Meem and lay woman Mary Packard. They established missions in
Santa Rita do Rio dos Sinos,
Rio Grande and
Pelotas. These five missionaries are regarded as the founders of the Brazilian Episcopal Church, since they preached to Brazilians in Portuguese and spread Anglicanism throughout the
Southern region of Brazil, which now has the largest number of Anglican communities. In 1893, Morris and Brown launched the
Christian Standard (), a newspaper for the Anglican community of Porto Alegre. That same year, Bishop
George William Peterkin of West Virginia visited the Brazilian mission and ordained four deacons. Four years later, the Brazilian mission was visited by
Waite Hockin Stirling, who ordained three priests and
confirmed 159 members. In 1899, Kinsolving became a bishop, leading the Brazilian community. In 1907, the missionary efforts resulted in the creation of the Missionary District of Brazil within the Episcopal Church. In 1908, the missionaries began their activities in Rio de Janeiro, then
capital of Brazil, where Kinsolving hoped to build the headquarters of the church. Four years later, the Anglicans opened schools in Porto Alegre and
Santana do Livramento. In 1921, the missionaries began working in the
State of São Paulo, reaching the
state capital in 1924. In 1926,
William M. M. Thomas was elected Bishop of the Missionary District of Brazil and Kinsolving returned to the United States a year later. In 1929, the Episcopal Press was founded; it launched the most important revised edition of the
Book of Common Prayer. According to Kickhofel, the Anglican worship service was envied by the Catholics, since they only began praying in Portuguese after the end of the
Second Vatican Council in 1965. In 1940,
Athalicio Theodoro Pithan became the first Brazilian-born bishop of the missionary district; Episcopalians celebrated the 40th year of their presence in Brazil that same year. In 1949, the year of bishop Thomas' retirement and succession by
Louis Chester Melcher, the Missionary District of Brazil was sub-divided into three dioceses, which prompted discussions about the ecclesiastical independence of the Episcopal Church Brazilian. In 1952, the first
General Synod took place. Three years later, the chapels which were founded in the 1820s and were still being operated by the Church of England merged with the Missionary District of Brazil after a deal reached by the Episcopal Church and the Church of England. In 1965, the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (; IEAB) gained its autonomy, becoming the 19th ecclesiastical province of the
Anglican Communion and electing
Egmont Machado Krischke, son of an early missionary, as its Primate Bishop. Since then, the Anglican Episcopal Church has had the autonomy to develop its own liturgy. In 1966, IEAB became a member of the
World Council of Churches as part of its commitment to Christian
ecumenism. In 1974, the Brazilian province was visited, for the first time, by an
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Michael Ramsey. IEAB achieved financial independence from the Episcopal Church in the late 1970s. In 1985, IEAB began to
ordain women following the decision of the 1984 General Synod; the first female priest was the Reverend Carmen Etel Alves Gomes. IEAB preceded the Church of England on the matter. In 1990, during its centenary, IEAB decided to focus on three areas, considering the social-economic problems of Brazil: education,
service and expansion. That same year, the Primate Bishop of IEAB and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church established a bilateral committee with the purpose of reapproaching the churches, encouraging partnerships and mutual relations between them. The Episcopal Church still sends missionaries to Brazil and the
dioceses of Pennsylvania and São Paulo and
Indianapolis and Brasília maintain special relations. In addition, IEAB initiated a dialogue with the Anglican churches from other
Portuguese-speaking countries. ==Presiding Bishop==