Religiosity and faith are a central component of favela culture and psychology, conceived of by residents as a way of sustaining a positive path in life, and as a means of support for the challenges of the environment.

only around 1% of favela populations report to be atheist, which shows the extent and scope of religious belief in communities. The Protestant Evangelical church has the greatest number of believers, followed by the Catholic Church.

One of the reasons for the high level of religiosity in favelas is that the populations are largely comprised of migrants from rural areas and the Northeast of Brazil, as well as high numbers of descendants of African slaves. These groups have strong and ingrained historic and cultural ties to various faiths.