Freedom of Religion/History/Country sources/Brazil

Freedom of Religion

What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right?

Brazil

According to Article 179.5 of the 1824 Political Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, "No one may be persecuted by reason of religion, so long as he respects that of the state and does not offend public morals."

The 1890 Constitution guaranteed free exercise: "All individuals and religious denominations may publicly and freely exercise their worship, associating themselves for this purpose, and acquiring property within the limits prescribed by the law of mortmain." In a number of ways the 1890 Constitution asserted separation of church and state, including emphasis on the secular character of public instruction and cemeteries, the civil character of marriage recognized by the state, and a ban on official subsidies or other relationships between religious groups and federal or state governments. The 22 June 1890 Constitution also barred Jesuits from Brazil, though as Thomas Skidmore describes this ban was lifted before the Constitution came into effect: "The initial draft of the Constitution of 1891, for example, contained a clause which would have again banned the order from Brazil. The provision was removed by the Constituent Assembly, which nonetheless endorsed a proposed prohibition of any new convents or monastic orders."

The final version of the 1891 Constitution offered a briefer description of freedom of religion in Article 179, Section V: "No one can be persecuted on account of his religion so long as he respects that of the state and does not offend public morals." Even so, the 1891 Constitution established an official religion in Article 5: "The Apostolic Roman Catholic religion shall continue to be the religion of the Empire. All other religions shall be permitted with their domestic or private worship in buildings destined therefor, but without any exterior form of a temple."

References:

"Title VIII: General Provisions and Guarantees of the Civil and Political Rights of Brazilian Citizens," Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, 1824 : 250: https://heinonline-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/HOL/Page?collection=cow&handle=hein.cow/zzbr0040&id=14&men_tab=srchresults

English translation of the Portuguese original text of the Constitution of 22 June 1890 23 (2013) Section II: Declaration of Rights : https://heinonline-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.cow/zzbr0396&id=23&collection=cow&index=

English translation of the original Constitution of 1891. [8] (2013) Title II: Of Brazilian Citizens; Title VIII: Of the General Dispositions and Guarantees of the Civil and Political Rights of Brazilian Citizens, Constitution of the Empire of Brazil (1891): [8]; [29]: https://heinonline-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/HOL/Page?collection=cow&handle=hein.cow/zzbr0153&id=30&men_tab=srchresults#

Skidmore, Thomas E. “Eduardo Prado: A Conservative Nationalist Critic of the Early Brazilian Republic, 1889-1901.” Luso-Brazilian Review 12, no. 2 (1975): 154. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3512939.