LAICIDADE E CONFESSIONALISMO NO PROCESSO CONSTITUCIONAL DE 1988.

Abstract

This research analyzes the relationship between church/state and the constitutions of Brazil, and seeks to demonstrate that such relationships are characterized by moments of distance and others by close proximity to these instances. Throughout the duration of our research, we aspired to identify the secularization and laity of the Brazilian constitutional. Our analysis spans the period of colonization- when the "regime do Padroado", or "Patrontate system" was in place- up to the constitution of 1988. Over the length of the research we investigated the constitution of 1824, which established the Catholic religion as the official religion of Brazil; the federal constitution of 1891, which guaranteed the laity of the state; the constitutions of 1934; 1937; 1946; 1967 and the Constitutional amendment of 1969, which upheld the constitutional institute concerning religion. Finally, we delved further into the analysis of the constitutional process of 1988, which sought laity and confessionalism, reflecting on the interface between the state and the National Constituent Assembly of 1987/1988. In this analysis we researched the participation of the Catholic and Evangelical churches in the promulgation of the 1988 constitution, popularly known as the "Citizenry Constitution", enacted " Under the Protection of God".