Brazil, the World’s Largest Catholic Nation, Embraces Polyamory

The toddler Hari toddled into the kitchen, kissed the woman helping make breakfast and watched as her parents and their partners moved through the apartment in practiced cooperation. Rafael Pissurno ground coffee, Iuli Duarte tidied toys, Jessica Couri chopped fruit and Victor Souza scrambled eggs in a household that blends parenting, romance and shared domestic life.

Their rejection of monogamy reflects a broader shift in Brazil, a country celebrated for carnival and music yet home to the world’s largest number of Catholics and rising hard-line evangelical movements. Many Brazilians are questioning traditional family models — a change visible in podcasts, books and a reality show called “Third Half” — even as conservative leaders pushed a 2023 bill to bar registering unions of more than two people and the judicial regulator has ruled that notaries cannot recognize such unions.

Brazil

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