But he says he gradually gained new fans in his soccer-crazed South American country for representing his Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé and challenging religious intolerance. And it’s nice to feel they see something good in what I do.”Just a small minority in Brazil practices Candomblé. Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Paulinho said he suffered prejudice because of his faith -- like his mother and grandmother before him. Paulinho now plays for Brazil’s Atlético Mineiro, a club that during the 1980s had some of the first outspoken evangelical soccer players in the country. Paulinho was one of the few active soccer players to publicly endorse President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 elections.

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Persons: Paulinho, –, Oxóssi, …, it’s, nonbelievers, wasn’t, Candomblé, Vasco da Gama, Ana Christina Sampaio, “, ”, “ Candomblé, Reginaldo Prandi, That’s, ” Prandi, ” Paulinho, emboldening, Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Caetano Veloso, Prandi, Rodrigo Nestor, Iansã, ” Nestor, “ That’s Organizations: LAGOA, Tokyo, Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro, Vasco, Candomblé, Portuguese, Bayer Leverkusen, Brazil’s Atlético Mineiro, Atletico Mineiro, Black, Sao Paulo FC, Rodrigo, Brazilian, Flamengo, Globo, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: LAGOA SANTA, Brazil, American, Christianity, Belo Horizonte, “, Rio de Janeiro, European, England, Spain, India, Bahia, Bolsonaro, Sao, Paris