Editing Separation of church and state (section)

===Brazil===
[[File:Rui Barbosa2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rui Barbosa]] had a large influence upon the text adopted as the 1891 Constitution of Brazil.]]
Brazil was a [[Colonial Brazil|colony]] of the [[Portuguese Empire]] from 1500 until the nation's [[Independence of Brazil|independence]] from Portugal, in 1822, during which time [[Roman Catholicism]] was the official state religion. With the rise of the [[Empire of Brazil]], although Catholicism retained its status as the official creed, subsidized by the state, other religions were allowed to flourish, as the [[History of the Constitution of Brazil|1824 Constitution]] secured [[religious freedom]]. The fall of the Empire, in 1889, gave way to a Republican regime, and a Constitution was enacted in 1891, which severed the ties between church and state; Republican ideologues such as [[Benjamin Constant (Brazil)|Benjamin Constant]] and [[Ruy Barbosa]] were influenced by [[laïcité]] in France and the United States. The 1891 Constitutional separation of Church and State has been maintained ever since. The current [[Constitution of Brazil]], in force since 1988, ensures the right to religious freedom, bans the establishment of state churches and any relationship of "dependence or alliance" of officials with religious leaders, except for "collaboration in the public interest, defined by law".

In 2007, [[Brasil para Todos]] was formed with the aim of removing religious symbols from government buildings with separation of church and state in mind.